Short Sunderland | The "Porcupine" of the North Atlantic

[@byronbailey9229]

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.

[@alanlenning7747]

About that same time I was a navigator on a US Navy Martin SP-5B on my last (Easter 1967) Market Time patrol out of Cam Ranh Bay… small world.

[@malcolmscrivener8750]

My family used to live in Fiji in the late 50/ early 60 era in Suva Point Laucala Bay . We must have been under the flight path of the Sunderlands taking off or landing because I have an old photo framed of one flying low over the coconut trees in our back yard . That was at the time when one rescued the survivors of the wreck of the boat carrying the Tongan boxing team going to Auckland on Minerva Reef .

[@SenorTucano]

Ah back when NZ had an airforce

[@tatuloa]

I GREW up by Laucala bay . I love and treasure my memories of the Sunderland taking off out of the bay , over Nukulau Is and into the blue ... 🐢🐢😎 CHEERS MATE ..

[@malcolmscrivener8750]

@@tatuloa Bula vinaka vaka levu .

[@tonycamplin8607]

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.

[@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!

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Thanks very much. I will cycle through a couple other subject before returning to sunderland first half next year.

[@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.

[@andyfredericks6205]

I bet she knew my dad. He worked there too. Radio,electrical and avionics was his trade. Wonderful aeroplane.

[@donf3877]

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

[@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.

[@ArmouredCarriers]

I hope to do a follow-up video on the RAAF Sunderlands at some point. The ANU has some nice archival interviews from pilots and aircrew.

[@Boatperson]

Thank you! Fascinating…….and an honour to hear the humble, unassuming voices of the greatest generation …❤️💪🏼👍🏽

[@robertbruce7686]

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!

[@ceebee23]

my uncle flew Catalinas ... I can imagine what he would have said but sadly I never got to meet him. KIA.

[@thebluegreengoose]

My Dad was drafted into. ARMY corps of engineers. He served in Trinidad. Said once he got off a C-47 (after a flight). They were working on the right engine. It filled up with new load of people. Took off, crashed into the jungle. No survivors.

[@teatonaz]

@@thebluegreengoose- Wow, sounds like you were almost “ Unalived “ before you were even born ! Wheeew.

[@TeddyBear-ii4yc]

@@teatonaz We can still do that... just ignore him! 🙂

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

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

[@Gribbo9999]

Yes what wonderful historic record this is.

[@10toMidnight]

These war time documentaries are treasures.

[@AndrewBlacker-t1d]

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

[@michaelhumphreys1]

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

[@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.

[@TeddyBear-ii4yc]

I've just said the same thing (how impressive) about a US 4-engined flying-boat. I've always liked the biggee flying-boats for some reason?

[@gyrene_asea4133]

Nice little slice of memory, thanks! The mental imagery of these flying boats "on the step" just does it for me.

[@jpgabobo]

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

[@qcsorter4626]

I'd prefer this age of madness to that age of madness!

[@Backwardlooking]

Excellent. My late friend’s father worked on Sunderland’s engines based in Northern Ireland during W.W.2.👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@FelixRigg]

Fascinating. Thanks so much for posting.

[@stojo02]

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.

[@moanatane1832]

My Dad was in 5 sqdn too in Fiji in the 50's aswell. What an amazing experience for all who served on Sunderland's and all the other flying boats back then around the world.

[@alanclark639]

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' war........ and it's STILL GOING ON!

[@TeddyBear-ii4yc]

War is a distraction for all young peeps as the boys would rather be kicking a football or chasing the Sheila's and the latter wanted to be caught! 🙂

[@psyflyhunter8543]

My dad was CO of No 10 SQN it was a Royal Australian Air Force squadron. Desmond Lloyd George Douglas. There was no lacking discipline..

[@gmg1985]

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.

[@davidhale7551]

My Late father was RAF engine fitter, worked on the Sunderlands at Oban in Scotland before being posted to the far east. I know he would have liked to see this video, probably spotted a few familiar faces

[@terryprince4767]

Thank You for showing the diagram and video of the inside of the Sunderland. Wish other large plane documentaries would do the same to help us understand the layout and challenges the crews faced.

