Short Sunderland | The 'Porcupine' of the North Atlantic

The Short S.25 Sunderland patrol bomber flying boat is one of the most iconic aircraft of World War II. Yet its characteristics, performance and quirks have received comparatively little attention.
Fortunately, the newly formed Coastal Command gathered some footage of the aircraft and its crew during World War II. And some of the b-roll for its dramatised propaganda film, Coastal Command, survives. Here, veteran Sunderland pilots, navigators and engineers share their opinions of what was dubbed the "Flying Porcupine", what it was like to fly, and how it performed in its vital anti-submarine and reconnaissance roles.

[byronbailey]

April 1967 I was navigator on last military flight RNZAF Sunderland Mark 5 with ASV 6 C radar Fiji to Auckland. Engines were Pratt and Whitney R1800’s.

[donf]

How easily and nonchalantly these men talk about life and death situations. Truly, I say truly, the best and greatest generation.

[tonycamplin]

A great video that brought back many memories of a bygone age.
Way back in 1949 I flew in a civilian one from Singapore to Darwin, a weeks trip. We landed in the bays of the many islands enroute for the night and I'll never forget the spray as she landed. It was a very luxurious craft with lounges etc. upstairs was used for sleeping cabins.

[JohnnySmithWhite-wdey]

I love the voices of the actual men who flew these amazing machines. Sadly most of these gentlemen are gone now.

[PowhiroMus]

I will never ever forget as a child in the late 1950s my mother dropping my father off in Evans Bay, Wellington, NZ and then stopping the car at the point so we could watch the magnificence of the Sunderland roaring down the bay to lift off over the harbour to head away to the Cook Islands where my father did agriculture science aid work for the NZ Government. Apparently much better than a week on a small, slow steamer.
There is nothing as impressive as a big 4 engined Sutherland taking off to a young boy! I would scream, jump up and down, want to be aboard! A favoured toy/model was a WW2 Short Sunderland armed for U-boats and Ju-88s.

[TrustMeiamaD.R.]

Thank you so much. My Aunt Sheila was a Draughtswoman at Short Bros in Rochester during the war. Sheila was a very tough, resilient and intelligent woman. She drew out the layout of the electrical switch panels and the cockpit instrumentation layout for the Sunderland.

[robertbruce]

I liked the coming in with 3 engines down and then the 4th engine giving up the ghost... the look on the Catalina passengers' faces must have been priceless!

[daffyduk]

Looking at them, you're almost astonished they ever got in the air, & carry on for 12 hours

[jpgabobo]

Just a wee bit of real history in this age of madness, Thank you for this channel, I love hearing every second!

[MichaelKingsfordGray]

Excellent. Thank you!
My Uncle is most definitely the skipper at 1:39 and 24:22.
All RB prefixed aircraft were flown by 10 Squadron, Royal AUSTRALIAN Air Force.
Thanks again for this clip.

[gmg]

My old dad, an Canadian airman, was flying from Iceland in 1944. A British Sunderland had been forced to make an emergency water landing. My father's PBY searched for and found the Sunderland. They flew around the downed plane until a naval rescue could be homed in.

[martinnermut]

I worked in London in 2002, my uncle already lived there (we are czech). I said: I will go to Hendon museum. He said: In Hendon, there is nothing, just airplanes. Go to the British Museum, there are mummys! :-D So I spent 4 days in Hendon, especially inside Sunderland... but I did know nothing about its history, purpose and operation, until today.

[michaelhumphreys]

I was living on a Royal Air Force flying boat base on the Great Bitter Lake (SuezCanal ran through it) in the early 1950’s. Sunderlands formed a transportable mail link between UK and India, stopping at various lakes including great bitter lake and Lake Victoria. I was 10 and sometimes was on board the RAF wooden launch (ex-air sea rescue) that went out to meet the sunderlands

[franksfactorynonsens]

Fantastic. Top quality documentary work. Priceless to hear from the actual men who flew in them. Very much looking forward to more. Highest praise!

[AndrewBlacker-td]

The Short Empire class of passenger liners were close cousins to these...
Those were wonderful!

[mikesaunders]

My uncle was a flight engineer on Sunderland’s operating out of Castle Archdale….he told me all about the flare chute……he was always worried a million candle power flare would hang up on its arming cord under the tail……which could cause serious damage.

[alanclark]

Interesting bit of history. My Old Man was at R.A.F Mountbatten for a while - attached to 10 Sqn.that had a lot of Aussies as flyboys, their laid back attitude to discipline and chasing sheilas (not that many in Plymouth ran that fast if the tales are anywhere near true) was right up my dad's street - though to be fair flying out over the Atlantic in all weathers looking for trouble wasn't really in his nature. When not acting as tenders to the Sunderlands, the R.A.F. launches were used for SARS work - he spent his whole war doing such stuff due to him volunteering to knowing "something about boats" - don't think being born into a kind of hillybilly life beside the River Thames at Shepperton truly prepared him to be a Coxwain but that's what he ended up as - despite joining with the vague notion of flying a Spitfire. He often joked that as a pilot he'd have only had one Supermarine Merlin but in his boat were THREE.
Fifty odd years later he gained a P.P.L. with an 80+% rating (not bad when he could hardly read or write as a lad, couple of sporadic years schooling about it) - and I must say (even though he was my dad) quite a good pilot - never going to be aerobatic but Jolly Good Show, What? He loved all that stuff!
I was very glad to wangle a trip for him to the Eastleigh aerodrome getotgether of six flying Spitfires for the 50 year commemoration of the original Spitfire 5804K (hope that's right) and on the same day get him into Southampton museum which was actually built around most of a Sunderland - it made his day being able to show me round the interior as he recalled his youth.
I can't help reflecting - as it's Remembrance Sunday today - that all mums and dads of folk like me - all over Europe and much of the world - had their youth utterly screwed by friggin' and it's STILL GOING ON!

[Firebrand]

In the RAF I met several lads who, as ground crew, had worked on the Sunderland...they all had a common story; the night guard. The gentle rocking of the giant hull produced groanings, creakings, knocking, and oddly human noises that unnerved them. Not so bad in big waves but worse when the sea was still and the night quite...then the whole sounded disturbing. Suffice to say, no airmen fell asleep guarding the venerable Short Sunderland!

[stojo]

My dad and uncle were with RNZAF 4 or 5 squadron stationed in Fiji in WWII. My uncle was a navigator on Catalina flying boats my dad was a ground based radio operator. After the war my uncle put his age back and went to Hiroshima with J force. After that he became a navigator on Solent (Shortened Sunderlands) for (Trans Empire Airways) TEAL and he flew from Mechanics bay in Parnell Auckland to Suva in Fiji then Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands Tahiti and back to Auckland. He did this for quite a while until the 1960s when they discovered he had passed the colour blindness tests to be WWII air crew by memorising the cards.

[DavyRo]

My Dad is ex RAF & we're from Sunderland, so I've always had an interest in all military aircraft from a young age. Obviously being called a Sunderland made an added aspect for me personally to learn about the aircraft. I honestly haven't heard a bad word said about the aircraft. It seems like it was a very popular aircraft of the time.