Superb sonar pics raise Sunderland hopes

11:58am Friday 15th February 2008

Amazing sonar pictures of the submerged wreck of a Sunderland flying-boat which sank at anchor off Pembroke Dock during a storm in November 1940 have been released by Yorkshire-based SRD (Sonar Research and Development Ltd).

The Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust are planning to recover, conserve and eventually display the World War Two aircraft as part of an exibition telling the story of Flying Boats and the Battle of the Atlantic at Pembroke Dock.

"The Sunderland T9044 is the only Mark 1 Sunderland left in the world and sank at its moorings between Pembroke Dock and Llanstadwell," said Trust Project Manager John Evans. "It came back to the local Squadron from Oban on November 9th 1940 and sank on the 12th, the gale having apparently pulled the mooring fixing out of the bow, leaving a hole which filled with water. We have already recovered the port inner engine and the sonar survey results, which are far more than we had hoped for, have given us a tremendous boost.

"We now need to bid for the major funding necessary to complete the project to tell a unique story in a unique location."

SRD Managing Director Brian Bullock said the Subsea Visualisation System (SVS3) used in the survey is based on digital multibeam technology used in combination with a virtual 3D model generated from aircraft drawings. "It has allowed us to generate superb 3D images of the wreck, and the Pembroke Dock team has has been impressed by the quality of the images, which clearly show what remains of the fuselage, cockpit and wings, together with precise information about location and orientation."