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United States' Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat ^1,2,3

Consolidated PBY-1 (XPB3Y-1) Catalina:

Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina:

Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina:

Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina:

Consolidated PBY-5-6 Catalina:

Design

The prototype Catalina flew from Coco Solo to San Francisco, 3,500 miles / 5,633 km, non-stop in October 1935.¹

The Catalina used a tricycle landing gear.¹ The front wheel retracted into the hull and the other two moved up into wheel wells that were exposed.¹

Sometimes to assist in takeoffs, rockets were strapped on.¹

Crew

On some long missions the crew would have to man the Catalina for 20 hours.¹

Beam Position

The first models of the PBY Catalina had sliding hatches for the beam gunners.² From the PBY-4 on these were replaced by transparent blisters.²

Prototype

The XP3Y-1 prototype first flew on March 28, 1935.^1,2,3

Production

The Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia produced the PBN-1 Nomad.²

• PBY-1: 60³
• PBY-2: 50³
• PBY-3: 66³
• PBY-4: 32³
• Total: 3,290^2,3
  • Manufactured by Consolidated, Boeing Canada, Canadian Vickers, and the Naval Aircraft Factory^2,3
• GST: 150³ , 1,000¹
  • Soviet Union^1,3

Variants

• XP3Y-1: Prototype.² Had two Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp (825 HP).³
• PBY-1: First production model.² Entered service in October 1936.³
• PBY-2: Went into service in 1937-1938.²
• PBY-3: Went into service in 1937-1938.²
• PBY-4: Went into service in 1938.² Had Pratt & Whitney R-1830-72 (1,050 HP) radial engines.² Blisters were added over the beam gunner positions.²
• PBY-5: Had new fin.² Outfitted with the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial engines.²
• PBY-5A: First flown in November 1939.³ Were first delivered in December 1941.²
• PBY-6A: Had a taller fin and rudder.^2,3 In a fairing above the cockpit a search radar was installed.²
• PB2B-1: Built by Boeing Canada.³
• PB2B-2: Built by Boeing Canada.³
• PBN-1: Built by Naval Aircraft Factory.³ Had improved hull and tip floats.²
• OA-10: United States Air Force's air-sea rescue craft.^1,3
• OB-10B: United States Air Force's version of the PBY-6A.² 75 delivered.²
• Canso: Canadian constructed PBY.²
• GST: Soviet produced version.² Had two M-87 radial engines (900 HP).³

Usage

Catalinas were used by Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Soviet Union, and United States.³

During the 1930s civilians used the PBYs for exploration in New Guinea and the Indian Ocean.¹

First Use

The PBY-1s were first assigned to the United States Navy VP-11F in October 1936.²

By the end of 1941 there were 16 United States Navy squadrons outfitted with the PBY-5s and five with previous versions of the PBY.²

112 PBY-6As were delivered to the United States Navy.²

Bismarck

A Catalina spotted the Bismarck after it had eluded the Royal Navy.^1,3

Black Cats Squadron

During night actions against Japanese ships, the Black Cats not only dropped bombs and depth charges, but also empty beer bottles that made frightening whistles on their descent.¹

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom ordered 685 PBY-4s and PBY-5s.² Many of these were delivered to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.²

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union received 48 PBY-6As.²

	Consolidated PBY Catalina3	Consolidated PBY-2 Catalina2	Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina3	Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina1,3
Type	Maritime patrol flying boat3	Patrol bomber2		Long-range maritime patrol bomber1
Crew	7 - 93	7 - 92		7 - 91 Bomber / observer, pilots (2), radio operator, navigator, gunner / observer (2)1
Engine (Type)		2: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-642	2: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp3	2: Pratt & Whitney R1830-92 Twin Wasp piston1,3
Cylinders		Radial2	Radial 143	Radial1,3 143
Cooling
HP		900 each2	1,200 each3	1,200 each1,3
Propeller blades			3 each3	3 each1,3
Dimensions
Span		104'2 31.69 m2	104'3 31.7 m3	104'1 31.7 m1
Length		65' 10"2 20.07 m2	63' 10"3 19.46 m3	63' 10"1 19.47 m1
Height		18' 6"2 5.64 m2	18' 10"3 5.74 m3	20' 2"1 6.15 m1
Wing area		1,400 ft2 2 130 m2 2		1,400 ft2 1 130.06 m2 1
Weight
Empty		14,668 lb2 6,653 kg2		21,000 lb1 9,485 kg1
Loaded		28,400 lb2 12,882 kg2		35,420 lb1 16,066 kg1
Performance
Speed			196 mph3 315 kph3
Speed @ 6,500' / 2,135 m				175 mph1 288 kph1
Speed @ 8,000' / 2,438 m		178 mph2 286 kph2
Cruising speed			117 mph3 188 kph3
Climb		830'/minute2 253 m/minute2	690'/minute3 210 m/minute3
Service ceiling		20,800'2 6,340 m2	18,100'3 5,517 m3	18,100'1 4,480 m1
Range		2,110 miles2 3,396 km2	3,100 miles3 4,989 km3	3,045 miles1 4,900 km1
Armament	5: 0.3" MG3	2: 12.7 mm MG2 2: 7.62 mm MG2
OR	5: 0.5" MG3
Bow				2: 7.62 mm MG1
Hull step, firing aft				7.62 mm MG1
Beam position				2: 12.7 mm MG1
Bombs or depth charges				4,000 lb1 1,814 kg1
Bombs, depth charges, or mines	4,000 lb3 1,814 kg3
Bombs		1,000 lb2 454 kg2

Sources:

1. Aircraft of WWII, General Editor: Jim Winchester, 2004
2. Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Editor: Karen Leverington, 1995
3. Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998

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