Battle Stations II
PBY
Catalina flying boat
PBY-5
Engines 2 x 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp 14-cylinder
two-row radials
Dimensions Span 104ft (31.7m), length 63ft
11in (19.5m), height 18ft 10in (5.65m) wing
area 1,400sq ft (130 sq m)
Weight Empty 17,465lb (7,974kg), loaded 34,000lb
(15,436kg)
Performance Maximum speed 196mph (314kmh), climbs to
5,000ft (1,525m) in 4min 30 sec, service ceiling 18,200ft
(5,550m) range at 100mph (161kmh) 3,100
miles (4,960km)
Armament (US Navy) 1 x 0.30in or 0.50in Browning
in nose, 1 x 0.50in in each waist blister and 1 x 0.50 in 'tunnel'
in underside behind hull step; wing racks for 2,000 or 4,000lb
(907 or 1,814kg) of bombs and other stores including 2 torpedoes
or 4 x 325lb (147kg) depth charges
Manufactured principally at the Douglas plant at San Diego, California, to which the company had moved in the autumn of 1935, the Catalina maritime patrol flying boat was a classic aircraft produced in larger numbers than any other flying boat before or since.
Better known as the 'Cat', it was dubbed 'Catalina' by the RAF, which placed large orders for the flying boat. The name was adopted by the Americans only in 1942. The PBY-5A of 1939, with retractable landing gear, was called the Canso by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The flying boat's features included two 825hp Twin Wasp engines mounted close together on a wide clean wing, on the tips of which were located retractable stabilising floats. The Consolidated Model 28, or Navy XP3Y-1, recorded a speed of 184mph, exceptionally high for a 1935 flying boat. The original order for 60 was also exceptional for the 1930s, but within 10 years, the world-wide total had exceeded 4,000.
All versions of the Catalina were constructed of all-metal stressed skin. The wing was carried on a central pylon, and there were four small struts bracing the wide, untapered centre section. The hull was wide and shallow, with a round top. Wartime versions had a large observation blister on each side that could be swung open in flight. The majority of PBY-6As were equipped with ASV radar in a blister on a pylon mounted over the cockpit.
Hundreds of the boat and amphibian Catalina variants were built by Canadian Vickers (PBV-1) and Boeing Canada (PB2B-1). Revised tail-fin versions (PBY-6A) were made at a Convair plant in New Orleans and at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia (PBN-1 Nomad). The Soviet Union also built a version of the Catalina – the GST – after importing three American aircraft in 1938.
The Catalina had a distinguished wartime career. One of them located the German battleship Bismarck in mid-Atlantic in May 1941. On 3 June 1942, a Catalina also spotted the ships of the Japanese 1st Carrier Striking Force during the opening phase of the Battle of Midway. In 1942, Patrol Squadron 12 started the Catalina's 'Black Cat' tradition of stealthy night operations. The aircraft's ruggedness was shown when one Catalina crossed the Atlantic and landed safely despite having had both ailerons torn off by a storm.
After World War II, hundreds of Catalinas served in many countries, with some air/sea rescue versions carrying a lifeboat under each wing.
