August 2018 FLYPAST 93Sunderland units participated in the Korean War
The Last of
the Sunderlands
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since 1945. The last sortie took
place on October 8, 1957 by which
time the SAAF was working up
with the first of its eight brand-new
Shackleton MR.3s; South Africa was
the type’s sole export customer.
No SAAF Sunderlands survived
beyond retirement.
France operated them from late
1943, with the Aéronautique Navale- Aéronavale for short – patrolling
the West African coastline. From
1951, freshly refurbished Mk.5s
were acquired from Belfast and these
served in Africa and from Lanvéoc-
Poulmic, near Brest.
The last Sunderlands, ML796 and
RN284, were struck off charge on
January 30, 1962 and the latter was
scrapped by 1965 while ML796 was
sold off.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force
(RNZAF) adopted Sunderlands
from 1944, and added reworked
MR.5s to its fleet between 1953
and 1955. The RNZAF was the
last military operator of the type;
NZ4113 (formerly RAF PP124)
was retired on March 30, 1967
and NZ4107 (VB883) carried out
the final sortie on April 2. By then
where it was to be delivered is not
known. Calshot is a possibility, as it
remained an RAF station with
air-sea rescue vessels until the spring
of 1961.
While manoeuvring ML797 out to
Seletar’s slipway in late May 1959, it
fell off its rear beaching gear and the
fuselage was badly distorted. There
was nothing for it, as P-for-Peter was
a write-off; it was officially struck off
charge on July 29.
This was no fluke, as it was not an
uncommon fate for a Sunderland.
The previous May, ML745
V-for-Victor slipped off its trolley,
rupturing its rear fuselage.
Therefore, 205 Squadron
transitioned to the Shackleton and
the last RAF Sunderlands went to
the melting pot. In 1959, the notion
of an RAF Museum was just a
twinkle in a few far-seeing eyes; the
loss of ML797 was unfortunate, but
far from disastrous.
Global workhorse
The RAF was not alone in utilising
the versatile Sunderland into the
1950s, as the South African Air
Force (SAAF) had flown the type
Lockheed P-3B Orions had taken
over the role.
Both NZ4107 and NZ4113
were scrapped later in 1967. In
the previous year, the RNZAF
had presented NZ4115 (SZ584)
to the Museum of Transport and
Technology at Auckland.
Sunderlands also found a vibrant
market with civilian operators
post-war. As well as a transport
conversion of the maritime patroller,
there were more sophisticated
conversions and new-builds: Hythes,
Solents (based on the RAF Seaford
version) and Sandringhams.France to the rescue-
Lowered gently down the slipway at
Queen’s Island in June 1944, Mk.III
ML824 was taken on charge by the
RAF on the last day of the month.
It was immediately handed back
to Shorts to be upgraded to Mk.V
status, forsaking the Bristol Pegasus
radial engines for the more practical
Pratt &Whitney R1830-900 Twin
Wasps.
On November 11, 1945, ML824
was accepted by 201 Squadron at
Castle Archdale on Lough Erne, on
the west coast of Northern Ireland.
During its time with 201, ML824
completed eleven ‘ops’; for example,
on April 2, 1945 it dropped a pair
of depth charges on a fresh oil slick
during a 13-hour sortie.
Fifteen days later, the flying-boat
was north-bound, heading for the
Norwegian-manned 330 Squadron
at Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands. The
Norwegians left the Shetlands in
mid-May bound for their homeland,
berthing at Sola, close to Stavanger.
Damage from an engine fire on
July 1 was beyond 330’s repair
capability and ML824 flew onAbove
Escorted by a Shackleton
MR.3 of 201 Squadron,
Sunderland ML824 during
its last fl ight, to Pembroke
Dock, March 24, 1961.
COASTAL COMMANDLeft
In September 1982,
Edward Hulton’s
Sunderland G-BJHS
alighted on the Thames,
alongside the Tower of
London. DANIEL FORD