Sunderland vs U-boat: Bay of Biscay 1943–44

Osprey Duel #130

by Mark Lardas, Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

An illustrated examination of the role played by the Sunderland as an antisubmarine aircraft during the Battle of the Atlantic, focusing on the key battles in the Bay of Biscay during the critical year of 1943.

The Sunderland was one of the RAF's most iconic combat aircraft of World War II, with a silhouette closer to a bumblebee than a raptor. Equally iconic for Germany was the U-boat – the 'steel sharks' whose natural prey was Allied merchantmen. Yet as deadly as the U-boat was to merchantmen and warships alike, the vessel had a weak it was vulnerable to air attack.

Packed with first-hand accounts, this book examines the typically one-to-one classic duels between two maritime predators – the U-boat and the Sunderland. It was an uneven fight, for the Sunderland had several advantages over a U-boat, including radars to detect U-boats while remaining unseen, and the ability to choose the time of attack to best advantage. Yet the battle was not totally unequal. Many Sunderlands were lost attacking U-boats.

This title is profusely illustrated with specially commissioned artwork, including a three-view of a Sunderland, two-view of a Type IXB U-boat, four armament views detailing the weaponry employed by both protagonists, stunning cover and battlescene artwork, tactical diagrams and maps. These perfectly complement authoritative text by veteran Osprey author Mark Lardas.

80 pages, Paperback

Published October 24, 2023

About the author

Mark Lardas holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, but spent his early career at the Johnson Space Center doing Space Shuttle structural analysis, and space navigation. An amateur historian and a long-time ship modeller, Mark Lardas is currently a freelance writer in Palestine, Texas. He has written extensively about modelling as well as naval, maritime, and military history.