The
Consolidated PBY Catalina was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
flying boatA flying boat, properly known as an aquatic plane, is a specialised form of aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water, using its fuselage as a floating hull. Such aircraft are sometimes stabilised on water by underwing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
of the 1930s and 1940s produced by
Consolidated AircraftThe Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York. The result of a merger between Gallaudet Aircraft Company and Dayton-Wright Company, Consolidated became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for its line of flying boats...
. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. PBYs served with every branch of the US military and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. In the
United States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
and later in the USAF their designation was the
OA-10, while Canadian-built PBYs were known as the
Canso.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, PBYs were used in
anti-submarine warfareAnti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
, patrol bombing, convoy escorts,
search and rescueSearch and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.-Definitions of Search and Rescue:There are many different definitions of search and rescue, depending on the agency involved....
missions (especially
air-sea rescueAir-sea rescue is the coordinated search and rescue of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people who have survived the loss of their sea-going vessel. ASR can involve a wide variety of resources including seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships...
), and
cargo transportA cargo aircraft plane is a fixed-wing aircraft designed or converted for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. They are usually devoid of passenger amenities, and generally feature one or more large doors for the loading and unloading of cargo...
. The PBY was the most successful aircraft of its kind; no other flying boat was produced in greater numbers. The last active military PBYs were not retired from service until the 1980s. Even today, over seventy years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as an airtanker in
aerial firefightingAerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...
operations all over the world.
The
initialismAcronyms and initialisms are abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
of "PBY" was determined in accordance with the
U.S. Navy aircraft designation system of 1922Until 1962, the United States Navy used a system to designate its aircraft that included information about a craft's role and its manufacturer.-The system:The system conveyed its information in the form:...
;
PB representing "Patrol Bomber" and
Y being the code used for the aircraft's manufacturer,
Consolidated AircraftThe Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York. The result of a merger between Gallaudet Aircraft Company and Dayton-Wright Company, Consolidated became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for its line of flying boats...
.
Background
The PBY was originally designed to be a
patrol bomberA maritime patrol aircraft, also simply patrol aircraft, or by the older term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol, anti-shipping, anti-submarine and search and rescue roles....
, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in order to compromise enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the U.S. Navy in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range flying boats for this purpose. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring
runwayA runway is a strip of land at an airport on which aircraft can take off and land and forms part of the maneuvering area. Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .By extension, the term has come to mean, in addition, any long, flat, straight area, such as that used in fashion...
s, in effect having the entire ocean available. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced.
Although slow and ungainly, PBYs distinguished themselves in World War II as exceptionally reliable.
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
armed forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles that the aircraft was never intended for. They are remembered by many veterans of the war for their role in rescuing downed airmen, in which they saved the lives of thousands of aircrew downed over water. PBY airmen called their aircraft the "cat" on combat missions and "Dumbo" in air-sea rescue service.
Prototyping
As American dominance in the Pacific Ocean began to face competition from Japan in the 1930s, the U.S. Navy contracted Consolidated Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft Corporation in October 1933 to build competing
prototypeA prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category...
s for a patrol
flying boatA flying boat, properly known as an aquatic plane, is a specialised form of aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water, using its fuselage as a floating hull. Such aircraft are sometimes stabilised on water by underwing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
. Naval doctrine of the 1930s and 1940s used flying boats in a wide variety of roles that today are handled by multiple special-purpose aircraft. The US Navy had adopted the
Consolidated P2YThe Consolidated P2Y is a patrol flying-boat aircraft. The plane was a parasol monoplane with a fabric covered wing and aluminum hull.-Development:...
and Martin P3M models for this role in 1931, but both aircraft proved to be underpowered and hampered by short ranges and low maximum payloads.
Consolidated and Douglas both delivered single prototypes of their designs, the XP3Y-1 and
XP3D-1The Douglas P3D was a prototype American patrol flying boat of the 1930s. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane, the P3D was produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company to equip the US Navy's Patrol squadrons, but despite meeting the Navy's requirements, the rival Consolidated PBY was preferred owing...
, respectively. Consolidated's XP3Y-1 was an evolution of the XPY-1 design that had originally competed unsuccessfully for the P3M contract two years earlier and of the XP2Y design that the Navy had authorized for a limited production run. Although the Douglas aircraft was a good design, the Navy opted for Consolidated's because the projected cost was only $90,000 per plane.
