Consolidated PBY Catalina

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American, long-range flying boat used as a maritime patrol aircraft by the US Navy and US Army Air Forces during World War II. It was the most widely used seaplane during this armed conflict, playing a key role in the Pacific Theater of Operations especially in spotting Japanese warships and radioing a warning to the American fleet. However, it was also employed as a bomber to attack Japanese bases on the coastal areas of the Pacific islands as well as enemy supply ships. The British RAF also employed this hydroplane in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Theater.

The prototype of the Catalina, the XP3Y, flew for the first time on March 28, 1935. It was flown by Consolidated test pilot Bill Wheatley. Although minor problems arose, the first flight tests were satisfactory. After more than a year of evaluation, with correction and improvement, it entered service with the US Navy on October 5, 1936, when the first production flying boat, the PBY-1, was officially accepted by the US Navy authorities at the Consolidated plant at Lindbergh Field, in San Diego, California. More than 3,300 PBY Catalina seaplanes would be built in different versions, with the PBY-3 and PBY-5 being the most massively built and employed.

By the time the United States declared the war on Japan in December 1941, the PBY Catalina was already considered an obsolete aircraft by many in the aircraft industry. However, it would not be phased out, nor would it be replaced, even though more powerful and stronger flying boats would be designed and built in the first couple of years of World War II, such as the Consolidated PB2Y Coronado. The reason was that it was a reliable, low-cost, and easy-to-maintain seaplane. Maritime patrol and convoy escort were its main duties, but in all combat areas, especially in the South Pacific, it also proved to be a capable bomber and an outstanding search and rescue seaplane, saving hundreds of survivors.

Technical Description

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was a two-engine monoplane. It had an all-metal airframe and hull, except the rear portion, which was fabric covered. The flying boat was fitted with semi-cantilever, parasol wing, which was mounted on a pylon above the hull, with a pair of struts on each side to provide additional support. The wing was a conventional aluminum alloy structure, with ailerons being fabric-covered metal structures. Full cantilever horizontal stabilizers were metal-covered. The tailplane was mounted on a large fin and it had fabric-covered elevators, while the vertical fin featured a fabric-covered rudder.

The PBY Catalina was equipped with wing-tip floats and retractable landing gear, which folded up into the side of hull. It was fitted with a nose turret that contained a .30-cal. (7.62-mm) machine guns (two in PBY-5 version) and with two rear blisters, each armed with one .50-cal. (12.7-mm) machine gun. The PBY-1 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-64 piston engines, each providing 900 horsepower at take-off.

Specifications (PBY-5A)

Type: long-range, maritime patrol flying boat.

Length: 19.47 m (63 feet, 11 inches)

Wing Span: 32 m (104 feet)

Wing Area: 130 m2 (1,400 square feet)

Height: 6.43 m (21 feet, 1 inch)

Power Plant: two 1,200-HP, Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp, 14-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines.

Maximum Speed: 315 km/h (196 mph)

Range 4,828 km (3,000 miles)

Service Ceiling: 4,800 m (15,800 feet)

Rate of Climb: 5.1 m/s (1,000 feet/minute)

Crew: 10, including the pilot.

Armament: 10 machine guns, plus 1,814-kg (4,000-lb) of bombs.

Below, a US Navy's PBY-4 Catalina flying over the Pacific in 1942. No 15 of VP-13.

A color picture of a PBY-5A version on the dirt ramp of a forward base on one of the Aleutian Islands in December 1943.

Below, a US Army Air Forces Catalina, No. 72 floating on the water in an Aleutian island bay.

The reliable flying boat on a US Navy's airbase. Usually, when operated from land bases, the Catalina's wing-tip floats were retracted for take-off and flight.