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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Short Sunderland Mk V ExCC: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
- 2. Short Sandringham: Bill Wordsworth· GFDL 1.2
- 3. Short Sunderland MR.5 ML824 NS-Z Hendon 03.77 edited-3: RuthAS· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. Sunderland MOTAT NZ: MOTAT· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. Sunderland bomb rack: YSSYguy at English Wikipedia· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. 201 Squadron RAF Short Sunderland Mk.5 SZ576 moored on the River Thames in the Pool of London with The Tower of London behind. (27404448583): Steve Knight from Halstead, United Kingdom· CC BY 2.0
- 7. Lavtflygende Short Sunderland maritimt patruljefly ved Kristiansten festning - Low-flying Short Sunderland patrol bomber at Kristiansten fortress (1945) (4327629748): Municipal Archives of Trondheim from Trondheim, Norway· CC BY 2.0
- 8. P9623 Sunderland Portugal 01: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
- 9. Short Sunderland Mk I of No. 210 Squadron RAF based at Oban in Scotland, escorting a Canadian troop convoy into Greenock, 31 July 1940. CH795: Stanley Arthur Devon· Public domain
- 10. SHort Sunderland V DP198 201.A Tower Br 16.09.56 edited-3: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
what is it?
The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East England. Developed in parallel with the civilian S.23 Empire flying boat, the flagship of Imperial Airways, the Sunderland was developed specifically to conform to the requirements of British Air Ministry Specification R.2/33 for a long-range patrol/reconnaissance flying boat to serve with the Royal Air Force.
How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 34.4 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
- Top speed is 2.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 34.4 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1937-10-16
- introduced
- 1938
- retired
- 1959
- status
- retired
- number built
- 749
- role
- military flying boat bomber
- makers
- Short Brothers
- engines
- 4× Bristol Pegasus XVIII
- crew
- 9
- length
- 26 m
- wingspan
- 34.4 m
- height
- 10 m
- max take-off weight
- 26.3 t
- top speed
- 338 km/h
- cruise speed
- 286 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,243 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q617547, Wikipedia: Short Sunderland (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.