Consolidated's XP3Y-1 design (company
Model 28) was revolutionary in a number of ways. The aircraft had a
parasol wingA parasol wing monoplane is an aircraft design in which the wing is not mounted directly to the fuselage, but rather, the fuselage is supported beneath it by a set of struts, called cabane struts...
with internal bracing that allowed the wing to be a virtual cantilever, except for two small
streamlinedA streamliner is any vehicle that incorporates streamlining to produce a shape that provides less resistance to air. The term is most often applied to certain high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully...
struts on each side. Stabilizing floats, retractable in flight to form streamlined wingtips, were another aerodynamic innovation. The two-step hull design was similar to that of the P2Y, but the Model 28 had a cantilever
cruciform tailThe cruciform tail is an aircraft empennage configuration which, when viewed from the aircraft's front or rear, looks much like a cross. The usual arrangement is to have the horizontal stabilizer intersect the vertical tail somewhere near the middle, and above the top of the fuselage.Often this...
unit instead of a strut-braced
twin tailA twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers — often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be — are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer...
. Cleaner aerodynamics gave the Model 28 better performance than earlier designs.
The prototype was powered by two 825 hp (615 kW)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-54The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp was an engine widely used in American aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. Produced by Pratt & Whitney, it was a two-row, 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial design. It displaced 1,830 in³ and its bore and stroke measured 5.5 and 5.5 in , respectively...
Twin Wasp
engineAn engine is a machine that produces mechanical force and motion from another form of energy . It is also referred to as a prime mover. An automobile makes use of several motors to start the car and drive the car's various pumps – but the power plant that propels the car is called an engine...
s mounted on the wing’s leading edges. Armament comprised four 0.30 in (7.62 mm)
BrowningThe M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...
machineguns and up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs.
The XP3Y-1 had its maiden flight on 28 March 1935, after which it was transferred to the US Navy for service trials. The XP3Y-1 soon proved to have significant performance improvements over current patrol flying boats. The Navy requested further development in order to bring the aircraft into the category of
patrol bomber, and in October 1935, the prototype was returned to Consolidated for further work, including installation of 900 hp (671 kW) R-1830-64 engines. For the redesignated XPBY-1, Consolidated introduced redesigned vertical tail surfaces. The XPBY-1 had its maiden flight on 19 May 1936, during which a record non-stop distance flight of 3,443 miles (5,541 km) was achieved.
The XPBY-1 was delivered to VP-11F in October 1936. The second squadron to be equipped was VP-12, which received the first of its aircraft in early 1937. The second production order was placed on 25 July 1936. Over the next three years, the PBY design was gradually developed further and successive models introduced.
Mass-produced U.S. Navy* variants
| Model |
Production period and distinguishing features |
Quantity |
| PBY-1 |
September 1936 - June 1937
Original production model. |
60 |
| PBY-2 |
May 1937 - February 1938
Minor alterations to tail structure, hull reinforcements. |
50 |
| PBY-3 |
November 1936 - August 1938
Higher power engines. |
66 |
| PBY-4 |
May 1938 - June 1939
Higher power engines, propeller spinners, acrylic glassPoly poly is a transparent thermoplastic. Chemically, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate...
blisters over waist guns (some later units). |
32 |
| PBY-5 |
September 1940 - July 1943
Higher power engines (using higher octane fuel), discontinued use of propeller spinners, standardized waist gun blisters. |
684 |
| PBY-5A |
October 1941 - January 1945
Hydraulically-actuated, retractable tricycle landing gear for amphibious operation. Introduced tail gun position, replaced bow single gun position with bow "eyeball" turret equipped with twin .30 machine guns (some later units), improved armor, self-sealing fuel tanks. |
802 |
| PBY-6A |
January 1945 - May 1945
Incorporated changes from PBN-1, including a taller vertical tail, increased wing strength for greater carrying capacity, new electrical system, standardized "eyeball" turret, and a radome over cockpit for radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
. |
175 |
* An estimated 4,051 Catalinas, Cansos, and GSTs of all variants were produced between June 1937 and May 1945 for the US Navy, USAAFThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
, United States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
, Allied nations, and civilian customers.
Naval Aircraft Factory production
The
Naval Aircraft FactoryThe Naval Aircraft Factory was established by the United States Navy in 1918 at Philadelphia in order to assist in solving the problem of aircraft supply which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I...
made significant modifications to the PBY design, many of which would have significantly interrupted deliveries had they been incorporated on the Consolidated production lines. The new aircraft, officially known as the
PBN-1 Nomad, had several differences from the basic PBY. The most obvious upgrades were to the bow, which was sharpened and extended two feet, and to the tail, which was enlarged and featured a new shape. Other improvements included larger fuel tanks, increasing range by 50%, and stronger wings permitting a 2,000 lb (908 kg) higher gross takeoff weight. An auxiliary power unit was installed, along with a modernized electrical system, and the weapons were upgraded with continuous-feed mechanisms.
