SHORT SUNDERLAND MK.III

The Short Sunderland is a British, four-engine high-wing flying boat designed for long-range patrol and ZOP missions from the Second World War. The flight of the military version took place in October 1937, and a year later the aircraft entered service with the RAF. Several development versions of this aircraft were produced. The first, Mk.I, was also the first production series. In August 1941, the Mk.II version was created with the new ASV Mk II radar, reinforced armament and other engines. At the end of 1941, production of a slightly modified version of the Mk.II, known as the Mk.III, began. A version of the Mk.IV, known as the Seaford, with more powerful engines and larger dimensions, adapted to operate in the Pacific waters, was also created. The Mk.III version, with the ASV Mk IV C radar and the Pratt-Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830 engines, went down in history under the designation Mk.V. About 750 machines of all versions were built. Short Sunderland planes served in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. They proved to be excellent ZOP planes, drowning 27 U-boats. Technical data (Mk.III version): length: 26m, wingspan: 34.4m, height: 10m, maximum speed: 336km / h, climb speed: 3.67m / s, practical ceiling: 4800m, maximum range: 2840km, armament: fixed - 16 7.7mm machine guns and 2 12.7mm machine guns, suspended - bomb load and depth bombs weighing up to 2250 kg.