United States' Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat
Nickname: Cat

Photos

Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat dropping a depth charge:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat, 1943:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat with Coastal Command being loaded:
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat with the Royal Australian Air Force:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat with the Royal Australian Air Force:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat of Randy Nunley:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats at Cook Clelands, Ohio in the 1940s:
Consolidated PBY-1 (XPB3Y-1) Catalina flying boat:
Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina flying boat: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook	Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina flying boat: Aeronautics Aircraft Spotters' Handbook
Consolidated PBY-5 or PBY-6 Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina flying boat:
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat at NAS Jacksonville, 1942:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats at NAS Jacksonville, 1945:
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:	Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat:

Design

Consolidated and Douglas were asked by the United States Navy to design a replacement for the Martin P3M and Consolidated P2Y.⁴ Douglas didn't finish their design in time so the Consolidated was selected.⁴

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

The hull of the Catalina was located in the center of the plane with floats near the tips of the wings, which when retracted would form the tips of the wings.⁴

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.^1,2,3,4 An order was placed for 60 on June 29, 1935.⁴

The prototype Catalina flew from Coco Solo / Panama Canal⁴ to San Francisco, 3,300 miles⁴ / 3,500 miles / 5,633 km, non-stop in October 1935.^1,4

Production

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

• Consolidated XP3Y-1: 1⁴
• Consolidated PBY-1: 60³
• Consolidated PBY-2: 50³
• Consolidated PBY-3: 66³
• Consolidated PBY-4: 32³
• Consolidated PBY-5A:
  • Manufacturer: Consolidated Aircraft Corporation⁴
• Consolidated PBY-6A: 235⁴
  • Production: ? - April 1945⁴
• PBN-1 Nomad:
  • Manufacturer: Naval Aircraft Factory⁴
• Total: 3,290^2,3,4
  • Manufacturer: Consolidated^2,3,4, Boeing Canada^2,3,4, Canadian Vickers^2,3,4, and the Naval Aircraft Factory^2,3,4
• GST: 150³ , 1,000¹
  • License built by the Soviet Union^1,3,4

Variants

• Consolidated XP3Y-1: Prototype.^2,4 Had two Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp (825 HP).³
• Consolidated PBY-1: First production model.² Entered service in October 1936.^3,4
• Consolidated PBY-2: Went into service in 1937-1938.²
• Consolidated PBY-3: Went into service in 1937-1938.²
• Consolidated 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
• Consolidated PBY-5: Had new fin.² Outfitted with the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial engines.² Appeared in 1940.⁴
• Consolidated PBY-5A: Amphibian version.^4,5 First flown in November 1939.³ Were first delivered in December 1941.²
• Consolidated 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 Nomad: Built by Naval Aircraft Factory.^3,4 Had improved hull and tip floats.^2,4
• 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.^2,4 Had two Mikulin⁴ M-87 radial engines (900 HP).³ First appeared in 1940.⁴

Usage

Catalinas were used by Argentina^3,4, Australia³, Brazil^3,4, Britain³, Canada³, Chile^3,4, Denmark^3,4, Ecuador^3,4, Holland^3,4, Indonesia^3,4, Israel^3,4, Mexico^3,4, Netherlands³, New Zealand³, Norway^3,4, Peru^3,4, South Africa³, Soviet Union^3,4, and United States^3,4.

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

Foreign Orders

Once World War II started Australia, Britain, Canada, and Holland ordered Catalinas.⁴

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

In 1938 the Soviet Union purchased three PBY-3s along with a license to build them.⁴ They were operational until the 1950s.⁴

The Soviet Union received 48 PBY-6As.²

After World War II

The Catalina remained operational until the 1960s.⁴

Specifications