US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War

Preparing for War

The developmental history of Consolidated's Model 28, better known as the PBY Catalina, is well documented in print, but it is pertinent here to mention that the US Navy's big driver for its creation was the tremendous scouting problem imposed by the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean. Senior admirals had seen unmistakable signs in their region through the first decades of the twentieth century that a naval war with increasingly militant Japan was on the cards.

In those days, when radar and satellite reconnaissance had not yet even been dreamt of, long-ranging patrol flying-boats were the only means available to solve the US Pacific Fleet's scouting problems. Drawing on its previous experience with the successful P2Y sesquiplane flying-boat of the early 1930s, Consolidated Aircraft created the PBY-1 to see off a rival design from Douglas and win a lucrative US Navy contract in June 1935 for 60 aircraft. Patrol Squadron 11F (VP-11F) duly took delivery of the first examples to reach the frontline in October 1936.

The US Navy quickly realised that it had made the correct choice with the PBY-1, and rapidly began re-equipping its other patrol squadrons. Economic and operational benefits were to be derived by procuring the Consolidated flying-boat in significant numbers, as the unit cost went down and the fleet's ability to conduct long-range patrol missions over greater distances increased. For its day, the PBY-1's performance was impressive - a maximum speed of 179 mph, enclosed cockpits and a range of up to 2000 miles. The US Navy liked what it was getting, and the 60 PBY-1s were soon followed by 50 PBY-2s, 66 PBY-3s and 33 PBY-4s, with each variant offering a slight improvement over the previous model.

The aircraft soon began setting records, with VP-6 establishing the first on 28 January 1937 when all 12 of its PBY-1s made a 2553-mile formation flight directly from San Diego to Ford Island, in Pearl Harbor. This was the beginning of many firsts for the PBY in the Pacific.

The aircraft also proved itself in large-scale exercises held off the west coast of America. During Fleet Problem XIX in 1938, for example, the 'White' (defending) force fielded seven patrol squadrons equipped with PBYs - Patrol Wing (Pat-Wing) 1 had VP-7, VP-9, VP-11 and VP-12, and PatWing 4 controlled VP-16, VP-17 and VP-19. Together, they managed to detect the opposing invading fleet while the latter was still a good distance away from the PBY's base at San Diego, in California. Such detection allowed defending forces to position themselves to advantage. The point was made - the PBY had done the job it had been bought for.