Fly Past

36 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS

W

ith the outbreak of war

looking ever more likely,

the British Air Ministry

was acutely aware that the RAF’s

fleet of interwar flying boats would

be woefully inadequate to counter

the might of the German Navy.

To help fill this capability gap in

a timely fashion, Ministry chiefs

looked to the USA, where the

US Navy was already operating a

number of more modern flying

boats and amphibians – including

the Consolidated PBY-1.

The prototype XPBY-1 first flew

in 1935 and was among the most

modern patrol asset available to US

forces. The type was receiving rave

reviews in its native country so,

in the summer of 1939, the RAF

ordered a single example (P9360)

for evaluation.

The aircraft was flown across the

Atlantic and arrived at the Maritime

Aircraft Experimental Establishment

at Felixstowe, Suffolk in mid-July.

It impressed test pilots and officials

alike and an initial order for 30

airframes was soon placed. The

RAF opted for the very latest PBY-5

version – which would be named

Catalina I in British service.

The outbreak of war meant this

order was quickly increased to 90

machines, some of which would

come in the form of airframes

ordered by France but not delivered

before the country fell to the

German invasion.

The first Catalinas arrived in early

1941 and the type entered service

with 240 and 209 Squadrons (at

Stranraer, Scotland and Castle

Archdale in Northern Ireland

respectively) in March – the new

flying boats replacing Short Lerwicks.

VICTORIA CROSS

The ‘Cat’ would soon achieve

operational successes and a 209

Squadron machine flown by Plt

Off Briggs located the German

battleship Bismarck in the Atlantic

on May 26.

Later in the war, two pilots –

Flt Lt David Hornell from 162

(RCAF) Squadron and Fg Off John

Cruikshank from 210 Squadron

• received the Victoria Cross for
  amazing acts of gallantry at the helm
  of the Catalinas.
  Although it is best known for its
  work tackling the German Navy in
  the Battle of the Atlantic, the RAF’s
  Catalina fleet also served extensively
  overseas, particularly in Madagascar
  and Ceylon, patrolling the Indian
  Ocean. The first RAF Catalinas
  to arrive in the Far East were 205
  Squadron examples that were
  received at Seletar, Singapore as
  early as April 1941.

Catalina’s from 202 Squadron

based in Gibraltar also covered

the North African landings in

November 1942 and aircraft from

210 and 413 Squadrons operated

from bases near Murmansk

in Russia.

More than 100 Catalina Is were

acquired from Consolidated but the

aircraft was continually improved,

and by the time PBY deliveries to

the RAF ended in 1945 around

640 examples of all Catalina

variants had been provided. These

included Catalina IA variants (flown

by the RCAF as the Canso) and

195 Catalina Ib sub-types, which

were lend-lease variants of the US

Navy’s PBY-5B. The 22 Catalina

IIa machines provided

were licence-built by

Vickers-Canada and the

Catalina IVa and IVb

derivatives were lend-

lease equivalents of the

PBY-5 and PB2B-1.

While early examples

had British radar and

1941 TO 1945

CATALINA

CONSOLIDATED

1918 2018

Above

Catalina I W8424 served

with 413 Squadron as

QL-R until February

1942, when it joined the

Norwegian-manned 333

Squadron. It was the

fi rst aircraft to equip

the unit and was called

Vingtor after the Norse

War God. Norwegian

crews fl ew Catalinas

to/from their native

country to deposit

agents, and also

employed them for anti-

submarine and convoy

escort. The Catalinas

also patrolled ahead of

shipping to report on

ice conditions. ALL KEY

UNLESS STATED

Above right

The RAF Museum’s

Catalina is an ex-Danish

Air Force PBY-6A, sold

to the museum in 1974.

It went on display at

RAF Cosford a year later

and has been on show

there ever since. The

aircraft was originally

built for the US Navy

and acquired by the

Danes in 1956.

STEVE BRIDGEWATER