Short Sunderland in New Zealand service
The Short Sunderland was developed as a long range maritime reconnaissance flying boat and was widely used during the Second World War.
The majority were scrapped although two still survive, one as an exhibit at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland, New Zealand, and the other in the collection of the aviation enthusiast Kermit Weeks.
The Sunderland, of which around 750 were built from 1937 to 1945, first entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in June 1938 and went on to serve in the Far East, Mediterranean, and Africa, the Pacific as well as in Europe.
[1] Intended as a long range maritime reconnaissance-bomber, in its standard configuration the Sunderland was powered by four 1,200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney engines and had a crew of ten.
[2] At the start of 1944, the Empire of Japan was no longer the dominant force in the South Pacific that it had been and the British government was beginning to consider the postwar outlook for the region.
The United States already had airfields on several islands in the area that could be used as the basis for commercial flight operations by civilian aircraft but the British lacked an equivalent land presence to achieve this.
This led the British to favour flying boats as the basis for commercial operations since less land infrastructure, particularly runways, would be required.
The New Zealand government agreed, also buying £80,000 of equipment to support the Sunderlands, which was envisaged to form the basis of a transport service in the South Pacific.
[3] Departing England on 21 October, the first two Sunderlands arrived at the RNZAF base at Laucala Bay in Fiji in late November.
All of the Sunderland aircraft were quickly cleaned up and fitted with cabin chairs; it had been decided that they would operate a passenger service between Fiji and New Zealand.
[7] The four Sunderlands formed the Flying Boat Transport Flight, operating from Hobsonville Air Force base in West Auckland.
The interiors were reworked for carriage of passengers and freight and engineering staff of the RNZAF received training from experienced Royal Australian Air Force personnel.
[8] In February the Flying Boat Transport Flight began operating regular return services from Mechanics Bay, in Auckland, and Espiritu Santo with a stop at Nouméa, and Suva, in Fiji, respectively.
[10] One Sunderland, NZ4103, was converted for civilian operations in January 1946 and soon afterwards, two of the others were used for training of Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) flight crew, preparing them for the airline's newly acquired Short Sandringham flying boats.
However, it was soon decided to hand over the Sunderlands to a civilian operator and in October 1946, NZ4103, now converted to an airliner, began flying to Chatham Island.
[13] The NAC Sunderlands continued to fly to Suva and back from Auckland until March 1949, at which time TEAL took responsibility for the route with its own aircraft.
The first of the Sunderlands was formally handed over to the RNZAF on 18 May and it and a second example departed ten days later from RAF Calshot, where the crews underwent familiarisation with their aircraft.
It flew a route across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia, Nouméa, using the RAF's flying boat services at each stop, and onto Fiji.
[18] However, significant work on the Sunderlands, for example overhauls, was undertaken by TEAL engineering staff at their facilities at Mechanics Bay in Auckland.
The arrival of the first two Sunderlands at Laucala Bay on 13 June 1953 began the phasing out of the Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats that previously equipped the squadron.
5 Squadron monitored foreign fishing fleets, watched out for submarines, gathered intelligence, and also performed search and rescue missions in the South Pacific.
As there was concern regarding the level of fallout from the testing, the Sunderlands, operating from Papeete, collected radiation samples from sites in French Polynesia and transported monitoring equipment to Funafuti, in Tuvalu.
[28] In October 1962, a Sunderland landed on the remote atoll of the Minerva Reefs to rescue the crew of a Tongan vessel, the Tuaikaepau, which had been shipwrecked there since July.
As part of their duties, they would often fly the aircraft to Laucala Bay, spending a weekend there on operational training before returning to New Zealand.
[32][33] From 1958, the RNZAF operated a passenger service using Sunderlands between Evans Bay in Wellington and Chatham Island, where they landed on Te Whanga Lagoon.
The regular service ended when a Sunderland crashed on an unmarked rock when as it was taxiing on the lagoon prior to taking off from the Chathams in late 1959.
As most of the Pacific Islands now had good airstrips, there was less need to rely on flying boats and more conventional aircraft could be used to fulfill the maritime reconnaissance role.
[36] A detachment of two Sunderlands remained in Fiji for a time to carry out search and rescue missions as needed and continue maritime surveillance.
[39] The last Sunderland on detachment in Fiji was flown back to Hobsonville on 2 April 1967, marking the final operational flight for the type in New Zealand service.
