Consolidated PBY Catalina
The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina, is an American flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA-10 and in Canadian service as the Canso, and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. The last military PBYs served until the 1980s.
Design and development
Background
The PBY was originally designed to be a patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea to disrupt enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the Pacific Ocean, where troops required resupply over great distances, the U.S. Navy invested millions of dollars in the 1930s developing long-range flying boats, which had the advantage of being able to land in any suitable waters.Initial development
As American dominance in the Pacific Ocean began to face competition from Japan in the 1930s, the U.S. Navy contracted Consolidated, Martin, and Douglas in October 1933 to build competing prototypes for a patrol flying boat. 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 U.S. Navy had adopted the Consolidated P2Y and Martin P3M models for this role in 1931, but both aircraft were underpowered and hampered by inadequate range and limited payloads.Consolidated and Douglas both delivered single prototypes of their new designs, the XP3Y-1 and XP3D-1, 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 aircraft.
Consolidated's XP3Y-1 design had a parasol wing with external bracing struts, mounted on a pylon over the fuselage. Wingtip stabilizing floats were retractable in flight to form streamlined wingtips and had been licensed from the Saunders-Roe company. The two-step hull design was similar to that of the P2Y, but the Model 28 had a cantilever cruciform tail unit instead of a strut-braced twin tail. Cleaner aerodynamics gave the Model 28 better performance than earlier designs. Construction was all-metal, stressed-skin, of aluminum sheet, except the ailerons and wing trailing edge, which were fabric covered.
The prototype was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-54 Twin Wasp radial engines mounted on the wing's leading edge. Armament comprised four Browning AN/M2 machine guns and up to of bombs.
The XP3Y-1 had its maiden flight on 21 March 1935, after which it was transferred to the U.S. Navy for service trials. The XP3Y-1 was a significant performance improvement over previous patrol flying boats. The Navy requested further development 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 R-1830-64 engines. For the redesignated XPBY-1, Consolidated introduced redesigned vertical tail surfaces, which resolved a problem with the tail becoming submerged on takeoff, which had made lift-off impossible under some conditions. The XPBY-1 had its maiden flight on 19 May 1936, during which a record nonstop distance flight of 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 design was gradually developed further and successive models were introduced.
The aircraft eventually bore the name Catalina after Santa Catalina Island, California; the name was coined in November 1941, as Great Britain ordered their first 30 aircraft.
PBN Nomad
The Naval Aircraft Factory 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 by 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 increase in gross takeoff weight. An auxiliary power unit was installed, along with an improved electrical system, and the weapons were upgraded with continuous-feed mechanisms.After the NAF transferred ownership via Project Zebra, 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 the Naval Air Facility in Newport, Rhode Island. Later, improvements found in the PBN, such as the larger tail, were incorporated into the amphibious PBY-6A.
Naming
The designation "PBY" was determined in accordance with the U.S. Navy aircraft designation system of 1922; PB represented "Patrol Bomber" and Y was the code assigned to Consolidated Aircraft as its manufacturer. Catalinas built by other manufacturers for the U.S. Navy were designated according to different manufacturer codes, thus Canadian Vickers-built examples were designated PBV, Boeing Canada examples were PB2B, Consolidated Vultee examples were PB4 and Naval Aircraft Factory examples were PBN. In accordance with contemporary British naming practice of giving seaplanes service names after coastal port towns, Royal Canadian Air Force examples were named Canso, for the town of that name in Nova Scotia. The United States Army Air Forces and later the United States Air Force used the designation OA-10. U.S. Navy Catalinas used in the Pacific against the Japanese for night operations were painted black overall; as a result, these aircraft were sometimes referred to locally as "Black Cats".Operational history
Roles in World War II
The PBY was the most numerous aircraft of its kind, with around 3,300 examples built. During World War II PBYs were used in antisubmarine warfare, patrol bombing, convoy escort, search and rescue missions, and cargo transport. The type operated in nearly all operational theatres of World War II. The Catalina served with distinction and played a prominent and invaluable role in the war against Japan.These patrol aircraft shared combat roles with land-based patrol bombers, while the very-long-range Consolidated LB-30 Liberator and the Consolidated Coronado were pressed into service to increase the all-important logistical strategic air lift capability in the vast Pacific theater. The pairings allowed the Catalina to take on the role of eyes of the fleets at longer ranges than the floatplane scouts. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced.
