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The Short Sunderland 

The Short Sunderland is Britains most famous seaplane of World War 2. The real succes of this aircraft can be seen in light of it's long operational career, and the respect it earned with friend and foe.
In 1933 the Air Ministry decided it needed a powerful 4-engine maritime reconnaissance flying boat, and issued its R.2/33 requirement. Two of the contenders for this contract had already experience with this type of aircraft, Saunders-Roe with its Type A.33 and Short with its type S.25. Both companies received an order for one prototype. The A.33 was not as advanced as the S.25, and for a variety of reasons did not make its first flight until October 1938. When it finally did, it broke its back as a result of a structural weakness revealed by the type’s tendency to porpoise on the water.
The S.25 had an excellent starting point in the S.23 series of civil flying boats ('Empire' or 'C-Class'), from which it was a direct descendant. The 'Empire' was already been operated by Imperial Airways, and this proven lineage was a leading factor in the decision of the Air Ministry who ordered 21 aircraft of the S.25 in March 1936. This was actually some 18 months before the first prototype made its maiden flight in October 1937.
The Sunderland inherited the basic configuration and structure of the S.23 Empire, and was therefore a clean cantilever high-wing monoplane of all metal construction with a semi-monocoque hull and stressed-skin flying surfaces. The flying boat was based on a two-step hull of good aerodynamic cleanliness, and this carried the cantilever flying surfaces, which consisted of a conventional tail unit with a low-set horizontal surface and a single vertical surface, and the slightly dihedraled wing. This wing was tapered in thickness and chord, carried two wire-braced underwing stabilizing floats on struts just outboard of the outer engine nacelles, and was fitted with the standard trailing-edge combination of inboard flaps and outboard ailerons.
The hull of the Empire was extensively adapted to suit the new type's different role; the most noticeable external changes were the Frazer-Nash bow and tail gun turrets, which were the first power-operated turrets installed in a British flying boat. Together with the two manually operated beam guns, the turrets provided the Sunderland with an excellent defensive armament. The flying boat would descend to sea level when it was attacked in order to protect its vulnerable under surfaces and then fight back with its powerfull defensive guns. This earned the Sunderland the German nickname ‘fliegende Stachelschwein’ (flying porcupine).
To offset the weight of the tail turret, the wings were swept back slightly to keep the center of gravity in the right position relative to the center of lift, the installation of the nose turret required that the flightdeck be moved slightly to the rear, and the rear hull step was changed from a transverse step to a vertical knife-edge. Further hull changes were the adoption of a two-deck interior whose upper deck provided stowage for the bomb racks that were winched outboard through side hatches to positions under the center section before release.

The initial production model was the Sunderland Mk I that entered service in the summer of 1938 with No.230 Squadron at Singapore and No.210 Squadron at Pembroke Dock, replacing the Short Singapore Mk III in both units.

Version list:

• Short Sunderland Mk I ^(*)
• Short Sunderland Mk III ^(*)
• Short Sunderland Mk V ^(*)
• Other Short Sunderland versions
• Short S.25 versions

Further pictures:

Short Sunderland moored in some harbor


Short Sunderland during take-off.

