The Pup was eventually outclassed by newer German fighters, but it was not completely replaced on the Western Front until the end of 1917.

The Pup's docile flying characteristics also made it ideal for use in aircraft carrier deck landing and takeoff experiments and training.

Sopwith next developed a more powerful aircraft as a fighter that was heavily influenced by this design, although controlled laterally with ailerons rather than by wing warping.

[1] The resulting aircraft was a single-bay, single-seat biplane with a fabric-covered wooden framework and staggered equal-span wings.

The cross-axle type main landing gear was supported by V-struts attached to the lower fuselage longerons.

"[citation needed] The Pup's light weight and generous wing area gave it a good rate of climb.

The Pup had half the horsepower and armament of the German Albatros D.III, but was much more manoeuvrable, especially over 15,000 ft (4,600 m) due to its low wing loading.

Ace James McCudden stated that "When it came to manoeuvring, the Sopwith [Pup] would turn twice to an Albatros' once ... it was a remarkably fine machine for general all-round flying.

On 2 August 1917, a Pup flown by Sqn Cdr Edwin Harris Dunning became the first aircraft to land aboard a moving ship, HMS Furious.

[5] The Pup began operations on the carriers in early 1917; the first aircraft were fitted with skid undercarriages in place of the standard landing gear.

A Pup flown from a platform on the cruiser HMS Yarmouth shot down the German Zeppelin L 23 off the Danish coast on 21 August 1917.

[3] The U.S. Navy also employed the Sopwith Pup with Australian pilot Edgar Percival testing the use of carrier-borne fighters.

In 1926, Percival flew a Pup from a platform on turret "B" on the battleship USS Idaho at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba prior to the ship undergoing a major refit that added catapults on the stern.

Student pilots completing basic flight training in the Avro 504k often graduated to the Pup as advanced trainers.

Many training Pups were reserved by senior officers and instructors as their runabouts while a few survived in France as personal or squadron 'hacks' long after the type had been withdrawn from combat.