Short Sunderland
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The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat
patrol bomber
developed for the Royal Air Force
(RAF) by Short Brothers
. It took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in northeast England.
Based in part upon the S.23 Empire
flying boat, the flagship of Imperial Airways
, the S.25 was extensively re-engineered for military service. It was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the Second World War
, and was involved in countering the threat posed by German U-boat
s in the Battle of the Atlantic. RAF Sunderlands also saw service throughout the Korean War
and continued in service until 1959. Sunderlands remained in service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force
(RNZAF) until 1967.
Sunderlands converted for civil use, known as Short Sandringham
s, continued in airline operation until 1974. A single airworthy example remains on display in Florida
.
flying boats, which were making headlines all over the world. Then, in 1934, the British Postmaster General
declared that all first-class Royal Mail
sent overseas was to travel by air, effectively establishing a subsidy for the development of intercontinental air transport in a fashion similar to the U.S. domestic program a decade earlier. In response, Imperial Airways
announced a competition between aircraft manufacturers to design and produce 28 flying boats, each weighing 18 tons (18.2 tonnes) and having a range of 700 mi (1,126.5 km) with capacity for 24 passengers.
The contract went almost directly to Short Brothers of Rochester. Although Short had long built flying boats for the military and for Imperial Airways, none of them was in the class of size and sophistication requested, but the business opportunity was too great to pass up. Oswald Short, head of the company, began a fast-track program to come up with a design for a flying boat far beyond anything the company had ever built.
While the first example of the new type (the S.23 Empire, which would later be a success in its own right), was under development, the British Air Ministry
was taking actions that would result in a purely military version of the Short flying boats. The 1933 Air Ministry Specification R.2/33 called for a next-generation flying boat for ocean reconnaissance. The new aircraft had to have four engines but could be either a monoplane or biplane design.
Specification R.2/33 was released roughly in parallel with the Imperial Airways requirement, and while Short continued to develop the S.23, it also worked on a response to R.2/33 at a lower priority. Chief Designer Arthur Gouge originally intended that a 37 mm COW gun be mounted in the bow with a single Lewis gun
in the tail. As with the S.23, he tried to make the drag as low as possible, while the nose was much longer than that of the S.23.
The military flying boat variant was designated S.25 and the design was submitted to the Air Ministry in 1934. Saunders-Roe
also designed a flying boat, the Saro A.33
, in response to the R.2/33 competition, and prototypes of both the S.25 and A.33 were ordered by the Ministry for evaluation. The initial S.25 prototype first took flight in October 1937.
in the nose turret and four 0.303 Browning machine guns
in the tail. Then there was a change in the tail turret to a powered version and Gouge had to devise a solution for the resulting movement aft of the aircraft's centre of gravity. The unarmed prototype (K4774) first flew, on 16 October 1937. Following some flight trials it was modified with a wing sweepback of 4° 15' by adding a spacer into the front spar attachments. This moved the centre of lift enough to compensate for the changed centre of gravity. The modified K4774 flew on 7 March 1938 with Bristol Pegasus XXII engines of 1010 hp.
As with the S.23, the Sunderland's fuselage contained two decks with six bunks on the lower one, a galley with a twin kerosene
pressure stove, a yacht-style porcelain
flush toilet
, an anchoring winch, and a small machine shop for inflight repairs. The crew was originally intended to be seven but increased in later versions to 11 crew members or more.
It was of all-metal, mainly flush-riveted construction except for the control surfaces, which were of fabric-covered metal frame construction. The flaps were Gouge-patented devices
that moved rearwards and down, increasing the wing area and adding 30% more lift for landing.
The thick wings carried the four nacelle-mounted Pegasus engines and accommodated six drum fuel tanks with a total capacity of 9,200 litres (2,025 Imperial gallons, 2,430 U.S. gallons). Four smaller fuel tanks were added later behind the rear wing spar to give a total fuel capacity of 11,602 litres (2,550 Imperial gallons, 3,037 U.S. gallons), enough for eight- to 14-hour patrols.
The specification had called for an offensive armament of a 37 mm gun and up to 2000 lb (907.2 kg) of bombs, mines
or (eventually) depth charge
s. The ordnance was stored inside the fuselage in a bomb room and was winched up to racks, under the wing centre section, that could be traversed out through doors on each side of the fuselage above the waterline to the release position. Defensive armament included a Nash & Thomson
FN-13 powered turret with four .303 British
Browning machine guns in the extreme tail and a manually operated .303 on either side of the fuselage, firing from ports just below and behind the wings. These were later upgraded to 0.5-inch calibre Brownings. There were two different nose turret weapons, the most common, later, being two Browning machine guns. The nose weapons were later augmented by four fixed guns, two each side, in the forward fuselage that were fired by the pilot. Much later a twin-gun turret was to be dorsal-mounted on the upper fuselage, about level with the wing trailing edge, bringing the total defensive armament up to 16 machine guns.
Portable beaching gear could be attached by ground crew so that the aircraft could be pulled up on land. The gear consisted of a pair of two-wheeled struts that could be attached to either side of the fuselage, below the wing, with a two- or four-wheel trolley and towbar attached under the rear of the hull.
hatch with a 360-degree white light to show that the aircraft was moored. The crewmembers were trained in common marine signals for watercraft to ensure safety in busy waters.
The craft could be moored to a buoy
by a pendant
that attached to the keel
under the forward fuselage. When the craft was off the buoy, the forward end of the pendant was attached to the front of the hull just below the bomb aimer's window. For anchoring, there was a demountable bollard
that fixed to the forward fuselage from where the front turret was retracted to allow an airman to man the position and pick up the buoy cage or to toss out the anchor.
A standard stocked anchor was stowed in the forward compartment alongside the anchor winch. Depending on the operating area, a number of different kinds of anchor could be carried to cope with different anchorages.
For taxiing after landing, the galley hatches were used to extend sea drogue
s that could be used to turn the aircraft or maintain its crosswind progress (by deploying the drogue on one side only), or to slow forward motion as much as possible (both deployed). When not in use, the drogues were hand hauled back inboard, folded, and stowed in wall-mounted containers just below the hatches. Operation of the drogues could be a very dangerous exercise if the aircraft was travelling on the water at speed or in strong currents, because the approximately three-ft (1 m) -diameter drogue would haul up on its five-tonne attachment cable end inside the galley very sharply and powerfully. Once deployed, it was normally impossible to recover a drogue unless the aircraft was stationary relative to the local tidal flow.
Another means of direction control on the water was by application of the rudder and aileron flight controls. The ailerons would cause asymmetric lift from the airflow and, ultimately, drop a float into the water to cause drag on that wing. The pilots could vary engine power to control the direction and speed of the aircraft on the water. In adverse combinations of tide, wind, and destination, this could be very difficult.
There was another external door in the tail compartment on the right side. This door was intended for boarding from a Braby (U-shaped) pontoon
that was used where there was a full passenger service mooring alongside a wharf or similar. This door could also be used to accept passengers or stretcher-bound patients when the aircraft was in the open water. This was because the engines had to be kept running to maintain the aircraft's position for the approaching vessel and the front door was too close to the left inboard propeller.
Normal access to the external upper parts of the aircraft was through the astrodome hatch at the front of the front spar of the wing centre section, just at the rear of the navigator's station.
Bombs were loaded in through the "bomb doors" that formed the upper half walls of the bomb room on both sides. The bomb racks were able to run in and out from the bomb room on tracks in the underside of the wing. To load them, weapons were hoisted up to the extended racks that were run inboard and either lowered to stowages on the floor or prepared for use on the retracted racks above the stowed items. The doors were spring-loaded to pop inwards from their frames and would fall under gravity so that the racks could run out through the space left in the top of the compartment. The doors could be released locally or remotely from the pilot's position during a bomb run. Normally the weapons were either bombs or depth charges and the racks were limited to a maximum of 1000 lb (453.6 kg) each. After the first salvo was dropped, the crew had to get the next eight weapons loaded before the pilot had the aircraft positioned on the next bombing run.
The fixed nose guns (introduced when in service with Australian units) were removed when the aircraft was on the water and stowed in the gun room just aft of the bow compartment. The toilet was in the right half of this same compartment and stairs from the cockpit to the bow area divided the two.
Maintenance was performed on the engines by opening panels in the leading edge of the wing either side of the powerplant. A plank could be fitted across the front of the engine on the extensions of the open panels. A small manually started auxiliary petrol engine, which was fitted into the leading edge of the right wing, powered a bilge
and a fuel pump for clearing water and other fluids from the fuselage bilges and for refuelling. Generally, the aircraft were reasonably water tight, and two people manually operating a wobble pump could transfer fuel faster than the auxiliary pump.
In sheltered moorings or at sea, fuelling was accomplished by a powered or unpowered barge
and with engine driven or hand powered pumps. At regular moorings, there would be specially designed refuelling barges to do the job, normally manned by trained marine crew. These vessels could refuel many aircraft during the course of the day. Handling of the fuel nozzles and opening/closing the aircraft fuel tanks would normally be an aircraftman's task.
Airframe repairs were either effected from the inside or delayed until the aircraft was in a sheltered mooring or beached. One of the serious problems was that the heat-treated rivets in the hull plates were susceptible to corrosion after a period in salt water (depending on the quality of the heat treatment process). The heads would pop off from stress corrosion, and leaks would start into the bilges. The only resort was to haul the aircraft out onto the "hard" and replace them, usually at the cost of many additional heads coming off because of the riveting vibrations.
Aircraft with lower hull damage were patched or had the holes filled with any materials to hand before landing. The aircraft would then be immediately put onto a slipway with its wheeled beaching gear or beached on a sandy shore before it could sink. More than two fuselage compartments had to be full of water to sink the aircraft. During the Second World War, a number of severely damaged aircraft were deliberately landed on grass airfields ashore. In at least one case, an aircraft that made a grass landing was repaired to fly again.
Marine growths on the hull were a problem; the resulting drag could be enough to prevent a fully loaded aircraft from gaining enough speed to become airborne. The aircraft could be taken to a freshwater mooring for sufficient time to kill off the fauna and flora growing on the bottom, which would then be washed away during takeoff runs. The alternative was to scrub it off, either in the water or on the hard.
