A floatplane variant was prepared in under a month and entered for the 1914 Schneider Trophy race where it was piloted by Howard Pixton.

The original Tabloid, which was first flown by Harry Hawker on 27 November 1913, was a two-seat single-bay biplane with a side-by-side seating, which was unusual at the time.

The tail surfaces were of steel tubing, fabric-covered, and the undercarriage had a pair of forward-projecting skids in addition to the wheels.

A production order from the War Office for the Royal Flying Corps was placed early in 1914, and a total of 40 were built to this specification.

This was initially fitted with a single central float, but on its first taxiing trials with Howard Pixton at the controls the aircraft turned over as soon as the engine was started, and remained in the water for some hours before it could be retrieved.

After completing the twenty-eight circuits required for the actual race, at an average speed of 86.75 mph (139.61 km/h) and suffering from a misfiring cylinder, he made additional laps to set a new world record for seaplanes.

[8] The first order, for twelve "Schneider" floatplane aircraft, was placed in November 1914 by the Royal Naval Air Service.

[9] Like the race winner, these were powered by the 100 hp (75 kW) Monosoupape and differed only in minor detail from the racer - most noticeably in the redesigned tail float.

[13] A single Sopwith Schneider fighter seaplane was acquired by Captain Shiro Yamauchi, during an inspection tour of England, during 1915.