
PBY-5 and PBY-5A "Catalina"
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.