The takeoff run of a flying boat was often dependent only on the length of water that was available. The first problem was to gain sufficient speed for the craft to plane
, otherwise there would never be enough speed to become airborne. Once planing, the next problem was to break free from the suction (from Bernoulli's principle
) of the water on the hull. This was partly helped by the "step" in the hull just behind the craft's centre of buoyancy at planing speed. The pilot could rock the craft about this point to try to break the downward pull of the water on the surface of the hull. Somewhat rough water was a help in freeing the hull from the water, but on calm days it was often necessary to have a high speed launch
cross in front of the aircraft to cause a break in the water flow under the aircraft. It was a matter of judgement of the coxswain
to get the crossing close enough but not too close. Because it was expected that some takeoffs would be protracted affairs, often the crews were not very careful to keep within maximum all-up weight limitations, and getting airborne just took a little longer.
On Mk V aircraft, fuel could be dumped from retractable pipes that extended from the hull and were attached the bomb room side of the galley aft bulkhead
. It was expected that dumping would be done while airborne, but it could also be done on the water, with care to ensure that the floating fuel went downwind away from the aircraft.
. As British anti-submarine measures improved, the Sunderland began to show its claws as well. A Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) Sunderland (of No. 10 Squadron
) made the type's first unassisted kill of a U-boat on 17 July 1940.
As aircrew honed their combat skills, the Sunderland Mark I received various improvements. The nose turret was upgraded with a second .303 (7.7 mm) gun. New propellers together with pneumatic rubber wing de-icing boots were also fitted.
Although the .303 guns lacked range and hitting power, the Sunderland had a fair number of them and it was a well-built machine that was hard to destroy. On 3 April 1940, a Sunderland operating off Norway was attacked by six German Junkers Ju 88
medium bombers. It shot one down, damaged another enough to send it off to a forced landing and drove off the rest. The Germans are reported to have nicknamed the Sunderland the Fliegendes Stachelschwein ("Flying Porcupine") due to its defensive firepower.
Sunderlands also proved themselves in the Mediterranean theatre. They performed valiantly in evacuations during the German seizure of Crete
, carrying a surprising number of passengers. One flew the reconnaissance mission to observe the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto
before the famous Royal Navy
Fleet Air Arm
's torpedo attack on 11 November 1940
.
New weapons made the flying boats more deadly in combat. In 1939, one 100 lb anti-submarine bomb hit HMS Snapper
merely breaking its light bulbs whilst other bombs had reportedly bounced up and hit their launch aircraft. In early 1943, these ineffective weapons were replaced by Torpex
-filled depth charges that would sink to a determined depth and then explode. This eliminated the problem of bounce back and the shock wave propagating through the water augmented the explosive effect.
While the bright Leigh searchlight
was rarely fitted to Sunderlands, ASV Mark II radar enabled the flying boats to attack U-boats on the surface. In response, the German submarines began to carry a radar warning system known as "Metox
", also known as the "Cross of Biscay" due to the appearance of its receiving antenna, that was tuned to the ASV frequency and gave the submarines early warning that an aircraft was in the area. Kills fell off drastically until ASV Mark III radar was introduced in early 1943, which operated in the centimetric band and used antennae mounted in blisters under the wings outboard of the floats, instead of the cluttered stickleback aerials. Sunderland Mark IIIs fitted with ASV Mark III were called Sunderland Mark IIIAs. Centimetric radar was invisible to Metox and baffled the Germans at first. Admiral Karl Dönitz
, commander of the German U-boat force, suspected that the British were being informed of submarine movements by spies. In August 1943, a captured RAF airman misled the Germans by telling them that the aircraft were homing in on the signals radiated by the Metox, and consequently U-boat commanders were instructed to turn them off.
In any case, the Germans responded by fitting U-boats with one or two 37 mm and twin quad 20 mm flak guns to shoot it out with the attackers. While Sunderlands could suppress flak to an extent by hosing the U-boat with their nose turret guns, the U-boats had the edge by far in range and hitting power, and firing accuracy (although most attempts to shoot down Allied aircraft are in vain as this prolonged the U-boat's presence on the surface, which made the sinking of these U-boats easier. This however, temporarily dropped U-boat losses while both Allied aircraft and shipping losses rose, and the UBW was able to make up for some of their losses). To help improve the odds, the Australians first fitted their aircraft in the field with an additional four .303s in fixed mounts in the nose, allowing the pilot to add fire while diving on the submarine before bomb release. Most aircraft were similarly modified. The addition of single .50 inch (12.7 mm) flexibly mounted M2 Browning machine guns in the (previously emptied) beam hatches behind and above the wing trailing edge also became common.
The rifle calibre .303 guns lacked hitting power but the Sunderland retained its reputation for being able to take care of itself. This reputation was enhanced by an air battle between eight Junkers Ju 88C long range heavy fighter
s and a single Sunderland Mark III of No. 461 Squadron RAAF
on 2 June 1943. This was one of several stories of the type's operations related by author Ivan Southall
, who flew in Sunderlands during the war. There were 11 crewmen on board the Sunderland; nine Australians and two British.
The aircraft was on an anti-submarine patrol and also searching for remains of BOAC Flight 777
, an airliner that had left Lisbon
the day before and had subsequently been shot down over the Bay of Biscay
, killing 17, among them, the actor Leslie Howard
. In the late afternoon, one of the crew spotted the eight Ju 88s. Bombs and depth charges were dumped and the engines brought to maximum power. Two Ju 88s made passes at the flying boat, one from each side, scoring hits and disabling one engine while the Sunderland went through wild "corkscrew" evasive manoeuvres. On the third pass, the dorsal turret gunner shot one down. Another Ju 88 disabled the tail turret, but the next one that made a pass was hit by both the dorsal and nose turrets and shot down. Another destroyed the Sunderland's radio gear, wounding most of the crew to varying degrees and mortally wounding one of the side gunners. A Ju 88 tried to attack from the rear, but the tail turret gunner had regained some control over the turret and shot it down. The surviving Ju 88s continued to attack, but the nose gunner damaged one of these, setting its engines on fire. Two more of the attackers were also hit and the final pair disengaged and departed, the only two to make it back to base. The Sunderland had been heavily damaged. The crew threw everything they could overboard and nursed the aircraft back to the Cornish
coast, where pilot Colin Walker managed to land and beach it at Praa Sands
. The crew waded ashore, carrying their dead comrade, while the surf broke the Sunderland up. Walker received the Distinguished Service Order
and several of the other crew members also received medals. With the exception of Walker, the crew returned to Sunderlands - they disappeared without trace over the Bay of Biscay two months later after reporting that they were under attack by six Ju 88s.
At the end of the Second World War, a number of new Sunderlands built at Belfast
were simply taken out to sea and scuttled as there was nothing else to do with them. In Europe it was removed from service relatively quickly but in the Far East, where well developed runways were less common and large land based maritime patrol aircraft like the new Avro Shackleton
could not be used so easily, there was still a need for it, and it remained in service with the RAF Far East Air Force
at Singapore
until 1959, and with the Royal New Zealand Air Force
's No. 5 Squadron RNZAF
until 1967.
During the Berlin Airlift (June 1948 - August 1949) 10 Sunderlands and two transport variants (known as Hythes) were used to transport goods from Finkenwerder
on the Elbe
near Hamburg
to the isolated city, landing on the Havel
river beside RAF Gatow
until it iced over. The Sunderlands were particularly used for transporting salt
, as their airframes were already protected against corrosion from seawater. Transporting salt in standard aircraft risked rapid and severe structural corrosion in the event of a spillage. When the Havelsee did freeze over the Sunderland's role was taken by freight-converted Handley Page Halifax
es with salt being carried in pannier
s fitted under the fuselage to avoid the corrosion problem.
From mid-1950, RAF Sunderlands also saw service during the Korean War
initially with No. 88 Squadron but shortly followed by Nos. 205 and 209 Squadrons. The three squadrons shared the operational task equally with rotational detachments of three or four aircraft and crews based at Iwakuni, Japan. Missions lasting 10 to 13 hours were flown daily throughout the war, and also during the Armistice period that followed, until September 1954. The Sunderland also saw service with the RNZAF until 1967.
The French Navy
Escadrille 7FE, which received Sunderlands when it was formed in 1943 as No. 343 Squadron RAF
, continued to operate them until December 1960, the last unit to operate Sunderlands in the Northern Hemisphere.
on 16 October 1937 with Shorts' Chief Test Pilot
, John Lankester Parker
at the controls. The deeper hull and installation of nose and tail turrets gave the Sunderland a considerably different appearance from the Empire flying boats. The prototype was fitted with Bristol Pegasus X engines, each providing 950 hp (709 kW ), as the planned Pegasus XXII engines of 1,010 hp (753 kW) were not available at the time.
The 37 mm gun, originally intended as a primary anti-submarine weapon, was dropped from the plans during the prototype phase and replaced with a Nash & Thomson
FN-11 nose turret mounting a single .303 inch (7.7 mm)
Vickers GO machine gun. The turret could be winched back into the nose, revealing a small "deck" and demountable marine bollard
used during mooring manoeuvres on the water. The change of armament in the nose to the much lighter gun moved the centre of gravity rearwards.
After the first series of flights the aircraft was returned to the workshop and the wing was swept 4.25° to the rear, thereby moving the centre of pressure into a more reasonable position in relation to the new centre of gravity. This left the engines and wing floats canted out from the aircraft's centreline. Although the wing loading was much higher than that of any previous Royal Air Force flying boat, a new flap
system kept the takeoff run to a reasonable length and the aircraft first flew with the new wing sweep and the uprated Pegasus XXII engines on 7 March 1938.
Official enthusiasm for the type had been so great that in March 1936, well before the first flight of the prototype, the Air Ministry ordered 21 production examples. Meanwhile, delivery of the other contender Saro A.33
was delayed and it did not fly until October 1938. The aircraft was written off after it suffered structural failure during high speed taxi trials and no other prototypes were built.
at RAF Seletar, Singapore
. By the outbreak of war in Europe, in September 1939, RAF Coastal Command
was operating 40 Sunderlands.
