The aircraft informally known as the Hawker Dantorp was not a distinct production model from the Hawker factory, but rather a specialized floatplane adaptation of the Hawker Horsley, a British two-seat bomber designed in the mid-1920s. The name "Dantorp" is a modern descriptive shorthand for "Danish torpedo (carrier)." These aircraft were commissioned by the Royal Danish Navy (Søværnet) to serve as shipborne torpedo bombers, specifically for use aboard the inspection cruiser HDMS Ingolf, which was ordered in 1932 and designed to carry a single aircraft.
The underlying airframe was the product of Hawker's design office, led by Sydney Camm. While the base Horsley was a land-based medium bomber, the Danish variant was modified with twin main floats and the capability to launch torpedoes. Evidence of these operations exists in 1933 newsreel footage showing the aircraft conducting torpedo drops. The aircraft featured a biplane configuration with a large wingspan and open cockpits for a two-person crew consisting of a pilot and an observer/gunner.
Production took place in the United Kingdom by Hawker Aircraft Limited. The company had evolved from H.G. Hawker Engineering, founded in 1920 following the collapse of the Sopwith Aviation Company. By 1933, the firm had been renamed Hawker Aircraft Limited, and by 1935, it became part of the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft group. While the exact number of units produced is unknown, records indicate a very small batch, as the HDMS Ingolf could only accommodate one aircraft at a time.
In service, the aircraft operated as a torpedo bomber for the Royal Danish Navy throughout the 1930s. This service continued until April 1940, when the German invasion of Denmark occurred, resulting in the neutralization of the Danish naval air arm. No surviving examples of the Dantorp are known to exist today, and none are listed in museum collections. Its legacy remains as an example of interwar naval experimentation, where a small navy adapted a foreign bomber design to achieve a specialized maritime strike role.