Naval History and Heritage Command

National Museum of the U.S. Navy

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Aircraft Type, Aviation, Battle of the Atlantic, World War II (WWII)
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Aviation: PBY-5 and PBY-5A

The PBY-5 and PBY-5A "Catalina" patrol-bomber aircraft successfully served during the Battle of Atlantic with some 20 German U-boats being destroyed, starting with German (Type XIV) U-boat, U-464, on August 20, 1942.   Faithfully relied upon until the war's end, the aircraft were also utilized for search and rescue missions.    The PBY-5A was the ampibious version of the aircraft.     The crew for both aircraft had a crew of ten.    The maximum speed for the PBY-5 was 189, while the PBY-5A was 175.   The PBY-5 had a range of 2,990 miles, while the PBY-5A had a range of 2,350.  

To view images of the PBY-5's that participated in the Aleutian Campaign and in the Alaskan region, please click here.    

Image:  80-G-13377:  U.S. Navy Aircaft: PBY-5A.  PBY-5A "Catalina" Plane, 92-P-10, on Caribbean Patrol, May 1942.   U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.