The main offensive load was up to 2000 lb (907.2 kg) of bombs (usually 250 or 500 lb), mines
(1,000 lb) or other stores that were hung on traversing racks under the wing centre section (to and from the bomb room in the fuselage). Later, depth charges (usually 250 lb) were added. By late 1940, two Vickers K machine gun
s had been added to new hatches that were inserted into the upper sides of the fuselage just aft of the wing, with appropriate slipstream deflectors. A second gun was added to the nose turret. New constant speed propellers and deicing boots were installed as well during 1940.
The Sunderland had difficult in landing and taking off from rough water, but, other than in the open sea, it could be handled onto and off a short chop, by a skilled pilot. Many rescues were made, early in the war, of crews that were in the Channel having abandoned or ditched their aircraft, or abandoned their ship. In May 1941, during the Battle of Crete
Sunderlands transported as many as 82 armed men from place to place in one load. Steep ocean swells were never attempted, however a calm ocean could be suitable for landing and takeoff.
Beginning in October 1941, Sunderlands were fitted with ASV Mark II "Air to Surface Vessel" radar
. This was a primitive low frequency radar system operating at a wavelength of 1.5 m. It used a row of four prominent "stickleback" yagi antenna
s on top of the rear fuselage, two rows of four smaller aerials on either side of the fuselage beneath the stickleback antennas, and a single receiving aerial mounted under each wing outboard of the float and angled outward.
A total of 75 Sunderland Mark Is were built: 60 at Shorts' factories at Rochester and Belfast, Northern Ireland, and 15 by Blackburn Aircraft
at Dumbarton.
The tail turret was changed to an FN.4A turret that retained the four .303 guns of its predecessor but provided twice the ammunition capacity with 1,000 rounds per gun. Late production Mark IIs also had an FN.7 dorsal turret, mounted offset to the right just behind the wings and fitted with twin .303 machine guns. The hand held guns behind the wing were removed in these versions.
Only 43 Mark IIs were built, five of these by Blackburn.
The Mark III turned out to be the definitive Sunderland variant, with 461 built. Most were built by Shorts at Rochester and Belfast, a further 35 at a new (but temporary) Shorts plant at White Cross Bay, Windermere; while 170 were built by Blackburn Aircraft. The Sunderland Mark III proved to be one of the RAF Coastal Command's major weapons against the U-boats, along with the Consolidated PBY Catalina.
As the U-boats began to use Metox
passive receivers the ASV Mk II radar gave away the presence of aircraft and the number of sightings diminished drastically. The RAF response was to upgrade to the ASV Mk III, which operated in the 50 cm band, with antennas that could be faired into fewer more streamlined blisters. During the Mk III's life there were a large number of almost continuous improvements made, including the ASV Mk IIIA and four more machine guns in a fixed position in the wall of the forward fuselage just behind the turret (developed on RAAF aircraft first) with a simple bead and ring sight for the pilot.
Despite the 14-hour-long patrols expected of their crews, early Sunderland gunners were provided with only 500 rounds of ammunition each. Later 1,000 round ammunition boxes were installed in the turrets. The beam hatch guns were removed from Mk II aircraft but Mk IIIs and then Mk Is gained much more capable .5 guns, one each side.
Offensive weapons loads increased too. The introduction of the hydrostatically fused 250 lb (113.4 kg) depth charge
meant that additional weapons could be carried on the floor of the bomb room in wooden restraints, along with ammunition boxes of 10 and 25 lb anti-personnel bombs that could be hand launched from various hatches to harass U-boat crews otherwise manning the twin 37 and dual quadruple 20 mm cannons with which U-boats were fitted.
As radar detection became more effective there were more night patrols to catch U-boats on the surface charging their batteries. Attacking in the dark was a problem that was solved by carrying one inch (25.4 mm), electrically initiated flares and dropping then out of the rear chute of the aircraft as it got close to the surface vessel. Sunderlands were never fitted with Leigh light
s.
ML883 of RCAF Squadron 423 was a Mk IIIa with the following features:
engines, better defensive armament and other enhancements. The new Sunderland was intended for service in the Pacific. Although initially developed and two prototypes built as the "Sunderland Mark IV" it was different enough from the Sunderland line to be given a different name, the S.45 "Seaford".
Relative to the Mark III, the Mark IV had a stronger wing, larger tailplanes and a longer fuselage with some changes in hull form for better performance in the water. The armament was heavier with .50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns and 20 mm Hispano cannon.
The changes were so substantial that the new aircraft was redesignated the Short Seaford
. Thirty production examples were ordered; the first delivered too late to see combat and only eight production Seafords were completed and never got beyond operational trials with the RAF.
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The next production version was the Sunderland Mark V, which evolved out of crew concerns over the lack of power of the Pegasus engines. The weight creep (partly due to the addition of radar) that afflicted the Sunderland had resulted in running the Pegasus engines at combat power as a normal procedure and the overburdened engines had to be replaced regularly.
Australian Sunderland crews suggested that the Pegasus engines be replaced by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines. The 14-cylinder engines provided 1,200 hp (895 kW) each and were already in use on RAF Consolidated Catalinas and Douglas Dakotas, and so logistics and maintenance were straightforward. Two Mark IIIs were taken off the production lines in early 1944 and fitted with the American engines. Trials were conducted in early 1944 and the conversion proved all that was expected. The new engines with new featherable propellors provided greater performance with no real penalty in range. In particular, a Twin Wasp Sunderland could stay airborne if two engines were knocked out on the same wing while, in similar circumstances, a standard Mark III would steadily lose altitude. Production was switched to the Twin Wasp version and the first Mark V reached operational units in February 1945. Defensive armament fits were similar to those of the Mark III, but the Mark V was equipped with new centimetric ASV Mark VI C radar that had been used on some of the last production Mark IIIs as well.
A total of 155 Sunderland Mark Vs were built with another 33 Mark IIIs converted to Mark V specification. With the end of the war, large contracts for the Sunderland were cancelled and the last of these flying boats was delivered in June 1946, with a total production of 777 aircraft completed.
In late 1942, the British Overseas Airways Corporation
(BOAC) obtained six Sunderland Mark IIIs, which had been de-militarised on the production line, for service as mail carriers to Nigeria
and India
, with accommodation for either 22 passengers with 2 tons of freight or 16 passengers with 3 tons of freight. Armament was removed, the gun positions being faired over, and simple seating fitted in place of the bunks. As such they were operated by BOAC and the RAF jointly from Poole
to Lagos
and Calcutta. Six more Sunderland IIIs were obtained in 1943. Minor modifications to the engine angles and flight angle resulted in a significant increase in the cruise speed, which was a relatively unimportant issue for the combat Sunderlands. In late 1944, the RNZAF acquired four new Sunderland Mk IIIs already configured for transport duties. In the immediate postwar period, these were used by New Zealand's National Airways Corporation
to link South Pacific Islands in the "Coral Route" before TEAL
Short Sandringhams took over after 1947.
BOAC obtained more Mark IIIs and gradually came up with better accommodation for 24 passengers, including sleeping berths for 16. These conversions were given the name Hythe and BOAC operated 29 of them by the end of the war. In February 1946, the first of these, G-AGJM, made a 35,313 mile route survey from Poole to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo in 206 flying hours. It was the first British civil flying boat to visit China and Japan.
A more refined civilian conversion of the Sunderland was completed by the manufacturer as the postwar Sandringham. The Sandringham Mk. I used Pegasus engines while the Mk. II used Twin Wasp engines.
: Royal Canadian Air Force
: Norwegian Air Force
South Africa
In addition a few aircraft have been preserved as static museum exhibits.
Sunderland T9044 lies on the seabed off Pembroke Dock
in Wales. The site is protected, and The Pembroke Dock Sunderland Preservation Trust aims to recover the aircraft in the future.
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
patrol bomber
Patrol bomber
A maritime patrol aircraft , also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles - in particular anti-submarine, anti-ship and search and...
developed for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(RAF) by Short Brothers
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
. It took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in northeast England.
Based in part upon the S.23 Empire
Short Empire
The Short Empire was a passenger and mail carrying flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s, that flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, Asia and Australia...
flying boat, the flagship of Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
, the S.25 was extensively re-engineered for military service. It was one of the most powerful and widely used flying boats throughout the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and was involved in countering the threat posed by German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s in the Battle of the Atlantic. RAF Sunderlands also saw service throughout the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and continued in service until 1959. Sunderlands remained in service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
(RNZAF) until 1967.
Sunderlands converted for civil use, known as Short Sandringham
Short Sandringham
- External links :* -See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Jackson, A.J British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume Three. London: Putnam & Company Ltd, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X....
s, continued in airline operation until 1974. A single airworthy example remains on display in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Development
The early 1930s saw intense competition in developing long-range flying boats for intercontinental passenger service, but the United Kingdom had no match for the new American Sikorsky S-42Sikorsky S-42
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7....
flying boats, which were making headlines all over the world. Then, in 1934, the British Postmaster General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
declared that all first-class Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
sent overseas was to travel by air, effectively establishing a subsidy for the development of intercontinental air transport in a fashion similar to the U.S. domestic program a decade earlier. In response, Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
announced a competition between aircraft manufacturers to design and produce 28 flying boats, each weighing 18 tons (18.2 tonnes) and having a range of 700 mi (1,126.5 km) with capacity for 24 passengers.
The contract went almost directly to Short Brothers of Rochester. Although Short had long built flying boats for the military and for Imperial Airways, none of them was in the class of size and sophistication requested, but the business opportunity was too great to pass up. Oswald Short, head of the company, began a fast-track program to come up with a design for a flying boat far beyond anything the company had ever built.
While the first example of the new type (the S.23 Empire, which would later be a success in its own right), was under development, the British Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
was taking actions that would result in a purely military version of the Short flying boats. The 1933 Air Ministry Specification R.2/33 called for a next-generation flying boat for ocean reconnaissance. The new aircraft had to have four engines but could be either a monoplane or biplane design.
