Etter
flere års søk etter den tyske ubåten U 622 utenfor
Trondheim, fant de norske dykkerne Kaj Sjølie og Frode Aakvik
istedenfor vraket av et stort fly. Vraket de hadde funnet var en Short
Sunderland. Dette flyet hadde gjort tjeneste ved RAF skvadron 119, og
deretter blitt overført til treningsskvadronen 208 Flight Training
Unit, før hun gjorde tjeneste for Australske piloter i 461 skvadronen.
Short Sunderland ble mye brukt til å bekjempe de tyske ubåtene,
og under tjenesten til 461 skvadronen utført flyet flere oppdrag.
Den 2. Mai 1945 overtok den norske skvadronen 330 flyet, og hun endte
deretter opp i Trondheim. Noen dager etter ankomsten til Trondheim blåser
det opp til dårlig vær med sterk vind, og flyet som nå
har fått kjennemerke WH-Y sliter over fortøyningen og ender
opp ved Olavspiren. Skadene anses som så store at flyet senere
blir kondemnert. Diverse utstyr ombord og instrumenter blir deretter
fjernet fra flyet, og under lossingen av drivstoffet antennes kondensen
og området forvandles raskt til et brennede inferno. Under denne
ulykken blir fire man stygt forbrent, men ingen omkommer. Senere blir
flyet tauet ut på dypt vann utenfor Munkholmen og senket. Vraket
av denne Short Sunderland hviler idag godt intakt på en dybde
fra femtisyv til syttito meter og er i god stand. En båt er nødvendig
for å komme ut til posisjonen...
After several years
of searching for the German submarine U 622 outside Trondheim,
the Norwegian divers Kaj Sjølie and Frode Aakvik found
instead the wreck of at large airplane. The wreck they had found
was an Short Sunderland. This airplane had done service at RAF
squadron 119, and thereafter been transferred to the training
squadron 208 Flight Training Unit, before she did service for
Australian pilots in 461 squadron. Short Sunderland was much used
to fight against the German submarines, and during the service
for 461 squadron this airplane several missions. On 2. May 1945
the Norwegian squadron 330 the airplane, and she ended thereafter
up in Trondheim. A few days after arrival to Trondheim, the weather
is getting bad with strong winds, and the airplane who has now
been given the call-sign WH-Y tears of the moorings and ends up
at Olavspiren. The damages on the plane is considered so severe,
that the airplane is later condemned. Different gear and the instruments
is therefore removed from the airplane, and during the loading
of the fuel the condens from the petroleum is ignited and the
area is rapidly transfered to a flaming inferno. During this accident
four men are heavily burned but no one is killed. Later the airplane
is towed out to deep waters outside Munkholmen and sunk. The wreck
of this Short Sunderland rest today on a depth of fifty seven
to seventy two meters in a good condition. A boat is neccesary
to reach the position...
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Short
Sunderland |
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Crew: thirteen
Dimensions: Span 112' 10" (34.39 metres) / Length 85' 4"
(26.01 metres)
Wing area 1,487 square feet (138.14 sq. metres)
Weights: 33,000 lb (14969 kg) empty / 58,000 lb maximum take-off weight
Engines: Four 1,066 hp (794-kW) Bristol Pegasus XVIII nine-cylinder
radials
Performance: maximum 212 mph ( 341 km/hr ) / Service ceiling 15,000
ft ( 4570 metres )
Range 3,000 miles (4830 km) at 145 mph (233 km/hr) / Endurance 20
hours
Armament: Twin 0.5 inch Browning machine-guns fired from waist hatches
plus twelve 0.303 Browning machine-guns ( four fixed forward-firing,
two in nose turret, t
wo in mid-upper turret, four in tail turret ) Assorted ordnance -
bombs or depth charges -
to total load of 4,960 lb (2250 kg)
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