The Short Sunderland
Flying Boat and Short Solent flying boat shown in aviation art prints
published by Cranston Fine Arts.
The Short
Sunderland, Patrol and Reconnaissance Flying Boat. normal crew level 10.
maximum speed of 210mph for Mark I, 205mph Mark II and Mark III, and
213mph Mark V. ceiling 17,900 feet and range of 2110 miles (mk I) 2880
miles for Mark V. endurance in the air 13.5 hours. The
Sunderland carries 1 .303 machine gun in the nose, (mark I) and four .303 browning
machine guns in the Tail Turret. Also in the Mark II four Vickers
.303 inch machine guns were used in the body positions. and four browning
machineguns in the nose flanks in the Mark III. Maximum bomb load of
4960 lbs.
Based
on the design of the Civil Empire class flying boat. The Short Sunderland
entered service with the Royal Air Force in June 1938 with 230 squadron.
and by the end of the war, 20 squadrons of the Royal Air Force, Royal
Canadian Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force were equipped with
Sunderland's. By the end of the production in 1946 a total of 749
were built, The roles the Short Sunderland played, mainly were in Maritime
and anti Submarine duties, especially in the battle of the Atlantic, The
Sunderland accounted for 58 U-Boats sunk or badly damaged. The Sunderland
was also used in other theatres of the war and in the Mediterranean helped
in the evacuation of troops from Crete and Greece, as well as helping in
the evacuation of troops in Burma. The Short Sunderland remained in
service with the Royal Air Force until 1959. used during the Korean
War, The Berlin Air Lift, and during Operation Firedog, , The Malayan
Emergency.
