Operational History
The Short Bomber was intended for long range missions; the maximum flight duration was approximately six hours. The first Bomber flew in 1915 and more than 80 aircraft were built, 36 by Short Brothers, the rest being manufactured by Mann Egerton (20), Sunbeam (15), Parnall (6) and Phoenix Aircraft Ltd (7). The Short Bomber entered service in late 1916 with No. 7 Squadron RNAS, flying its first bombing raid on the night of 15 November 1916, with four Shorts, each carrying eight 65 lb (30 kg) bombs, attacking targets at Ostend in Belgium along with 18 Caudron G.4s. 7 Squadron RNAS continued bombing operations through the winter of 1916-17, but the Short Bomber was underpowered and was taken out of service in April 1917, when more powerful aircraft (notably the twin-engined Handley Page Type O/100 entered service. One of its last combat operations involved attacking the Zeebrugge Mole on four successive nights in April 1917, in preparation for the naval raid on St. George's Day (23 April).
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—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)