Specification R.2/33 was released roughly in parallel with the Imperial Airways requirement, and while Short continued to develop the S.23, it also worked on a response to R.2/33 at a lower priority. Chief Designer Arthur Gouge originally intended that a 37 mm COW gun be mounted in the bow with a single Lewis gun
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
in the tail. As with the S.23, he tried to make the drag as low as possible, while the nose was much longer than that of the S.23.
The military flying boat variant was designated S.25 and the design was submitted to the Air Ministry in 1934. Saunders-Roe
Saunders-Roe
Saunders-Roe Limited was a British aero- and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works East Cowes, Isle of Wight.-History:The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliot Verdon Roe and John Lord took a controlling interest in the boat-builders S.E. Saunders...
also designed a flying boat, the Saro A.33
Saro A.33
-References:*London, Peter. British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3.- External links :*...
, in response to the R.2/33 competition, and prototypes of both the S.25 and A.33 were ordered by the Ministry for evaluation. The initial S.25 prototype first took flight in October 1937.
Design
The S.25 shared much in common with the S.23 but it had a deeper hull profile. As construction proceeded the armament was changed to a single 0.303 Vickers K machine gunVickers K machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs...
in the nose turret and four 0.303 Browning machine guns
M1919 Browning machine gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
in the tail. Then there was a change in the tail turret to a powered version and Gouge had to devise a solution for the resulting movement aft of the aircraft's centre of gravity. The unarmed prototype (K4774) first flew, on 16 October 1937. Following some flight trials it was modified with a wing sweepback of 4° 15' by adding a spacer into the front spar attachments. This moved the centre of lift enough to compensate for the changed centre of gravity. The modified K4774 flew on 7 March 1938 with Bristol Pegasus XXII engines of 1010 hp.
As with the S.23, the Sunderland's fuselage contained two decks with six bunks on the lower one, a galley with a twin kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
pressure stove, a yacht-style porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
flush toilet
Flush toilet
A flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...
, an anchoring winch, and a small machine shop for inflight repairs. The crew was originally intended to be seven but increased in later versions to 11 crew members or more.
It was of all-metal, mainly flush-riveted construction except for the control surfaces, which were of fabric-covered metal frame construction. The flaps were Gouge-patented devices
Gouge flap
The Gouge flap, invented by Arthur Gouge of Short Brothers in 1936, allowed the pilot to increase both the wing area and the chord of an aircraft's wing. This provided the benefit of a shorter take-off distance for a given load, a shorter distance to achieve a given height and a lower take-off speed...
that moved rearwards and down, increasing the wing area and adding 30% more lift for landing.
The thick wings carried the four nacelle-mounted Pegasus engines and accommodated six drum fuel tanks with a total capacity of 9,200 litres (2,025 Imperial gallons, 2,430 U.S. gallons). Four smaller fuel tanks were added later behind the rear wing spar to give a total fuel capacity of 11,602 litres (2,550 Imperial gallons, 3,037 U.S. gallons), enough for eight- to 14-hour patrols.
The specification had called for an offensive armament of a 37 mm gun and up to 2000 lb (907.2 kg) of bombs, mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
or (eventually) depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. The ordnance was stored inside the fuselage in a bomb room and was winched up to racks, under the wing centre section, that could be traversed out through doors on each side of the fuselage above the waterline to the release position. Defensive armament included a Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thompson was a British engineering firm that specialised in the production of hydraulically-operated gun turrets for aircraft. The company was also an important manufacturer of hydraulic powered radar scanners, used on radar systems such as H2S and AI Mark VIII.- History :Nash & Thompson was...
FN-13 powered turret with four .303 British
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
Browning machine guns in the extreme tail and a manually operated .303 on either side of the fuselage, firing from ports just below and behind the wings. These were later upgraded to 0.5-inch calibre Brownings. There were two different nose turret weapons, the most common, later, being two Browning machine guns. The nose weapons were later augmented by four fixed guns, two each side, in the forward fuselage that were fired by the pilot. Much later a twin-gun turret was to be dorsal-mounted on the upper fuselage, about level with the wing trailing edge, bringing the total defensive armament up to 16 machine guns.
Portable beaching gear could be attached by ground crew so that the aircraft could be pulled up on land. The gear consisted of a pair of two-wheeled struts that could be attached to either side of the fuselage, below the wing, with a two- or four-wheel trolley and towbar attached under the rear of the hull.
Equipment and on-water management
As with all water-based aircraft, there was a need to be able to navigate on water and to control the craft up to and at a mooring. In addition to the standard navigation lights, there was also a demountable mooring mast that was positioned on the upper fuselage just aft of the astrodomeAstrodome (aviation)
An astrodome is a hemispherical transparent dome fitted in the cabin roof of an aircraft to allow the use of a sextant during astro-navigation....
hatch with a 360-degree white light to show that the aircraft was moored. The crewmembers were trained in common marine signals for watercraft to ensure safety in busy waters.
The craft could be moored to a buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
by a pendant
Pendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...
that attached to the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
under the forward fuselage. When the craft was off the buoy, the forward end of the pendant was attached to the front of the hull just below the bomb aimer's window. For anchoring, there was a demountable bollard
Bollard
A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally it meant a post used on a ship or a quay, principally for mooring. The word now also describes a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic, such as posts arranged in a line to obstruct the passage of motor vehicles...
that fixed to the forward fuselage from where the front turret was retracted to allow an airman to man the position and pick up the buoy cage or to toss out the anchor.
A standard stocked anchor was stowed in the forward compartment alongside the anchor winch. Depending on the operating area, a number of different kinds of anchor could be carried to cope with different anchorages.
For taxiing after landing, the galley hatches were used to extend sea drogue
Drogue
A drogue is a device external to the boat, attached to the stern used to slow a boat down in a storm and to keep the hull perpendicular to the waves. The boat will not speed excessively down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one nor will it broach. By slowing the vessel in heavy...
s that could be used to turn the aircraft or maintain its crosswind progress (by deploying the drogue on one side only), or to slow forward motion as much as possible (both deployed). When not in use, the drogues were hand hauled back inboard, folded, and stowed in wall-mounted containers just below the hatches. Operation of the drogues could be a very dangerous exercise if the aircraft was travelling on the water at speed or in strong currents, because the approximately three-ft (1 m) -diameter drogue would haul up on its five-tonne attachment cable end inside the galley very sharply and powerfully. Once deployed, it was normally impossible to recover a drogue unless the aircraft was stationary relative to the local tidal flow.
Another means of direction control on the water was by application of the rudder and aileron flight controls. The ailerons would cause asymmetric lift from the airflow and, ultimately, drop a float into the water to cause drag on that wing. The pilots could vary engine power to control the direction and speed of the aircraft on the water. In adverse combinations of tide, wind, and destination, this could be very difficult.
Access and servicing
The Sunderland was usually entered through the bow compartment door on the left forward side of the aircraft. The internal compartments — bow, gun room, ward room, galley, bomb room, and the after compartments — were fitted with swash doors to keep them watertight to about two feet (610 mm) above normal water level. These doors were normally kept closed.There was another external door in the tail compartment on the right side. This door was intended for boarding from a Braby (U-shaped) pontoon
Pontoon (boat)
A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...
that was used where there was a full passenger service mooring alongside a wharf or similar. This door could also be used to accept passengers or stretcher-bound patients when the aircraft was in the open water. This was because the engines had to be kept running to maintain the aircraft's position for the approaching vessel and the front door was too close to the left inboard propeller.
Normal access to the external upper parts of the aircraft was through the astrodome hatch at the front of the front spar of the wing centre section, just at the rear of the navigator's station.
Bombs were loaded in through the "bomb doors" that formed the upper half walls of the bomb room on both sides. The bomb racks were able to run in and out from the bomb room on tracks in the underside of the wing. To load them, weapons were hoisted up to the extended racks that were run inboard and either lowered to stowages on the floor or prepared for use on the retracted racks above the stowed items. The doors were spring-loaded to pop inwards from their frames and would fall under gravity so that the racks could run out through the space left in the top of the compartment. The doors could be released locally or remotely from the pilot's position during a bomb run. Normally the weapons were either bombs or depth charges and the racks were limited to a maximum of 1000 lb (453.6 kg) each. After the first salvo was dropped, the crew had to get the next eight weapons loaded before the pilot had the aircraft positioned on the next bombing run.
The fixed nose guns (introduced when in service with Australian units) were removed when the aircraft was on the water and stowed in the gun room just aft of the bow compartment. The toilet was in the right half of this same compartment and stairs from the cockpit to the bow area divided the two.
Maintenance was performed on the engines by opening panels in the leading edge of the wing either side of the powerplant. A plank could be fitted across the front of the engine on the extensions of the open panels. A small manually started auxiliary petrol engine, which was fitted into the leading edge of the right wing, powered a bilge
Bilge
The bilge is the lowest compartment on a ship where the two sides meet at the keel. The word was coined in 1513.-Bilge water:The word is sometimes also used to describe the water that collects in this compartment. Water that does not drain off the side of the deck drains down through the ship into...
and a fuel pump for clearing water and other fluids from the fuselage bilges and for refuelling. Generally, the aircraft were reasonably water tight, and two people manually operating a wobble pump could transfer fuel faster than the auxiliary pump.
In sheltered moorings or at sea, fuelling was accomplished by a powered or unpowered barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
and with engine driven or hand powered pumps. At regular moorings, there would be specially designed refuelling barges to do the job, normally manned by trained marine crew. These vessels could refuel many aircraft during the course of the day. Handling of the fuel nozzles and opening/closing the aircraft fuel tanks would normally be an aircraftman's task.
Airframe repairs were either effected from the inside or delayed until the aircraft was in a sheltered mooring or beached. One of the serious problems was that the heat-treated rivets in the hull plates were susceptible to corrosion after a period in salt water (depending on the quality of the heat treatment process). The heads would pop off from stress corrosion, and leaks would start into the bilges. The only resort was to haul the aircraft out onto the "hard" and replace them, usually at the cost of many additional heads coming off because of the riveting vibrations.