[@hkins1]

I grew up on an RNZAF Sunderland Station, my Dad serving with 5 Squadron on the Sunderland's. Because of this, I was able see and do things on in service Sunderland's, people can only dream of today. The diagrams really don't accurately show the Sunderland Interior,. For example the flight deck has the Navigator (3) behind the pilots position when he was stationed directly across from the WAG (2) (Wireless Air Gunner Station), which was actually closer to the flight Engineers station (4), with the WAG seat mounted on front of the Main spar. There was no ladder from the Flight Engineers station (4) to the mezzanine deck, though there is a ladder from the Galley to the Flight Engineers station. Areas 6, 8, 9 are not portrayed accurately either. From the rear ward room there is a step up to the rear deck which does not slope as portrayed (especially walking to the rear turret...). The Mezzanine floor/ward room (6) roof only extended to the rear of the bunks on later Mk III/V's. Going from the Bow deck to the forward ward room (5) there is about a 30cm step down, and the crew sat on the bunks at the mess table. Not all Sunderland's had a mess table in the bomb room - these were on special order from Shorts and generally Mk I/II Sunderland's.

[@MartinWebber-d6r]

My mum lived in Felixstowe during the war and she can remember them testing various flying boats including the Sunderland from the RAF station before handing them over to operational squadrons

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

And of course at the RAF Museum at Hendon you can walk through their Sunderland. Great place - free entry, tube ride from central London

[@G88442]

👍👍

[@mongolike513]

Love this vid and can’t wait for part2. I always comment that my dad flew out of Pembroke Dock with 461RAAF and managed to knock off U270 in August 1944. I remember very little of what he told me about operations but i marvelled that he could read ‘all’ those instruments! He also did night ops and taking off in the dark sounded pretty hair raising with no flare path to guide only a heading. Boat handling was also a handful when fighting tide and wind and having keep way on or lose control of the situation. He dons Sunderland is wonderfully preserved but i was very disappointed that the bridge/flight deck was screened off. At MOTAT in Auckland is a perfectly preserved Short Sandringham and as of 8 years ago they were also working on a Sunderland. Look them up

[@markkeily2827]

My father was a Flight Engineer in 10 SQN RAAF flying out of Plymouth. Wonderful stories and a wonderful aircraft.

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Commentary about landing on water at night will hopefully be included in Part 2 ...

[@markkeily2827]

@@ArmouredCarriers Dad often recounted that one of his most terrifying incidents was a night landing during a storm on Poole Harbour, as he thought they would crash for certain. It is a shallow harbour with numerous obstacles. I had the pleasure of visiting both Poole and Plymouth. The old flying boat control "tower" is still identifiable as it is abprivate residence. Keep up the great work.

[@typhoonhawker6548]

Sunderland Mk.III ML735 No.461Sqn,RAAF "2-A" . Captain is Flg.Off.D.A.Little. 1st Pilot is Flg.Off.J.P.Bills. 2nd Pilot is Flt.Sgt.F.V.Robinson. Navigator is Flg.Off.L.F.McInnes. Other crews are Sgt.C.I.M.Johnson ,Sgt.E.Jones ,Sgt.N.P.Smith ,Flt.Sgt.R.C.Claxton ,Flt.Sgt.R.E.Green ,Flt.Sgt.L.R.Clough ,Flt.Sgt.A.D.Dalglish. ML735 was later FTR.02.Oct.1944.

[@iancarr8682]

Beautiful aircraft and fascinating stories.

[@barryswinbank2108]

Amazingly well produced - thanks

[@t.versteeg3723]

I still have a model of this great seaplane, including the little trolley. Also one of the Catalina.

[@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.

[@mikesaunders4694]

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.

[@deanedeane4318]

Wanderfull !!! What a beautiful plane !!! Thankyou for sharing these accounts !!! 😉😎

[@byronbailey9229]

We always ran an air plot to avoid carrying over any navigation errors. 5 Sqn longest flight was 19 hours 40 minutes with 2 hours fuel remaining.

[@Justcomealongfortheride]

The short sunderland and the b17's are my favorite aircraft of all time

[@brianknowles7130]

My late father who was an RAF engine fitter with No.1 or 3 MU said that the only time he ever got ' sea sick' was when doing some engine service on one of these planes somewhere in Scotland ..!

[@ronwilken5219]

Somewhere in our family archives are some 8mm cine films of the empire flying boats landing on the Zambezi river above the Victoria falls taken, I believe, just after WW II as they're in colour. There are also some black and white that could well have been before the war but don't quote me.

