The Short Sunderland flying boat was a British built aircraft for military use. The design was based on an existing flying
boat that was a civilian flying boat, called the Empire.
This flying boat was named after the town of Sunderland, situated on the north east coast of England, whose main claim to
fame at the time was that it was the biggest shipbuilding town in the world.
For a number of years, tribute was made to the aircraft by renaming a popular pub in the towns' Sea Road area,
The Sunderland Flying Boat.
On entering, customers would see, adorned on its walls, numerous pictures of the aircraft, detailed schematic plans of the interior layout of the aircraft, and what also appeared to be original design drawings.
Sunderland Ink Sketch
Alas, although the pub still stands to this day, the name has changed back to its original name of The Royal Marine.
This grand old flying boat is showcased here in the form of a digitally produced ink sketch.