138 of the 156 PBN-1s produced served with the Soviet Navy. The remaining 18 were assigned to training units at NAS Whidbey Island and NAF Newport. Later, improvements found in the PBN-1 – notably, the larger tail – were incorporated into the amphibious PBY-6A.
Roles in World War II
The final construction figure is estimated at around 4,000 aircraft, and these were deployed in practically all of the operational theatres of World War II. The PBY served with distinction and played a prominent and invaluable role in the war against the Japanese. This was especially true during the first year of the war in the Pacific, because the PBY and the Boeing
B-17 Flying FortressThe Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps , introduced in the 1930s. Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both competitors and more than met the Air Corps'...
were the only two available aircraft with the range necessary. As a result, they were used in almost every possible military role until a new generation of aircraft became available.
Anti-submarine warfare
PBYs were the most extensively used ASW aircraft in both the
AtlanticThe Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaignof World War II,...
and
Pacific TheaterThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
s of the Second World War, and were also used in the Indian Ocean, flying from the
SeychellesSeychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an archipelago nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar...
and Ceylon. Their duties included escorting convoys to
MurmanskMurmansk is a city and seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland....
. By 1943,
U-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s were well-armed with anti-aircraft guns and two
Victoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration which is, or has been, awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories. It takes precedence over all other orders, decorations and medals...
es were won by Catalina pilots pressing home attacks on U-boats in the face of heavy fire:
John CruickshankJohn Alexander Cruickshank, VC is a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Early life:...
RAF, in 1944, against
U-347 and in the same year Flight Lt.
David HornellDavid Ernest Hornell, VC was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
RCAF (posthumously) against
U-1225. Catalinas destroyed 40 U-boats in total but suffered losses of their own. On December 7, 1941, Mitsubishi A6M fighters from
AkagiThe Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, originally begun as an . She participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s...
attacked NAS Kaneohe Bay at Oahu, Hawaii, destroying or disabling all 33 PBYs stationed there.
Maritime patrol
In their role as patrol aircraft, Catalinas participated in some of the most notable engagements of World War II. The aircraft's parasol wing and large waist blisters allowed for a great deal of visibility and combined with its long range and endurance, made it well suited for the task.
- A Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force. The service came to prominence during the Second World War. It defended the United Kingdom from naval threats and countered them by air. Coastal Command was often referred to as the "Cinderella Service" as a result of the comments made...
Catalina located the German battleship BismarckThe German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class and named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned.Bismarck...
on May 26, 1941 while she tried to evade Royal Navy forces.
- A flight of Catalinas spotted the Japanese fleet approaching Midway Island, beginning the Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and seven months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
.
- An RCAF Canso flown by Squadron Leader L.J. Birchall
Air Commodore Leonard Joseph Birchall, CM, OBE, DFC, O.Ont, CD , "The Saviour of Ceylon", was a Royal Canadian Air Force officer who warned of a Japanese attack on the island of Ceylon during the Second World War....
foiled Japanese plans to destroy the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean fleet on April 4, 1942 when it detected the Japanese carrier fleet approaching Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Night attack and naval interdiction
Several squadrons of PBY-5As and -6As in the Pacific theater were specially modified to operate as night convoy raiders. Outfitted with state-of-the-art
magnetic anomaly detection gearA magnetic anomaly detector is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines ; the military MAD gear is a descendent of geomagnetic survey instruments used to search for...
and painted flat black, these "Black Cats" attacked Japanese supply convoys at night. Catalinas were surprisingly successful in this highly unorthodox role. Between August 1943 and January 1944, Black Cat squadrons had sunk 112,700 tons of merchant shipping, damaged 47,000 tons, and damaged 10 Japanese warships.
The
Royal Australian Air ForceThe Royal Australian Air Force is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF began in March 1912 as the Australian Flying Corps making it the second oldest air force in the world...
(RAAF) also operated Catalinas as night raiders, with four squadrons Nos.
11No. 11 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. It was formed in 1939 and has seen active service in World War II, East Timor, the War on Terrorism and the 2003 Gulf War...