[@notreallydavid]

So informative, and so evocative - thank you so much for creating and posting this video. Despite the hazardous nature of their work, and (I assume) the exhaustion that stemmed from maintaining intense concentration over a long patrol, it seems these gentlemen made a wonderful small world for themselves during their missions in these unusual, remarkable aircraft. What a privilege to learn something of these admirable men, and the machines they flew in.

[@robert-trading-as-Bob69]

In the 1990s I went hiking in the St. Lucia estuary area in Northern Natal, South Africa. We stayed at the Mount Tabor hut which used to be a radar station during the war. In the estuary was the remains of a Catalina flying boat that I assume had crash landed there. The flying boat station was there to protect and perform surveillance over the east coast of Natal over towards Madagascar and of course further down the coast towards Durban and all points out into the Indian Ocean. This work was vital while the Mediterranean Sea routes were blocked to Allied shipping. It is quite humid in Natal, so it was interesting to find out how that effected the Pegasus engines.

[@Firebrand55]

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!

[@martinnermut2582]

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.

[@lunaticfringe8066]

Great video on a great flying boat, thank you!

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

Nice 1 thanks uploader. What a great machine for sea patrols.

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

That takes me back to my own 'glory days' as a C-130 flight engineer. Aircrews are all different, but still all recognizable. Yeah, I know those guys.

[@byronbailey9229]

Navigator secondary role was as bombaimer ( bombardier ). Bombsight reticle moved at ground speed to give depth charge release point . 250 lb Torpex - twice as powerful as TNT.

[@frankeimer3906]

Thankyou for these uploads😀

[@nomdeplume798]

My Dad served in 205 Sqn from 1946 - 1955 on MkV Sunderlands in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and at RAF Seletar in Singapore. They had P&W engines.

[@nomdeplume798]

He also talked about a "cannon" in the waist positions as mentioned in the film . I always thought of cannon as. having a bore of 20-30 mm, but I wonder if he meant a .50 Browning on some kind of pintle mount. They used to utilise them against boats suspected of smuggling arms to the CTs along the Malaya. But it seems the guns had a fault. After a fairly prolonged period of firing they would be swung back in out of the slipstream with muzzle pointing to the rear. Whether it was because of the hot air or the humidity but they had a habit of "cooking off" and putting a hole in the tail. What the rear gunner thought of that he never said.

[@byronbailey9229]

It had a little petrol motor in right inboard wing leading edge that supplied 12V DC when on the water for engine staring etc

[@well-blazeredman6187]

Great stuff. I often find aircraft interiors more interesting than the exteriors with which we are all familiar. Loved that 'wardroom' and the bomb-room. The aircraft? A great - but lacking in the range it needed to cover convoys in areas that the Type VII U-boat could get to.

[@bruceboatwright7488]

Wonderful video, I so look forward to the continuation.

[@wanderer5581]

there was something about the Sunderland,,, beautiful

[@allandavis8201]

Absolutely brilliant, interesting and informative, hearing from the crews is priceless and records their experiences for posterity. Thanks for sharing this film/documentary with us all 😀👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦🇮🇱🇺🇸

[@byronbailey9229]

We had .5 browning machine guns in the beams as well.

[@dennisfox8673]

As always, I love the content.

[@neilkeating9753]

Mid 1950s to 60s we watched the rnzaf sunderlands over Northcote Auckland.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Playing the "if you served in the war, where would you serve?" game, I'd choose the Sunderland.

[@vespelian]

I was taken aboard a Sunderland when I was six and didn't know what to expect. It was on static display in the dockyard at Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire. A few years later it was taken away on a flatbed lorry with its wings detached and pointing skyward like a pterosaur. The whole town came out to see it go. It's at Hendon now. A teacher of mine had flown in one and told of how, flying out of Singapore just after the war, the crate had just taken off when the whole tale section fell off and crashed into the sea due to salt corrosion.

[@tango6nf477]

Thank you for this, I too was a child visitor to the Sunderland and its a memory I shall never loose. I often wondered what had happened to this aircraft and feared it may have been scrapped. Than goodness this is not the case.

[@nicholasbell9017]

Thank you for this wonderful documentary. Where I live, by Southampton water, the coming and going of the flying boats must have been a regular experience. This is a superb video of a great aeroplane, which was much loved by it's crews.

[@byronbailey9229]

Pilots flew at 100 feet day and 300 feet night when laying a sonobuoy pattern. 16 hour patrols with 2 crews. South Pacific is huge. Long range cruise was 124 kts. 2,600 gallon fuel tanks. Astro navigation and drift sight were the navigation method.