Damage control
A large float mounted under each wing stopped the aircraft from toppling over on the water. With no wind, the float on the heavier side was always in the water; with some wind, the aircraft could be held using the ailerons with both floats out of the water. In the event of a float being broken off for some reason, as the craft lost airspeed after landing crew members would go out onto the opposite wing, to keep the remaining float in the water until the aircraft could reach its mooring.Aircraft with lower hull damage were patched or had the holes filled with any materials to hand before landing. The aircraft would then be immediately put onto a slipway with its wheeled beaching gear or beached on a sandy shore before it could sink. More than two fuselage compartments had to be full of water to sink the aircraft. During the Second World War, a number of severely damaged aircraft were deliberately landed on grass airfields ashore. In at least one case, an aircraft that made a grass landing was repaired to fly again.
Marine growths on the hull were a problem; the resulting drag could be enough to prevent a fully loaded aircraft from gaining enough speed to become airborne. The aircraft could be taken to a freshwater mooring for sufficient time to kill off the fauna and flora growing on the bottom, which would then be washed away during takeoff runs. The alternative was to scrub it off, either in the water or on the hard.
The takeoff run of a flying boat was often dependent only on the length of water that was available. The first problem was to gain sufficient speed for the craft to plane
Planing (sailing)
Planing is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift .-History:...
, otherwise there would never be enough speed to become airborne. Once planing, the next problem was to break free from the suction (from Bernoulli's principle
Bernoulli's principle
In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that for an inviscid flow, an increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy...
) of the water on the hull. This was partly helped by the "step" in the hull just behind the craft's centre of buoyancy at planing speed. The pilot could rock the craft about this point to try to break the downward pull of the water on the surface of the hull. Somewhat rough water was a help in freeing the hull from the water, but on calm days it was often necessary to have a high speed launch
Launch (boat)
A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...
cross in front of the aircraft to cause a break in the water flow under the aircraft. It was a matter of judgement of the coxswain
Coxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...
to get the crossing close enough but not too close. Because it was expected that some takeoffs would be protracted affairs, often the crews were not very careful to keep within maximum all-up weight limitations, and getting airborne just took a little longer.
On Mk V aircraft, fuel could be dumped from retractable pipes that extended from the hull and were attached the bomb room side of the galley aft bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
. It was expected that dumping would be done while airborne, but it could also be done on the water, with care to ensure that the floating fuel went downwind away from the aircraft.
Second World War
During the Second World War, although British anti-submarine efforts were disorganized and ineffectual at first, Sunderlands quickly proved useful in the rescue of the crews from torpedoed ships. On 21 September 1939, two Sunderlands rescued the entire 34-man crew of the torpedoed merchantman Kensington Court from the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. As British anti-submarine measures improved, the Sunderland began to show its claws as well. A Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) Sunderland (of No. 10 Squadron
No. 10 Squadron RAAF
No. 10 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. The Squadron was first formed in 1939 and has seen active service in World War II, East Timor, the War on Terrorism and the 2003 Gulf War.-Second World War:...
) made the type's first unassisted kill of a U-boat on 17 July 1940.
As aircrew honed their combat skills, the Sunderland Mark I received various improvements. The nose turret was upgraded with a second .303 (7.7 mm) gun. New propellers together with pneumatic rubber wing de-icing boots were also fitted.
Although the .303 guns lacked range and hitting power, the Sunderland had a fair number of them and it was a well-built machine that was hard to destroy. On 3 April 1940, a Sunderland operating off Norway was attacked by six German Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
medium bombers. It shot one down, damaged another enough to send it off to a forced landing and drove off the rest. The Germans are reported to have nicknamed the Sunderland the Fliegendes Stachelschwein ("Flying Porcupine") due to its defensive firepower.
Sunderlands also proved themselves in the Mediterranean theatre. They performed valiantly in evacuations during the German seizure of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, carrying a surprising number of passengers. One flew the reconnaissance mission to observe the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
before the famous Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
's torpedo attack on 11 November 1940
Battle of Taranto
The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea...
.
New weapons made the flying boats more deadly in combat. In 1939, one 100 lb anti-submarine bomb hit HMS Snapper
HMS Snapper (39S)
HMS Snapper was a Royal Navy S-class submarine which was launched October 25, 1934 and fought in World War II. Snapper is one of 12 boats named in the song Twelve Little S-Boats.-Career:...
merely breaking its light bulbs whilst other bombs had reportedly bounced up and hit their launch aircraft. In early 1943, these ineffective weapons were replaced by Torpex
Torpex
Torpex is a secondary explosive 50% more powerful than TNT by mass. Torpex is composed of 42% RDX, 40% TNT and 18% powdered aluminium. It was used in the Second World War from late 1942. The name is short for Torpedo Explosive', having been originally developed for use in torpedoes...
-filled depth charges that would sink to a determined depth and then explode. This eliminated the problem of bounce back and the shock wave propagating through the water augmented the explosive effect.
While the bright Leigh searchlight
Leigh light
The Leigh Light was a British World War II era anti-submarine device used in the Second Battle of the Atlantic.It was a powerful carbon arc searchlight of 24 inches diameter fitted to a number of the British Royal Air Force's Coastal Command patrol bombers to help them spot surfaced...
was rarely fitted to Sunderlands, ASV Mark II radar enabled the flying boats to attack U-boats on the surface. In response, the German submarines began to carry a radar warning system known as "Metox
Metox
The Metox, named after its manufacturer, was a pioneering high frequency very sensitive radar warning receiver manufactured by a small French company in occupied Paris, which could detect ASV transmissions from patrolling Allied aircraft. It is not clear whether the design was German or French or...
", also known as the "Cross of Biscay" due to the appearance of its receiving antenna, that was tuned to the ASV frequency and gave the submarines early warning that an aircraft was in the area. Kills fell off drastically until ASV Mark III radar was introduced in early 1943, which operated in the centimetric band and used antennae mounted in blisters under the wings outboard of the floats, instead of the cluttered stickleback aerials. Sunderland Mark IIIs fitted with ASV Mark III were called Sunderland Mark IIIAs. Centimetric radar was invisible to Metox and baffled the Germans at first. Admiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
, commander of the German U-boat force, suspected that the British were being informed of submarine movements by spies. In August 1943, a captured RAF airman misled the Germans by telling them that the aircraft were homing in on the signals radiated by the Metox, and consequently U-boat commanders were instructed to turn them off.
In any case, the Germans responded by fitting U-boats with one or two 37 mm and twin quad 20 mm flak guns to shoot it out with the attackers. While Sunderlands could suppress flak to an extent by hosing the U-boat with their nose turret guns, the U-boats had the edge by far in range and hitting power, and firing accuracy (although most attempts to shoot down Allied aircraft are in vain as this prolonged the U-boat's presence on the surface, which made the sinking of these U-boats easier. This however, temporarily dropped U-boat losses while both Allied aircraft and shipping losses rose, and the UBW was able to make up for some of their losses). To help improve the odds, the Australians first fitted their aircraft in the field with an additional four .303s in fixed mounts in the nose, allowing the pilot to add fire while diving on the submarine before bomb release. Most aircraft were similarly modified. The addition of single .50 inch (12.7 mm) flexibly mounted M2 Browning machine guns in the (previously emptied) beam hatches behind and above the wing trailing edge also became common.
The rifle calibre .303 guns lacked hitting power but the Sunderland retained its reputation for being able to take care of itself. This reputation was enhanced by an air battle between eight Junkers Ju 88C long range heavy fighter
Heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges. To achieve acceptable performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engined, and many had multi-place crews....
s and a single Sunderland Mark III of No. 461 Squadron RAAF
No. 461 Squadron RAAF
No. 461 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron of World War II which operated under Royal Air Force control flying in Europe and over the Atlantic. The Squadron was formed in 1942 and was disbanded in 1945.-Squadron history:...
on 2 June 1943. This was one of several stories of the type's operations related by author Ivan Southall
Ivan Southall
Ivan Francis Southall AM, DFC was an award-winning Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. He was the first and still the only Australian to win the Carnegie Medal in Literature for children's literature. His books include Hills End, Ash Road, Josh, and Let the Balloon Go...
, who flew in Sunderlands during the war. There were 11 crewmen on board the Sunderland; nine Australians and two British.
The aircraft was on an anti-submarine patrol and also searching for remains of BOAC Flight 777
BOAC Flight 777
BOAC Flight 777-A, a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight on 1 June 1943 from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal, to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, United Kingdom, was attacked by eight German Junkers Ju 88s and crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing 17 "souls...
, an airliner that had left Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
the day before and had subsequently been shot down over the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, killing 17, among them, the actor Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard (actor)
Leslie Howard was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer. Among his best-known roles was Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind and roles in Berkeley Square , Of Human Bondage , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Petrified Forest , Pygmalion , Intermezzo , Pimpernel Smith...
. In the late afternoon, one of the crew spotted the eight Ju 88s. Bombs and depth charges were dumped and the engines brought to maximum power. Two Ju 88s made passes at the flying boat, one from each side, scoring hits and disabling one engine while the Sunderland went through wild "corkscrew" evasive manoeuvres. On the third pass, the dorsal turret gunner shot one down. Another Ju 88 disabled the tail turret, but the next one that made a pass was hit by both the dorsal and nose turrets and shot down. Another destroyed the Sunderland's radio gear, wounding most of the crew to varying degrees and mortally wounding one of the side gunners. A Ju 88 tried to attack from the rear, but the tail turret gunner had regained some control over the turret and shot it down. The surviving Ju 88s continued to attack, but the nose gunner damaged one of these, setting its engines on fire. Two more of the attackers were also hit and the final pair disengaged and departed, the only two to make it back to base. The Sunderland had been heavily damaged. The crew threw everything they could overboard and nursed the aircraft back to the Cornish
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
coast, where pilot Colin Walker managed to land and beach it at Praa Sands
Praa Sands
Praa Sands is a coastal village in the Parish of Breage, located off the main road between Helston and Penzance in Cornwall, England, UK...