, 20, 42, and 43 mounting mine-laying operations from 23 April 1943 until July 1945 in the southwest Pacific deep into Japanese-held waters, that bottled up ports and shipping routes and kept ships in the deeper waters to become targets for US submarines; they tied up the major strategic ports such as Balikpapan that shipped 80% of Japanese oil supplies. In late 1944, their precision mining sometimes exceeded 20 hours in duration from as low as 200 feet in the hours of darkness. One included the bottling up the Japanese fleet in Manila Bay planned to assist General MacArthur's landing at Mindoro in the Philippines. They also operated out of Jinamoc in Leyte Gulf, and mined ports on the Chinese coast from Hong Kong as far north as Wenchow. They were the only non-American heavy bombers squadrons operating north of Morotai in 1945. The RAAF Catalinas regularly mounted nuisance night bombing raids on Japanese bases, they earned the motto of 'The first and the Furthest' as a testimony to their design and endurance. These raids included the major base at
RabaulRabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of feet into the air. It caused...
. RAAF aircrews developed 'terror bombs', essentially empty beer bottles with razor blades inserted into the necks, these produced high pitched screams as they fell and kept Japanese soldiers awake and in fear of their life.
Search and rescue
PBYs were employed by every branch of the US military as rescue aircraft. A PBY piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Adrian Marks (USN) rescued 56 sailors from the
USS IndianapolisUSS Indianapolis was a of the United States Navy. She holds a place in history due to the circumstances of her sinking, which led to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the US Navy....
after the ship was sunk during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. PBYs continued to function in this capacity for decades after the end of the war.
Early commercial use
PBYs were also used for commercial air travel. Still the longest commercial flights (in terms of time aloft) ever made in aviation history were the
QantasQantas Airways Limited is the national airline of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an acronym for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport. It is Australia's largest...
flights flown weekly from 29 June 1943 through July 1945 over the Indian Ocean. Qantas offered non-stop service between
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
and
ColomboColombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a city...
, a distance of 3,592 nm (5,652 km). As the PBY typically cruised at 110 knots, this took from 28–32 hours and was called the "flight of the double sunrise", since the passengers saw two sunrises during their non-stop journey. The flight was made with radio silence (because of the possibility of Japanese attack) and had a maximum payload of 1000 lbs or three passengers plus 65 kg of armed forces and diplomatic mail.
Post-WWII employment
With the end of the war, flying boat versions were quickly retired from the U.S. Navy, but amphibians remained in service for many years. The last Catalina on active U.S. service was a PBY-6A operating with a Naval Reserve squadron, retired 3 January 1957. The PBY subsequently equipped the world's smaller armed services, in fairly substantial numbers, into the late 1960s.
The USAF
Strategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a major command in the United States Air Force and a "specified command" in the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
had PBYs (OA-10s) in service from 1946 through 1947.
The
Brazilian Air ForceThe Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
flew Catalinas in naval air patrol missions against German submarines starting in 1943. The aircraft also performed air mail service. In 1948 a transport squadron was formed and equipped with PBY-5As converted to the role of amphibian transport. The 1st Air Transport Squadron (ETA-1) was based in the port city of Belem and flew Catalinas and C-47s in well-maintained condition until 1982. Catalinas were convenient for supplying military detachments scattered among the Amazon waterways. They reached places where only long range transport helicopters would dare go. ETA-1 insignia was a winged turtle with the motto "Though slowly, I always get there". Today, the last Brazilian Catalina (ex-RCAF) is displayed at the Airspace Museum (MUSAL), in Rio de Janeiro.
Jacques-Yves CousteauJacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
used a PBY-6A (N101CS) as part of his diving expeditions. His second son,
PhilippePhilippe Cousteau was a French oceanographer, the second son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Simone Cousteau.Born in Toulon, Philippe Cousteau first dived with an aqua-lung in 1945. He was a professional diver since he was 7 years old...
, was killed while attempting a water landing in the
TagusFor the ancient Thessalian title, see TagusThe Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula...
river near Lisbon, Portugal, June 28 1979. His plane had just been repaired when he took it out for a flight. As he landed, one of the plane's propellers separated, cut through the cockpit and killed the younger Cousteau.
Of the few dozen remaining airworthy Catalinas, the majority are in use today as
aerial firefightingAerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...
planes.
China AirlinesChina Airlines, Limited is the flag carrier of the Republic of China . The airline is not directly state-owned but is 54% owned by the China Aviation Development Foundation which is owned by the Republic of China...
, the official airline of the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
(
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
) was founded with two PBY amphibians.