[@easybeat]

At 20:00 that looks like quite a sophisticated sight for an hand-aimed gun. At 22:30 you can see the ports for the four fixed forward-firing guns.

[@russcattell955i]

A few old pics of my old home port, Plymouth. Sunderland's based at R.A.F. Mountbatten.

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

Great video on a fantastic plane! Thank you very much, appreciate it a LOT 👍 Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱, T.

[@johnsmith-ht3sy]

In Rochester along the Esplanade alongside the Medway river where the Shorts Factory used to be that manufactured the Sunderland is now a large houseing complex.

[@peterblake4837]

I used to sail from the other side of the Medway. Races twice a week in summer and once a fortnight in winter.

[@neilfoster814]

I've been inside the Sunderland in Hendon museum, it really is huge inside compared to a Lancaster or Halifax. The question is; is it a boat with wings, or an aircraft with a boat hull?

[@daniellarge9784]

Top notch video. Thanks.

[@TheGixernutter]

Superb aircraft. ❤

[@MrRugbylane]

Just Googled all about PMS Blackett. Very interesting.

[@TheStuart31]

Amazing stories, and an amazing aircraft.

[@stringpicker5468]

Just once in a while I'd be visiting my aunt in Mosman and there'd be a Short Empire (civilian equivalent) class taking off from Rose Bay. Beautiful sight, but loud.

[@dixiefallas7799]

Excellent video.

[@Kitcheneering]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@julesmarwell8023]

I am proud to say a lot of Aussie airmen flew these beauties .

[@lesliedrysdale2434]

My great grandad was foreman on the Sunderlands at short bros in Belfast

[@pushbikeman]

The under stated narration is very effective.

[@geordiedog1749]

Any plane with its own kitchen is great by me!

[@tomarmstrong1281]

Fascinating, worlds within worlds. Now all gone and the world still turns.

[@nickraschke4737]

Wow. Excellent.

[@markblix6880]

I come from a PBY-5A family but this Short Sutherland would make my father look twice. I did.

[@leearnasnell]

Really interesting, thank you

[@roywinchel3620]

There navigation was amazing!!!

[@johnculver2519]

13:14 RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth

[@gregbrown8503]

I grew up in Hooe in the 60's, when Mount Batten was still operational.

[@mikegilbertblues]

Excellent

[@davidharris4062]

Interesting film

[@ivanconnolly7332]

Kermit Weeks is restoring one in the US.

[@garynew9637]

Didn't think much was happening with that one.

[@mongolike513]

Ex RNZAF bought by Ansett Airways and ‘civilianised’ at the Rose Bay flying boat base on Sydney Harbour sometime in the early 60’s. I went aboard her and she was a stripped out ‘shell’ but still sporting gun turrets, minus guns. Kermit Weeks is wonderful for saving aircraft but to bring that Sunderland back to original would be the equivalent to getting a Beaufighter back in the air and I don’t think anybody is even contemplating that either.

[@ivanconnolly7332]

Yes , he has dragged his heels for 30 years , the cost of replacing turrets would be massive.@@garynew9637

[@mikehobart]

The Short Sunderland -- what a misnomer for such a big aircraft !

[@SusanPearce_H]

It was made by the Short Brothers.

[@geordiedog1749]

Some folks say that the ‘flying porcupine’ monikers came because of the dorsal radar spikes on the tops of the Sunderlands. Or was that ‘sticklebacks’?

[@ArmouredCarriers]

I had hoped my dig through audio files would cast some light on this. No luck. My only thought is the nickname appears to have been around before the dorsal radar spikes appeared. And, remember, in 1939 - the Sunderland was very heavily armed. Flying Fortresses and Lancasters were yet to arrive on the scene. So when the navigator talks about poling hand-held guns out of hull panels - I'm inclined to think the origin is lost somewhere in there.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

I heard that the Germans nicknamed the Sunderland the "stachelschwein" (porcupine) because of the number of guns, which made it very dangerous to attack. Of course, when in combat the Sunderland would go low over the sea, so the only direction attackers could approach from was above - and into a lot of machine gun fire !

[@georgebarnes8163]

Down to the number of guns, My Grandfather flew them out of Castle Archdale during WW2 on the Atlantic patrols

[@geordiedog1749]

@@georgebarnes8163 That seems to be the received wisdom but some sources have said that the Germans called them after the radar antenna. Personally, I like the guns story especially in the light of the famous action in the Bay of Biscay.