Technical data on the Short Sunderland Mk I

Powerplant	4 × Bristol Pegasus XX radial, rated at 1010 hp (752.94 kW) each		Role during war	U-boat Destroyer Maritime/Coastal patrol reconnaissance Bomber Reconnaissance Aircraft Sea-Air rescue Aircraft
Length	85 ft 4.1 inch		Height	32 ft 2 inch
Empty weight	30589 lb		Operational weight	45210 lb typical, 49000 lb max
Wing Span	112 ft 9.5 inch		Wing Aspect ratio	8.56
Wing Area	1487 sq ft		Service ceiling	15000 ft
Maximum speed	209 mph at 5000 ft		Cruising speed	170 mph at 5000 ft
Initial climb rate	Climb to 5,000 ft in 7 min 12 sec		Range	1790 miles typical, 2500 miles max
Fuel capacity internal	2,025 Imp gal (2,432 US gal)		Fuel capacity external	-
Machine guns	2 × 0.303 inch Vickers 'K' trainable forward-firing in power operated Frazer-Nash F.N. 11 nose turret 4 × 0.303 inch Browning trainable rearward-firing in power operated Frazer-Nash F.N. 13 tail turret, 500 rounds each 2 × 0.303 inch Vickers 'K' trainable lateral-firing, one in each beam position		Cannons	-
Bomb load	Up to 2,000 lb of disposable stores carried on two hardpoints in the fuselage, rated at 1,000 lb each. General disposables load consisted of: 4 × 500 lb bombs, or 8 × 250 lb or 100 lb bombs		Torpedoes/rockets	-
Crew	10: pilot, co-pilot, navigator/bombardier, flight engineer, radio operator, up to 5 gunners		Naval or ground based	Naval
First flight (prototype)	October 1937		Operational Service	Summer 1938 - May 1959
Manufacturer	Short Brothers Ltd.		Number produced	739 total, 90 this version

Metric system

Length	26.01 m		Height	9.8 m
Empty weight	13875 kg		Operational weight	20507 kg typical, 22226 kg max
Wing Span	34.38 m		Wing Aspect ratio	8.56
Wing Area	138.14 m²		Service ceiling	4572 m
Maximum speed	336 km/h at 1524 m		Cruising speed	274 km/h at 1524 m
Initial climb rate	Climb to 1.525 m in 7 min 12 sec		Range	2881 km typical, 4023 km max
Fuel capacity internal	11.055 liters		Fuel capacity external	-
Machine guns	2 × 7,7 mm Vickers 'K' trainable forward-firing in power operated Frazer-Nash F.N. 11 nose turret 4 × 7,7 mm Browning trainable rearward-firing in power operated Frazer-Nash F.N. 13 tail turret, 500 rounds each 2 × 7,7 mm Vickers 'K' trainable lateral-firing, one in each beam position		Cannons	-
Bomb load	Up to 907 kg of disposable stores carried ion two hardpoints in the fuselage, rated at 454 kg each. General disposables load consisted of: 4 × 227 kg bombs, or 8 × 113 kg or 45 kg bombs		Torpedoes/rockets	-

Here is a quick overview of all different versions, without the full technical specifications:

Operational remarks:

The Sunderland was the most well known British flying boat in it's time. It performed well in the roles it was assigned to, as a maritime reconnaissance aircraft and as a submarine destroyer.
The first kill of the Sunderland was made on 31 January 1941 when a Coastal Command Sunderland of No. 228 Squadron sighted the German submarine U-55. It was promptly bombed and destroyed. This was the first U-boat kill recorded for Coastal Command as well.
Another story tells the good defensive capabilities of the Sunderland. On 3 April 1941 a lone Sunderland was attacked by six Junkers Ju 88's. The Sunderland dove down to sea level in order to protect the vulnerable lower surfaces, meanwhile firing it's guns in defence. In the ensuing fight it destroyed one, and damaged another which made a force landing in Norway. The other four were driven off as well.
The Sunderland was operational almost all over the world, from the North Sea to the Indian Ocean. In Afica a tale of the endurance of the Sunderland was told when a Sunderland on convoy-escort duties ran into engine troubles. It landed close to the convoy, and was subsequently taken in tow by the closest corvette for 3 full days in bad weather conditions. The Sunderland came out of it unscathed.
After the war the SUnderland was pahased out slowly, but for a brief period was very active again. Only three squadrons remained when the air-lift to Berlin started. During the Berlin Airlift the aircraft of No.s 201, 230 and 235 Squadron hauled 4.800 tons of freight from Hamburg to Berlin Havel See in the period between June and December. After that the first two Squadrons remained operational until 1957 with Sunderlands. In the Far East the last Sunderland left operational service in 1959.

Strengths:

• Good defensive armament
• Good structural strength
• Good range and endurance

Weaknesses:

• None that I know of

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