SHORT SUNDERLAND 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 31Type: Thirteen-crew general reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol
fl ying boat
First fl ight: October 16, 1937; entered service June 1938
Powerplant: Four 1,200hp (895kW) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp radials
Dimensions: Span 112ft 10in (34.39m), length 85ft 4in (25.7m)
Weights: Empty 37,000lb (16,783kg), all-up 60,000lb (27,216kg)
Max speed: 213mph (343km/h) at 5,000ft (1,524m)
Range: 2,980 miles (4,796km)
Armament: Two .303 guns in nose turret and four in the tail turret, plus two
manually operated .50-cal beam guns. Bomb load: 2,000lb (907kg)
Replaced: Short Singapore III
Taken on charge: 734 (75 Mk.I, 43 Mk.II, 461 Mk.III, 155 Mk.V)
Replaced by: N /ASHORT SUNDERLAND MK.V
submarine achievements the
Sunderland was also put to use
escorting convoys, air-sea-rescue
and the evacuation of besieged
civilian and military personnel from
locations such as Crete, Greece and
Norway. On one occasion a 228
Squadron Sunderland carried 82
passengers on a flight from Crete in
April 1941.
The aircraft operated in every
major theatre of the war and fought
German, Italian and Japanese forces.
By early 1943 Coastal Command
had nine squadrons of Sunderlands.
From the end of 1941 the
aircraft were gradually replaced by
Sunderland Mk.IIs, which gained
a two-gun, power-operated dorsal
turret in place of the manually
operated beam guns on the Mk.I.
This turret also appeared on the
Mk.III, the prototype of which
(W3999) first flew on December
15, 1941. The Mk.III also had a
modified hull and uprated engines.
This sub-type would stick with
the Pegasus until the advent of the
Mk.V, which changed to US-built
Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp
engines. The first Sunderland Mk.V
joined 228 Squadron in February
1945 and remained the standard
RAF flying boat throughout the
post-war years.TRANSPORT VARIANTS
In late 1942, BOAC obtained six
demilitarised Mk.IIIs for service
as mail carriers to Nigeria and
India. They could house either
22 passengers with two tonnes of
freight, or 16 passengers with three
tonnes of cargo. Other airframes
were acquired later and some were
given better accommodation for
24 passengers, including sleeping
berths for 16. These conversions
were named Hythes and BOAC
operated 29 examples by the end of
the war.POST-WAR OPERATIONS
When hostilities ended, the
Sunderland continued to play an
important role within the RAF.
Examples were used extensively
during the 1948–49 Berlin Above
The RAF Museum
London includes
Sunderland Mk.III
ML824 in its
collection. It was built
in February 1945 and
fl ew operationally
with 201 and 330
Squadrons, before
being transferred
to the French
Aé ronavale in 1951.
Ten years later it was
retired and placed on
display at Pembroke
Dock, Wales. In 1971
the aircraft joined
the RAF Museum and
following restoration
it was put on display
in 1976. STEVE
BRIDGEWATERAirlift (carrying 4,847 tonnes of
freight) and during the Korea War,
Sunderlands based in Japan flew
1,647 sorties. The Sunderlands
of 88, 205 and 209 Squadrons
were the only RAF aircraft to fly
operationally during the war over
Korea. RAF Sunderlands also
contributed to the British North
Greenland Expedition of 1951–54,
carrying 380 tonnes of equipment
within 800 miles (1,287km) of the
North Pole.
The Sunderland would become the
ultimate flying boat to fly with RAF.
The last British-based machines
were retired by 201 and 230
Squadrons in January 1957, whereas
the final two RAF airframes were
finally stood down by 205 Squadron
at RAF Seletar, Singapore on May
15, 1949.“The aircraft operated in every major theatre of the war and
fought German, Italian and Japanese forces.”