. The crew waded ashore, carrying their dead comrade, while the surf broke the Sunderland up. Walker received the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and several of the other crew members also received medals. With the exception of Walker, the crew returned to Sunderlands - they disappeared without trace over the Bay of Biscay two months later after reporting that they were under attack by six Ju 88s.
Postwar
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
were simply taken out to sea and scuttled as there was nothing else to do with them. In Europe it was removed from service relatively quickly but in the Far East, where well developed runways were less common and large land based maritime patrol aircraft like the new Avro Shackleton
Avro Shackleton
The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...
could not be used so easily, there was still a need for it, and it remained in service with the RAF Far East Air Force
RAF Far East Air Force
The former Royal Air Force Far East Air Force, more simply known as RAF Far East Air Force, was the Command organisation that controlled all Royal Air Force assets in the east of Asia . It was originally formed as Air Command, South East Asia in 1943...
at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
until 1959, and with the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
's No. 5 Squadron RNZAF
No. 5 Squadron RNZAF
No. 5 Squadron RNZAF is a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force formed during November 1941 in Fiji. It remains on active duty and logged 2,300 hours flight time in 2007.-World War II:...
until 1967.
Finkenwerder
Finkenwerder is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is the location of a plant of Airbus and its airport...
on the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
near Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
to the isolated city, landing on the Havel
Havel
The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...
river beside RAF Gatow
RAF Gatow
Known for most of its operational life as Royal Air Force Station Gatow, or more commonly RAF Gatow, this former British Royal Air Force military airbase is in the district of Gatow in south-western Berlin, west of the Havel river, in the borough of Spandau...
until it iced over. The Sunderlands were particularly used for transporting salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, as their airframes were already protected against corrosion from seawater. Transporting salt in standard aircraft risked rapid and severe structural corrosion in the event of a spillage. When the Havelsee did freeze over the Sunderland's role was taken by freight-converted Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
es with salt being carried in pannier
Pannier
A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket....
s fitted under the fuselage to avoid the corrosion problem.
From mid-1950, RAF Sunderlands also saw service during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
initially with No. 88 Squadron but shortly followed by Nos. 205 and 209 Squadrons. The three squadrons shared the operational task equally with rotational detachments of three or four aircraft and crews based at Iwakuni, Japan. Missions lasting 10 to 13 hours were flown daily throughout the war, and also during the Armistice period that followed, until September 1954. The Sunderland also saw service with the RNZAF until 1967.
The French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
Escadrille 7FE, which received Sunderlands when it was formed in 1943 as No. 343 Squadron RAF
No. 343 Squadron RAF
The No. 343 Squadron was a Free French anti-submarine patrol squadron given a Royal Air Force squadron number during World War II.-History:The squadron was formed at Dakar, Senegal on 29 November 1943 from Flotille 7E and equipped with British Sunderland flying boats...
, continued to operate them until December 1960, the last unit to operate Sunderlands in the Northern Hemisphere.
Prototype
The first S.25, now named the Sunderland Mark I, flew from the River MedwayRiver Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
on 16 October 1937 with Shorts' Chief Test Pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
, John Lankester Parker
John Lankester Parker
John Lankester Parker OBE FRAeS Hon. MSLAE was Chief Test Pilot for Short Brothers from 1918 until his retirement in 1945. He joined Shorts in 1916 as a part-time test pilot and assistant to then Chief Test Pilot Ronald Kemp, having been recommended for the post by Captain, later Admiral Sir,...
at the controls. The deeper hull and installation of nose and tail turrets gave the Sunderland a considerably different appearance from the Empire flying boats. The prototype was fitted with Bristol Pegasus X engines, each providing 950 hp (709 kW ), as the planned Pegasus XXII engines of 1,010 hp (753 kW) were not available at the time.
The 37 mm gun, originally intended as a primary anti-submarine weapon, was dropped from the plans during the prototype phase and replaced with a Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thomson
Nash & Thompson was a British engineering firm that specialised in the production of hydraulically-operated gun turrets for aircraft. The company was also an important manufacturer of hydraulic powered radar scanners, used on radar systems such as H2S and AI Mark VIII.- History :Nash & Thompson was...
FN-11 nose turret mounting a single .303 inch (7.7 mm)
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
Vickers GO machine gun. The turret could be winched back into the nose, revealing a small "deck" and demountable marine bollard
Bollard
A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally it meant a post used on a ship or a quay, principally for mooring. The word now also describes a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic, such as posts arranged in a line to obstruct the passage of motor vehicles...
used during mooring manoeuvres on the water. The change of armament in the nose to the much lighter gun moved the centre of gravity rearwards.
After the first series of flights the aircraft was returned to the workshop and the wing was swept 4.25° to the rear, thereby moving the centre of pressure into a more reasonable position in relation to the new centre of gravity. This left the engines and wing floats canted out from the aircraft's centreline. Although the wing loading was much higher than that of any previous Royal Air Force flying boat, a new flap
Flap (aircraft)
Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
system kept the takeoff run to a reasonable length and the aircraft first flew with the new wing sweep and the uprated Pegasus XXII engines on 7 March 1938.
Official enthusiasm for the type had been so great that in March 1936, well before the first flight of the prototype, the Air Ministry ordered 21 production examples. Meanwhile, delivery of the other contender Saro A.33
Saro A.33
-References:*London, Peter. British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7509-2695-3.- External links :*...
was delayed and it did not fly until October 1938. The aircraft was written off after it suffered structural failure during high speed taxi trials and no other prototypes were built.
Sunderland Mark I
The RAF received its first Sunderland Mark I in June 1938 when the second production aircraft (L2159) was flown to 230 SquadronNo. 230 Squadron RAF
No. 230 Squadron is an RAF squadron, currently based at RAF Benson.The squadron was part of Royal Air Force Germany, operating the Puma HC.1 there from 1980. Following the drawdown at the end of the Cold War, the squadron disbanded on 30 April 1992...
at RAF Seletar, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. By the outbreak of war in Europe, in September 1939, RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
was operating 40 Sunderlands.
The main offensive load was up to 2000 lb (907.2 kg) of bombs (usually 250 or 500 lb), mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
(1,000 lb) or other stores that were hung on traversing racks under the wing centre section (to and from the bomb room in the fuselage). Later, depth charges (usually 250 lb) were added. By late 1940, two Vickers K machine gun
Vickers K machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs...
s had been added to new hatches that were inserted into the upper sides of the fuselage just aft of the wing, with appropriate slipstream deflectors. A second gun was added to the nose turret. New constant speed propellers and deicing boots were installed as well during 1940.
The Sunderland had difficult in landing and taking off from rough water, but, other than in the open sea, it could be handled onto and off a short chop, by a skilled pilot. Many rescues were made, early in the war, of crews that were in the Channel having abandoned or ditched their aircraft, or abandoned their ship. In May 1941, during the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
Sunderlands transported as many as 82 armed men from place to place in one load. Steep ocean swells were never attempted, however a calm ocean could be suitable for landing and takeoff.
Beginning in October 1941, Sunderlands were fitted with ASV Mark II "Air to Surface Vessel" radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
. This was a primitive low frequency radar system operating at a wavelength of 1.5 m. It used a row of four prominent "stickleback" yagi antenna
Yagi antenna
A Yagi-Uda array, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna, is a directional antenna consisting of a driven element and additional parasitic elements...
s on top of the rear fuselage, two rows of four smaller aerials on either side of the fuselage beneath the stickleback antennas, and a single receiving aerial mounted under each wing outboard of the float and angled outward.
A total of 75 Sunderland Mark Is were built: 60 at Shorts' factories at Rochester and Belfast, Northern Ireland, and 15 by Blackburn Aircraft
Blackburn Aircraft
Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft during the first part of the 20th century.-History:...
at Dumbarton.
Sunderland Mark II
In August 1941, production moved on to the Sunderland Mark II which used Pegasus XVIII engines with two-speed superchargers, producing 1,065 hp (794 kW) each.The tail turret was changed to an FN.4A turret that retained the four .303 guns of its predecessor but provided twice the ammunition capacity with 1,000 rounds per gun. Late production Mark IIs also had an FN.7 dorsal turret, mounted offset to the right just behind the wings and fitted with twin .303 machine guns. The hand held guns behind the wing were removed in these versions.
Only 43 Mark IIs were built, five of these by Blackburn.
Sunderland Mark III
Production quickly changed in December 1941 to the Sunderland Mark III which featured a revised hull configuration which had been tested on a Mark I the previous June. This modification improved seaworthiness, which had suffered as the weight of the Sunderland increased with new marks and field changes. In earlier Sunderlands, the hull "step" that allows a flying boat to "unstick" from the surface of the sea was an abrupt one, but in the Mk III it was a curve upwards from the forward hull line.The Mark III turned out to be the definitive Sunderland variant, with 461 built. Most were built by Shorts at Rochester and Belfast, a further 35 at a new (but temporary) Shorts plant at White Cross Bay, Windermere; while 170 were built by Blackburn Aircraft. The Sunderland Mark III proved to be one of the RAF Coastal Command's major weapons against the U-boats, along with the Consolidated PBY Catalina.
As the U-boats began to use Metox
Metox
The Metox, named after its manufacturer, was a pioneering high frequency very sensitive radar warning receiver manufactured by a small French company in occupied Paris, which could detect ASV transmissions from patrolling Allied aircraft. It is not clear whether the design was German or French or...
passive receivers the ASV Mk II radar gave away the presence of aircraft and the number of sightings diminished drastically. The RAF response was to upgrade to the ASV Mk III, which operated in the 50 cm band, with antennas that could be faired into fewer more streamlined blisters. During the Mk III's life there were a large number of almost continuous improvements made, including the ASV Mk IIIA and four more machine guns in a fixed position in the wall of the forward fuselage just behind the turret (developed on RAAF aircraft first) with a simple bead and ring sight for the pilot.
