In 1933 Consolidated of
Buffalo was in competition with Douglas of Santa Monica to supply the
United States Navy with its first cantilever-monoplane flying boat. Though
the Douglas aircraft was good, its rival, designed by Isaac M. Laddon, was
to prove a classic. It would be manufactured in greater numbers than any
flying boat before or since.
The original Catalina featured two 825
hp Twin Wasps mounted close together on a wide clean wing, on the tips of
which were retractable stabilizing floats. The prototype XP3Y-1 achieved a
speed of 184 mph - high for a flying boat in 1935. Production began at San
Diego, California. The initial order - for 60 - was exceptionally large
for the time, but within a decade more than 4,000 had been ordered.
In 1938 three were purchased by the
Soviet Union, which urgently tooled up to build its own version, the GST.
In 1939 the British RAF bought one PBY and soon placed large orders - it
was the RAF which gave the aircraft its name 'Catalina'. This name was
adopted in the United States in 1942.
In December 1939 came the PBY-5A (OA-10)
with retractable landing gear, which was named the 'Canso' by the Canadian
air force. Many hundreds of both the boat and the amphibian version were
built by Canadian Vickers (as the PBV-1) and Boeing Canada (as the
PB2B-1). Revised versions with heightened tail-fins were manufactured at
New Orleans (PBY-6A) and by the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia
(PBN-10).
The Catalina established a remarkable
combat record during World War Two. In the Atlantic it performed vital
service in the war against the U-boats, and an RAF Catalina famously
located the Bismarck after the formidable German battleship had
temporarily succeeded in escaping from British forces.
In the Pacific the Catalina gave
outstanding service in the search and rescue role. It was a Catalina which
first located the advancing Japanese forces during the decisive Battle of
Midway. 'Black Cat' night-flying Catalinas made a valuable and prolonged
contribution to the Allied effort in the Solomons campaigns during
1942-43, frequently making torpedo attacks on Japanese shipping. For many
years after World War Two hundreds of Catalinas served with various
nations, in civilian as well as in military roles.
- Origin Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation
- Type Flying boat
- Function Maritime Patrol /
Anti-submarine/ Torpedo Attack / Rescue
Crew Usually seven
Dimensions Span 104' - Length 63' 11"
Weight Loaded - 34,000 lb (15,436 kg)
Engines Two 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp
14-cylinder two-row radials
- Performance
- Maximum speed - 196 mph (314
km/h)
Climb to 5,000 feet - 4 mins 30 secs
Service ceiling - 18,200 feet (6160 meters)
Range (at cruising speed of 100mph) - 3,100 miles
- Armament
- Offensive Weapons
Up to 2,000 lbs of bombs, torpedoes, or depth charges - in wing
racks
Typical Defensive armament (United States)
One .50 or .30 Browning machine-gun in nose, one .50 in each waist
blister, one in ventral 'tunnel'
Typical Defensive armament (British)
Six .303 Browning machine-guns - one in nose, twins in each waist
blister, one in ventral 'tunnel'
wording
by Combat Aircraft of the Pacific War |