Catalina affair
The Catalina Affair is the name given to a
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
incident in which a Swedish military Catalina was shot down by Soviet aircraft over the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
in June 1952 while investigating the earlier crash of a Swedish
Douglas DC-3The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Because of its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II it is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
.
Variants
XP3Y-1
- Prototype Model 28 flying boat later re-designated XBPY-1, one built (USN Bureau No. 9459). Later fitted with a 48-foot diameter ring to sweep magnetic mines
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship...
. A 550-HP Ranger engine drove a generator to produce a magnetic field.
XBPY-1
- Prototype version of the Model 28 for the United States Navy, a re-engined XP3Y-1 with two 900hp R-1830-64 engines, one built.
PBY-1 (Model 28-1)
- Initial production variant with two 900hp R-1830-64 engines, 60 built.
PBY-2 (Model 28-2)
- Equipment changes and improved performance, 50 built.
PBY-3 (Model 28-3)
- Powered by two 1000hp R-1830-66 engines, 66 built.
PBY-4 (Model 28-4)
- Powered by two 1050hp R-1830-72 engines, 33 built (including one initial as a XBPY-4 which later became the XBPY-5A).
PBY-5 (Model 28-5)
- Either two 1200hp R-1830-82 or -92 engines and provision for extra fuel tanks, 683 built (plus one built at New Orleans), some aircraft to the RAF as the Catalina IVA and one to the United States Coast Guard. The PBY-5 was also built in the Soviet Union as the GST.
XPBY-5
- One PBY-4 converted into an amphibian and first flown in November 1939.
PBY-5A (Model 28-5A)
- Amphibious version of the PBY-5 with two 1200hp R-1830-92 engines, first batch (of 124) had one 0.3in bow gun the remainder had two bow guns. 803 built including diversions to the United States Army Air Corps, the RAF (as the Catalina IIIA) and one to the United States Coast Guard.
PBY-6A
- Amphibious version with two 1200hp R-1830-92 engines and a taller fin and rudder. Radar scanner fitted above cockpit and two 0.5 in nose guns. 175 built including 21 transferred to the Soviet Navy.
PBY-6AG
- One PBY-6A used by the United States Coast Guard as a staff transport.
PB2B-1
- Boeing Canada built version of the PBY-5, 165 built most supplied to the RAF and RNZAF as the Catalina IVB.
PB2B-2
- Boeing Canada built version of the PBY-5 but having a taller fin of the PBN-1, 67 built most supplied to the RAF as the Catalina VI.
PBN-1
- Naval Aircraft Factory built version of the PBY-5 with major modification including a 2ft bow extension, re-designed wingtip floats and tail surfaces and a revised electrical system. 155 built for delivery to the RAF as the Catalina V although 138 were loaned to the Soviet Navy
PBV-1A
- Canadian Vickers built version of the PBY-5A, 380 built including 150 to the Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force was the air force of Canada from 1924 until 1968 when the three branches of the Canadian military were merged into the Canadian Forces...
as the Canso-A and the rest to the USAAF as the OA-10A.
OA-10
- PBY-5A transferred to the United States Army Air Corps, 58 aircraft survivors re-designated A-10 in 1948.
OA-10A
- Canadian Vickers built version of the PBV-1, survivors re-designated A-10A in 1948. Three additional aircraft from Navy in 1949 as A-10As.
OA-10B
- Former PBY-6As transferred to the USAAC, 75 aircraft re-designated A-10B in 1948.
Catalina I
- Direct purchase aircraft for the Royal Air Force, same as the PBY-5 with six 0.303in guns (one in bow, four in beam blisters and one aft of the hull step) and powered by two 1200hp R-1830-S1C3-G engines, 109 built.
Catalina IA
- Operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Canso, 14 built.
Catalina IB
- Lend-lease PBY-5Bs for the RAF, 225 aircraft built.
Catalina II
- Equipment changes, six built.
Catalina IIA
- Vickers-Canada built Catalina II for the RAF, 50 built.
Catalina IIIA
- Former US Navy PBY-5As used by the RAF on the North Atlantic Ferry Service, 12 aircraft.
Catalina IVA
- Lend-lease PBY-5s for the RAF, 93 aircraft.
Catalina IVB
- Lend-lease PB2B-1s for the RAF, some to the Royal Australian Air Force.
Catalina VI
- Lend-lease PB2B-2s for the RAF, some to the RAAF.
GST
- Soviet built version of the PBY-5.
Specifications (PBY-5A)
See also
External links