Despite the 14-hour-long patrols expected of their crews, early Sunderland gunners were provided with only 500 rounds of ammunition each. Later 1,000 round ammunition boxes were installed in the turrets. The beam hatch guns were removed from Mk II aircraft but Mk IIIs and then Mk Is gained much more capable .5 guns, one each side.
Offensive weapons loads increased too. The introduction of the hydrostatically fused 250 lb (113.4 kg) depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
meant that additional weapons could be carried on the floor of the bomb room in wooden restraints, along with ammunition boxes of 10 and 25 lb anti-personnel bombs that could be hand launched from various hatches to harass U-boat crews otherwise manning the twin 37 and dual quadruple 20 mm cannons with which U-boats were fitted.
As radar detection became more effective there were more night patrols to catch U-boats on the surface charging their batteries. Attacking in the dark was a problem that was solved by carrying one inch (25.4 mm), electrically initiated flares and dropping then out of the rear chute of the aircraft as it got close to the surface vessel. Sunderlands were never fitted with Leigh light
Leigh light
The Leigh Light was a British World War II era anti-submarine device used in the Second Battle of the Atlantic.It was a powerful carbon arc searchlight of 24 inches diameter fitted to a number of the British Royal Air Force's Coastal Command patrol bombers to help them spot surfaced...
s.
Sunderland Mark IIIa
The Sunderland Mark IIIa was more of an "evolution" of the Mark III with no documentation to define exactly which features were included. Photos of the Mark IIIa suggest varying numbers of bomb door windows and either the original Bristol Pegasus or the newer Pratt & Whitney engines.ML883 of RCAF Squadron 423 was a Mk IIIa with the following features:
- Bristol Pegasus XVIII engines
- Two windows per bomb door (while ML422 was another Mk IIIa but with three windows per bomb door)
- Radar blisters under the wingtips
- Four additional fixed machine guns just aft of the forward turret
Sunderland Mark IV
The Sunderland Mark IV was an outgrowth of the 1942 Air Ministry Specification R.8/42, for a generally improved Sunderland with more powerful Bristol HerculesBristol Hercules
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, B. Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways. Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-526-8*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...
engines, better defensive armament and other enhancements. The new Sunderland was intended for service in the Pacific. Although initially developed and two prototypes built as the "Sunderland Mark IV" it was different enough from the Sunderland line to be given a different name, the S.45 "Seaford".
Relative to the Mark III, the Mark IV had a stronger wing, larger tailplanes and a longer fuselage with some changes in hull form for better performance in the water. The armament was heavier with .50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns and 20 mm Hispano cannon.
The changes were so substantial that the new aircraft was redesignated the Short Seaford
Short Seaford
-Survivor:J203 RAF Short Sunderland IV/Seaford I S-45 NJ203. 1947 Converted to Short Solent 3 by Short Bros Belfast. 1949 BOAC G-AKNP “City of Cardiff". 1951 Trans Oceanic Airways of Australia as VH-TOB "Star of Papua". 1953 South Pacific Air Lines as N9946F "Isle of Tahiti". Last flew 1958. 1958...
. Thirty production examples were ordered; the first delivered too late to see combat and only eight production Seafords were completed and never got beyond operational trials with the RAF.
Sunderland Mark V
Australian Sunderland crews suggested that the Pegasus engines be replaced by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines. The 14-cylinder engines provided 1,200 hp (895 kW) each and were already in use on RAF Consolidated Catalinas and Douglas Dakotas, and so logistics and maintenance were straightforward. Two Mark IIIs were taken off the production lines in early 1944 and fitted with the American engines. Trials were conducted in early 1944 and the conversion proved all that was expected. The new engines with new featherable propellors provided greater performance with no real penalty in range. In particular, a Twin Wasp Sunderland could stay airborne if two engines were knocked out on the same wing while, in similar circumstances, a standard Mark III would steadily lose altitude. Production was switched to the Twin Wasp version and the first Mark V reached operational units in February 1945. Defensive armament fits were similar to those of the Mark III, but the Mark V was equipped with new centimetric ASV Mark VI C radar that had been used on some of the last production Mark IIIs as well.
A total of 155 Sunderland Mark Vs were built with another 33 Mark IIIs converted to Mark V specification. With the end of the war, large contracts for the Sunderland were cancelled and the last of these flying boats was delivered in June 1946, with a total production of 777 aircraft completed.
Transport variants
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
(BOAC) obtained six Sunderland Mark IIIs, which had been de-militarised on the production line, for service as mail carriers to Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, with accommodation for either 22 passengers with 2 tons of freight or 16 passengers with 3 tons of freight. Armament was removed, the gun positions being faired over, and simple seating fitted in place of the bunks. As such they were operated by BOAC and the RAF jointly from Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
to Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
and Calcutta. Six more Sunderland IIIs were obtained in 1943. Minor modifications to the engine angles and flight angle resulted in a significant increase in the cruise speed, which was a relatively unimportant issue for the combat Sunderlands. In late 1944, the RNZAF acquired four new Sunderland Mk IIIs already configured for transport duties. In the immediate postwar period, these were used by New Zealand's National Airways Corporation
National Airways Corporation
National Airways Corporation was the national domestic airline of New Zealand from 1947 until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington...
to link South Pacific Islands in the "Coral Route" before TEAL
TEAL
Tasman Empire Airways Limited was the forerunner of Air New Zealand. It was first registered in Wellington as a limited liability company on 26 April 1940....
Short Sandringhams took over after 1947.
BOAC obtained more Mark IIIs and gradually came up with better accommodation for 24 passengers, including sleeping berths for 16. These conversions were given the name Hythe and BOAC operated 29 of them by the end of the war. In February 1946, the first of these, G-AGJM, made a 35,313 mile route survey from Poole to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo in 206 flying hours. It was the first British civil flying boat to visit China and Japan.
A more refined civilian conversion of the Sunderland was completed by the manufacturer as the postwar Sandringham. The Sandringham Mk. I used Pegasus engines while the Mk. II used Twin Wasp engines.
Military operators
- Royal Australian Air ForceRoyal Australian Air ForceThe Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
-
- No. 10 Squadron RAAFNo. 10 Squadron RAAFNo. 10 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. The Squadron was first formed in 1939 and has seen active service in World War II, East Timor, the War on Terrorism and the 2003 Gulf War.-Second World War:...
- No. 40 Squadron RAAFNo. 40 Squadron RAAFNo. 40 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force transport squadron of World War II. It was formed in March 1944 and operated flying boats between Australia and New Guinea. The squadron was disbanded in June 1946.-Squadron history:...
- No. 461 Squadron RAAFNo. 461 Squadron RAAFNo. 461 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron of World War II which operated under Royal Air Force control flying in Europe and over the Atlantic. The Squadron was formed in 1942 and was disbanded in 1945.-Squadron history:...
- No. 10 Squadron RAAF
: Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
-
- No. 422 Squadron RCAFNo. 422 Squadron RCAFNo. 422 Squadron RCAF was a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II.422 General Reconnaissance Squadron formed at RAF Castle Archdale near Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, in April 1942. It was a flying-boat squadron, flying PBY Catalinas and Short Sunderlands to patrol the...
- No. 423 Squadron RCAFNo. 423 Squadron RCAF423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Forces under Royal Canadian Air Force. It currently operates the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King from CFB Shearwater in Nova Scotia, Canada.-History:...
- No. 422 Squadron RCAF
- French NavyFrench NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
-
- No. 343 Squadron RAFNo. 343 Squadron RAFThe No. 343 Squadron was a Free French anti-submarine patrol squadron given a Royal Air Force squadron number during World War II.-History:The squadron was formed at Dakar, Senegal on 29 November 1943 from Flotille 7E and equipped with British Sunderland flying boats...
, later Escadrille 7FE - Flottille 1FE
- Flottille 7F
- Flottille 27F
- Escadrilles 12S
- Escadrilles 50S
- Escadrilles 53S
- No. 343 Squadron RAF
- Royal New Zealand Air ForceRoyal New Zealand Air ForceThe Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
-
- No. 5 Squadron RNZAFNo. 5 Squadron RNZAFNo. 5 Squadron RNZAF is a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force formed during November 1941 in Fiji. It remains on active duty and logged 2,300 hours flight time in 2007.-World War II:...
- No. 6 Squadron RNZAFNo. 6 Squadron RNZAFNo. 6 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force is the squadron operating New Zealand's navy's air arm. While historically having been disbanded several times through changes in the country's military structure, it has a history going back to before World War II, when it operated flying boats. The...
- No. 490 Squadron RNZAFNo. 490 Squadron RNZAF490 Squadron was formed from pilots of the Royal New Zealand Air Force under RAF Coastal Command as an anti-submarine and reconnaissance unit.-History:...
- No. 5 Squadron RNZAF
: Norwegian Air Force
-
- No. 330 Squadron RNoAF
- Portuguese NavyPortuguese NavyThe Portuguese Navy is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the military defence of Portugal....
South Africa
- South African Air ForceSouth African Air ForceThe South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
-
- No. 35 Squadron SAAF
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
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- No. 88 Squadron RAFNo. 88 Squadron RAFNo 88 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force formed at Gosport, Hampshire in July 1917.-Involvement in World War I:The squadron was moved to France in April 1918 where it undertook fighter-reconnaissance duties...
- No. 95 Squadron RAFNo. 95 Squadron RAF-In World War II:*Created at Pembroke Dock on 16 January 1941. Initially three Short Sunderland flying boats*Moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 17 March 1941*Moved to Gambia in March 1943, with detachments from Sierra Leone, Dakar and Liberia...
- No. 119 Squadron RAFNo. 119 Squadron RAFNo. 119 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, flying with RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War. It was the only RAF unit flying the Short G class and Short C class flying boats.-Formation in World War I:...
- No. 201 Squadron RAFNo. 201 Squadron RAFNo. 201 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, until March 2010, operated the Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It is the only squadron affiliated with Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. This affiliation started in 1935 and is commemorated in the museum on Castle Cornet. Its history goes even...