Although the Catalina was slow, Allied forces used the aircraft in a wide variety of roles for which it was never intended. PBYs are remembered for their rescue role, in which they saved the lives of hundreds of aircrew downed over water. Catalina airmen called their aircraft the "Cat" on combat missions and "Dumbo" in air-sea rescue service.
The Catalina scored the U.S. Navy's first credited air-to-air "kill" of a Japanese airplane in the Pacific War. On 10 December 1941, the Japanese attacked the Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. Numerous U.S. ships and submarines were damaged or destroyed by bombs and bomb fragments. While flying to safety during the raid on Cavite, Lieutenant Harmon T. Utter's PBY was attacked by three Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero carrier fighters. Chief Boatswain Earl D. Payne, Utter's bow gunner, shot down one, thus scoring the U.S. Navy's first kill. Utter, as a commander, later co-ordinated the carrier air strikes that led to the destruction of the Japanese battleship Yamato.
The Catalina performed one of the first offensive operations against the Japanese by the U.S. On 27 December 1941, six Catalinas of Patrol Squadron 101 bombed Japanese shipping at Jolo Island against heavy fighter opposition, with four Catalinas lost.
Antisubmarine warfare
Catalinas were the most extensively used antisubmarine warfare aircraft in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II, and were also used in the Indian Ocean, flying from the Seychelles and from Ceylon. Their duties included escorting the Arctic convoys to Murmansk. By 1943, U-boats were well-armed with antiaircraft guns and two Victoria Crosses were won by Catalina pilots pressing home their attacks on U-boats in the face of heavy fire: Flying Officer John Cruickshank of the RAF, in 1944, received the award for sinking what was believed to be U-347 and in the same year RCAF Flight Lieutenant David Hornell received the decoration posthumously for the sinking of U-1225. Their aircraft was damaged in the fight before it sank the U-boat, and Hornell died from exposure. Catalinas destroyed 40 U-boats, but not without losses of their own. A Brazilian Catalina attacked and sank U-199 in Brazilian waters on 31 July 1943. Later, the aircraft was baptized as Arará, in memory of the merchant ship of that name, which was sunk by another U-boat.Maritime patrol
In their role as patrol aircraft, Catalinas participated in some of the most notable naval engagements of World War II. The aircraft's parasol wing and large waist blisters provided excellent visibility, and combined with its long range and endurance, made it well suited for the task.An RAF Coastal Command Catalina flying from Castle Archdale Flying boat base, Lower Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, located the German battleship Bismarck on 26 May 1941, some northwest of Brest. Bismarck was attempting to evade Royal Navy forces as she sought to join other Kriegsmarine forces in Brest. This sighting eventually led to the destruction of the German battleship.
On 7 December 1941, before the Japanese amphibious landings on Kota Bharu, Malaya, their invasion force was approached by a Catalina flying boat of No. 205 Squadron RAF. The aircraft was shot down by five Nakajima Ki-27 fighters before it could radio its report to air headquarters in Singapore. Flying Officer Patrick Bedell, commanding the Catalina, and his seven crew members became the first Allied casualties in the war with Japan. Patrol Wing 10 of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet had 44 Catalinas under its command, but lost 41 within 90 days. Patrol Wing 10 also lost its main seaplane tender, USS Langley, to Japanese aircraft during the Dutch East Indies Campaign, while she was transporting 32 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter planes.
A flight of Catalinas spotted the Japanese fleet approaching Midway Island, beginning the Battle of Midway.
A RCAF Canso flown by Squadron Leader L.J. Birchall foiled Japanese plans to destroy the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean fleet on 4 April 1942, when it detected the Japanese carrier fleet approaching Ceylon.