[@georgebarnes8163]

They got the name long before the antennas were even fitted@@geordiedog1749

[@catmichael100]

There was some different stories about how the Sunderland was called the flying porcupine but the most common was because of the number of guns that it carried. This story was the most one given to the public. In fact the real reason that the Sunderland was given this name was because of the ASV radar fitted to the aeroplane. This lead to the fitting of four aerials to the top of the aeroplane which looked like the spines of a porcupine. Any photo released to the public had these spines removed by the censor but there are now some photos which do show them.

[@ArmouredCarriers]

It seems to me the Porcupine name appeared before the spinal ASV was fitted. But I can't be certain of that.

[@catmichael100]

The other most common story of the porcupine story was a sunderland defending itself from six Junkers88 fighters in Norway due to its large number of guns. The sunderland had the standard gun armourment of eight defence guns which was standard on British bombers of the time and was never classed as being very powerful. Both this action and the fitting of ASV were in 1940 so ether story could have been the reason for the story. The goverment of the day did give out many stories to the public to hide the truth. I do remember reading a book printed in the 1950,s which listed many myths from WW2 such as eating carrots improved one's eyesight at night. This was to hide the fitting of radar to aeroplanes but many people in England still believe it to this day. Thanks Mum and Dad.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

Story I've always heard/read was that it was because of the number of guns, not the official fit, 4 in the tail, two in the nose and a couple more dorsal, but that the Sunderland crews would beg borrow or steal any available machine gun to stick out of a window to give the off duty crew members something to shoot with should the Luftwaffe turn up. One story I remember, quite possibly apocryphal, was of a USAAF General turning up at a Fleet Air Arm base in his personal Jeep, complete with twin .50s on a pintle mount in the back. Official visit complete he returns to his Jeep, now missing the .50s. Apparently nobody saw anything happen, mystery remains unsolved to this day.

[@MsZeeZed]

Can’t go into battle without sausages & tea 😸

[@adrianperry8352]

I think that’s the Duke of Kent at 13.09: sadly, he was later killed in a flying accident ident.

[@mickyday2008]

Amazing story

[@FrankFischer-td4og]

Many of these veterans speak of the many dangers they faced as just everyday, normal situations. I suppose that they were, after a few of their patrols. God bless them all.

[@tedcopple101]

The Royal Navy have a newish trials craft named after Blackett, that's mentioned in the video.

[@nickdanger3802]

26 U-boats lost to Sunderland aircraft solo and shared 38 U-boats lost to Catalina aircraft solo and shared 72 U-boats lost to B-24 aircraft solo and shared U boat net Aircraft Types

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Ratios of operational aircraft / service livies and kills? "Lies, damned lies - and statistics": Winston Churchill

[@nickdanger3802]

@@ArmouredCarriers What about cost ? Under article V of the Lend Lease agreement of 1942, LL items were to be returned to USA custody unless lost, consumed or destroyed. USA wrote off over 2/3 of Britains LL debt in 1945 so Britain paid for less than 1/3 of LL B 24's and Cats lost in Commonwealth service. Sunderland Mark V Australian Sunderland crews suggested that the Pegasus engines be replaced by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines.[7] The 14-cylinder engines provided 1,200 hp (895 kW) each and were already in use on RAF Consolidated Catalinas and Douglas Dakotas (C 47 Skytrain for non-Commonwealth readers), and so logistics and maintenance were straightforward. Two Mark IIIs were taken off the production lines in early 1944 and fitted with the American engines. Trials were conducted in early 1944 and the conversion proved all that was expected. Wackypedia 5,646 Pratt & Whitney engines LL to Britain plus 1,090 to Canada. page 11 Hyperwar Lend Lease shipments Army Air Forces

[@nickdanger3802]