- No. 202 Squadron RAFNo. 202 Squadron RAFNo. 202 Squadron of the Royal Air Force presently operates the Sea King HAR.3 in the Search and rescue role at three stations in the northern half of the United Kingdom. It was originally formed as one of the first aeroplane squadrons of the RNAS before it became part of the RAF.-Formation and...
- No. 204 Squadron RAFNo. 204 Squadron RAFNo 204 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron formed in 1918 near Dunkerque, France, from No 4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service, which had already been formed in 1915 and reformed once in 1916. The squadron served during World War I in the roles of bomber, scout and fighter unit...
- No. 205 Squadron RAFNo. 205 Squadron RAFNo. 205 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit formed on 1 April 1918. Prior to this it had existed as No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service. In 1929, it became the first RAF squadron to be permanently based in Singapore, taking as its motto Pertama di Malaya . No...
- No. 209 Squadron RAFNo. 209 Squadron RAFNo. 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in Malaya...
- No. 88 Squadron RAF
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- No. 210 Squadron RAFNo. 210 Squadron RAFNo. 210 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit established in World War I. Disbanded and reformed a number of times in the ensuing years, it operated as a fighter squadron during World War I and as a maritime patrol squadron during the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Cold War before it was...
- No. 228 Squadron RAFNo. 228 Squadron RAFNo. 228 Squadron RAF was a unit that during the greatest part of its existence flew over water, doing so in World War I, World War II and beyond, performing anti-submarine, reconnaissance and air-sea rescue tasks.-Formation and World War I:...
- No. 230 Squadron RAFNo. 230 Squadron RAFNo. 230 Squadron is an RAF squadron, currently based at RAF Benson.The squadron was part of Royal Air Force Germany, operating the Puma HC.1 there from 1980. Following the drawdown at the end of the Cold War, the squadron disbanded on 30 April 1992...
- No. 240 Squadron RAFNo. 240 Squadron RAFNo. 240 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force flying boat and seaplane squadron during World War I, World War II and up to 1959. It was then reformed as a strategic missile squadron, serving thus till 1963.-Formation and World War I:No...
- No. 246 Squadron RAFNo. 246 Squadron RAF-In the World War I:The squadron was formed at the former Royal Naval Air Station Seaton Carew, England on 18 August 1918 to provide coastal patrols. It was the only RAF squadron to operate the Blackburn Kangaroo...
- No. 259 Squadron RAFNo. 259 Squadron RAFNo. 259 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed in Africa as a reconnaissance and anti-submarine unit in World War II.-World War I:No...
- No. 270 Squadron RAFNo. 270 Squadron RAFNo. 270 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that operated both in the First and Second world wars mainly as an anti-shipping and anti-submarine squadron.-History:...
- No. 235 Operational Conversion Unit RAF
- No. 210 Squadron RAF
Commercial operators
- Aerolíneas ArgentinasAerolíneas ArgentinasAerolíneas Argentinas , formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and serves as the country's flag carrier. Owned in its majority by the Argentine Government, the airline is headquartered in the Torre Bouchard, located in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires...
- Ansett Flying Boat Services flew the Sunderland and its Sandringham variant from Rose BayRose Bay, New South WalesRose Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rose Bay is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Waverley Municipal Council and Woollahra Council .Rose Bay has views of both the Sydney...
on Sydney HarbourPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
to Lord Howe IslandLord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
until 10 September 1974 - Antilles Airboats (US Virgin Islands)
- Aquila AirwaysAquila AirwaysAquila Airways was a Southampton, Hampshire based British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, formed on 18 May 1948.-Early operations:...
- British Overseas Airways CorporationBoacBoac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
- Compañía Aeronáutica UruguayaCompania Aeronáutica UruguayaCompañía Aeronáutica Uruguaya S.A. was a private airline company of Uruguay,which operated between 1938 and 1967.- History :Compañía Aeronáutica Uruguaya SA was founded on December 29, 1936 by the Uruguayan banker Luis J. Supervielle and Colonel Tydeo Larre Borges...
S.A. (CAUSA) - Dodero
- Det Norske LuftfartselskapDet Norske LuftfartselskapDet Norske Luftfartselskap A/S or DNL, trading internationally as Norwegian Air Lines, was an airline and flag carrier of Norway. Founded in 1927, it operated domestic and international routes from 1935 to 1941 and from 1946 to 1951...
(DNL) - Norwegian Aviation Company (continued as SASScandinavian Airlines SystemScandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....
) - National Airways CorporationNational Airways CorporationNational Airways Corporation was the national domestic airline of New Zealand from 1947 until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington...
of New Zealand - QantasQantasQantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
(orig. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services) - RyanairRyanairRyanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
- Trans Oceanic Airways
Survivors
- ML814 a Mark III, converted to Mark V and then for passenger work is on display in Kermit WeeksKermit WeeksKermit Weeks is an aviation enthusiast, pilot, and aircraft collector. He was recently inducted into Florida's Aviation Hall Of Fame for his services to Florida's aviation history.Weeks was twice U.S. National Aerobatic Champion...
' Fantasy of FlightFantasy of FlightFantasy of Flight is an aviation-related attraction in Polk City, Florida, USA that takes visitors back to the pioneering days of early flight, World War I, World War II and beyond. The attraction opened in November of 1995, and houses the world's largest private aircraft collection on display...
in Florida. It was bought in 1993, and flown across the Atlantic from the UK. According to the FoF website ML814 is the "last 4-engined passenger flying boat that can still fly." Formerly RNZAF NZ4108 – SH.974b MR.5 went to Airlines of New South WalesAirlines of New South WalesAirlines of New South Wales callsign "NEWSOUTH" was an Australian domestic regional airline that operated from 1959 until its merger into Ansett in 1993. It was formed by Reg Ansett's takeover of Butler Air Transport...
as VH-BRF "Islander" and was converted to a SandringhamShort Sandringham- External links :* -See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Jackson, A.J British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume Three. London: Putnam & Company Ltd, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X....
in Australia. Airlines of New South WalesAirlines of New South WalesAirlines of New South Wales callsign "NEWSOUTH" was an Australian domestic regional airline that operated from 1959 until its merger into Ansett in 1993. It was formed by Reg Ansett's takeover of Butler Air Transport...
subsequently taken over by the major Australian airline Ansett and became Ansett Flying Boat Services and operated out of Rose BayRose BayRose Bay may refer to:*Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney*Rose Bay, Tasmania, Australia, a suburb of Hobart*Rose Bay, Nova Scotia, community in Canada*Rose bay, Nerium oleander, a common name for a plant...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
until 1974.
In addition a few aircraft have been preserved as static museum exhibits.
- ML824 is on display at the RAF MuseumRAF MuseumThe Royal Air Force Museum London, commonly known as the RAF Museum, is a museum located on the former Hendon Aerodrome, dedicated to the history of aviation and the British Royal Air Force. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and a registered charity...
Hendon, which acquired it in 1971. - ML796 is on display at Imperial War Museum DuxfordImperial War Museum DuxfordImperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and minor naval vessels in seven...
in Cambridgeshire. - NJ203 RAF Short Sunderland IV/SeafordShort Seaford-Survivor:J203 RAF Short Sunderland IV/Seaford I S-45 NJ203. 1947 Converted to Short Solent 3 by Short Bros Belfast. 1949 BOAC G-AKNP “City of Cardiff". 1951 Trans Oceanic Airways of Australia as VH-TOB "Star of Papua". 1953 South Pacific Air Lines as N9946F "Isle of Tahiti". Last flew 1958. 1958...
I S-45 NJ203. 1947 Converted to Short SolentShort Solent- External links :* * *...
3 by Short Bros Belfast. 1949 BOAC G-AKNP “City of Cardiff". 1951 Trans Oceanic Airways of Australia as VH-TOB "Star of Papua". 1953 South Pacific Air LinesSouth Pacific Air LinesSouth Pacific Air Lines was an airline headquartered in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. The airline began service from Honolulu to Tahiti on April 2, 1960. In 1963 its fleet consisted of two L.1049A Super Constellations....
as N9946F "Isle of Tahiti". Last flew 1958. 1958 Howard HughesHoward HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
- Hughes Tool CompanyHughes Tool CompanyHughes Tool Company was established in 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes, Sr. patented a roller cutter bit that dramatically improved the rotary drilling process for oil drilling rigs. He partnered with longtime business associate Walter Benona Sharp to manufacture and market...
. Since 1990 On display at the Oakland Aviation MuseumOakland Aviation MuseumOakland Aviation Museum, formerly called Western Aerospace Museum, was founded in 1981 as a non-profit organization operating an aviation museum located at North Field of Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California. It has over 30 vintage and modern airplanes, both civilian and military,...
. - NZ4111 located at the Chatham IslandsChatham IslandsThe Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
. Serving with No. 5 Squadron 6 RNZAF March-11 April 1959, coded KN-D; it took part in a flypast to mark the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge on 30 May 1959. On 4 November 1959, it was badly damaged in an accident in the Chatham Islands when the Sunderland hit rocks in Te Whanga Lagoon while taxiing and sank in shallow water. Stripped of usable parts and written off RNZAF books on 9 December 1959. First of the RNZAF Mk.5 Sunderlands to be written off due to damage. Aircraft fuselage was broken into major components for use on a farm, the owners are now reassembling the hull and fuselage sections. - NZ4112 - Hulk used by Hobsonville Yacht Club until 1970, then scrapped. Cockpit and front of aircraft transported to the Ferrymead Heritage ParkFerrymead Heritage ParkFerrymead Heritage Park is a museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, housing a number of groups with historical themes, the most frequent of which is transport. Formerly known as Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in the mid-1960s by a number of groups, local government bodies and other...
for the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society Inc. Christchurch, New Zealand.
- NZ4115 is on display at the Museum of Transport and TechnologyMuseum of Transport and TechnologyThe Museum of Transport and Technology is a museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles...
in Auckland, New Zealand. Major hangar building project has been underway in 2010 and it is expected to be undercover in 2011, allowing restoration to be completed.
Sunderland T9044 lies on the seabed off Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...
in Wales. The site is protected, and The Pembroke Dock Sunderland Preservation Trust aims to recover the aircraft in the future.