ARTICLE V The Government of the United Kingdom will return to the United States of America at the end of the present emergency, as determined by the President, such defense articles transferred under this Agreement as shall not have been destroyed, lost or consumed and as shall be determined by the President to be useful in the defense of the United States of America or of the Western Hemisphere or to be otherwise of use to the United States of America. Yale Law A Decade of American Foreign Policy 1941-1949 Master Lend-Lease Agreement page Over the whole period from March 1941 to September 1945, the balance in favour of the United States in the mutual aid books24 was in round terms about $21,000 millions. But by the settlement of 1945 Britain was required to pay no more than $650 millions, or £162 millions sterling. page 547 Hyperwar British War Economy United States: War Loans to UK HL Deb 27 May 2002 vol 635 cc126-7WA127WA §Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they owe money to the United States Government as a result of World War Two debt: if so, how much is owed; when it will be repaid; and what representation they have made to the United States Government concerning the debt being cancelled. [HL4422] §Lord McIntosh of Haringey Under a 1945 agreement, the United States Government lent the United Kingdom a total of $4,336 million (around £1,075 million at 1945 exchange rates) in war loans. These loans were taken out under two facilities: (i) a line of credit of $3,750 million (around £930 million at 1945 exchange rates); and (ii) a lend-lease loan facility of $586 million (around £145 million at 1945 exchange rates), which represented the settlement with the United States for lend-lease and reciprocal aid and for the final settlement of the Financial claims of each government against the other arising out of the conduct of the Second World War. Under the agreement the loans would be repaid in 50 annual instalments commencing in 1950. However, the agreement allowed deferral of annual payments of both principal and interest if necessary because of prevailing international exchange rate conditions and the level of the United Kingdom's foreign currency and gold reserves. The United Kingdom has deferred payments on six occasions. Repayment of the war loans to the United States Government should therefore he completed on 31 December 2006, subject to the United Kingdom not choosing to exercise its option to defer repayment. As at 31 March 2001, principal of $346,287,953 (£243,573,154 at the exchange rate on that day) was outstanding on the loans provided by the United States Government in 1945. The Government intend to meet their obligations under the 1945 agreement by repaying the United States Government in full the amounts lent in 1945 and so no representation has been made. Hansard records of parliament

[@nickdanger3802]

@@ArmouredCarriers 739 Sunderland's built for anti-submarine patrol, 150 Mk V's with Lend Lease Pratt and Witney engines and Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed fully feathering propellers. 33 Mk III's retrofitted to same. 26 U boats sunk solo and shared 1940 to 1944. 162 B17's Lend Leased to Britain. 11 U boats sunk solo and shared 1942 to 1944. "The RAF preferred the pure flying boat model, and only eleven of the more 700 Catalinas that it received were amphibious." 38 U boats sunk by Catalinas 1941 to 1945. u boat net

[@iancarr8682]

Tulia appears to be on the island of Zanzibar.

[@murrayscott9546]

Pretty little air-ahip !

[@nigelsmith7366]

I thought it was always called the flying Porcupine.... Not Porcupine of the North Atlantic....

[@lyricallyunwaxable1234]

I learnt that reading commando and battle mags

[@stuartgmk]

​@@lyricallyunwaxable1234👍

[@coreyandnathanielchartier3749]

It was a great plane, able to patrol above convoys and even rescue people from stricken merchant ships. Having 4 engines, lots of fuel, and a runway always under you......a fella could do worse. I have wondered why this plane and the Liberator were never fitted with a large auto-cannon like the Tse-Tse. Maybe they didn't have many opportunities to engage a sub on the surface.

[@williamashbless7904]

The pilots loved it? Amazing. It looks like it shouldn’t be capable of getting off the ground.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

Water, just saying.

[@chrisg6086]

Yes, they did. My father was a wartime Sunderland captain and he had a huge fondness for the aircraft

[@TheLucanicLord]

Surprised it doesn't have a greenhouse to grow its own food.

[@MsZeeZed]

If you could grow sausages on trees I’m sure they’d have had a go 😺

[@johngray8606]

Nice to see real footage not pc generated rubbish.❤❤❤

[@ArmouredCarriers]

It's not always possible to find. So sometimes I have to resort to CGI. But, one does what one can...

[@scottgiles7546]

"We never had that problem when they put the American engines in"...... Maybe they should have "borrowed" some Merlin's?

[@McRocket]

A pretty tepid porcupine. All 7.7mm guns (rarely there were some 12.5's). What was this ridiculous obsession the British had with putting ridiculously weak, defensive guns on their bombers? ☮

[@ArmouredCarriers]

It's a matter of timing. You go to war with what you have. Urgency means its harder to retool factories. Even the US had a lot of 7.7s in the 1930s. The UK went to war in September 1939. The US learnt a lot of lessons from UK experience before December 1941. And it had two extra years to gear up. UK fighters were by then trending towards 20mm. And bombers were seeking cover in darkness, or as fast intruders, as alternative defensive measures.

[@airplanes42]

Seems far too big for the job. I'd rather have twice as many Catalinas and Mariners.