Consolidated PBY Catalina
| Consolidated Model 28 / PBY Catalina | |
|---|---|
 A Canadian built Canso A representing a United States Army Air Forces OA-10 operated in the UK. | |
| General information | |
| Type | Maritime patrol bomber, search and rescue seaplane |
National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Consolidated Aircraft |
| Built by | Boeing Canada (PB2B) Canadian Vickers (PBV) Consolidated Vultee (PB4) Naval Aircraft Factory (PBN) Soviet Gidrosamolet Transportnii factory at Taganrog (GST) |
| Primary users | United States Navy |
| Number built | 3,308 (2,661 U.S.-built, 620 Canadian-built, 27 Soviet-built) |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1936–1945 |
Introduction date | October 1936, United States Navy |
| First flight | 21 March 1935 |
| Retired | January 1957 (United States Navy Reserve) 1962 (Royal Canadian Air Force) 1982 (Brazilian Air Force) |
| Variant | Bird Innovator |
The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (United States Navy designation), is an American flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA-10 and in Canadian service as the Canso, and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces as well as in the air forces and navies of many other nations.
The Catalina originated in 1933 through a United States Navy (USN) requirement for a patrol bomber seaplane capable of traversing substantial distances across open ocean to disrupt enemy supply lines. Consolidated responded with the Model 28, a prototype of which being ordered as the XP3Y-1. On 21 March 1935, the XP3Y-1 made its maiden flight; service trials commenced soon thereafter. It was rebuilt with more powerful engines and a new tail unit to become the XPBY-1. Production Catalinas were first delivered to the USN in October 1936; that same year, a first of several additional production orders was received. During the late 1930s, the type became a key element of the USN's long-distance logistics across the Pacific region. In 1939, production of the Catalina was restarted by Consolidated.
Throughout World War II, Catalinas were widely used across numerous theatres, including the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean. In one high-profile incident on 26 May 1941, an RAF Coastal Command Catalina located the German battleship Bismarck. On 10 December 1941, a U.S. Navy Catalina was credited with the first air-to-air "kill" of a Japanese aircraft. In June 1942, a Catalina patrol spotted the Japanese Combined Fleet approaching Midway Island, initiating the Battle of Midway. In the late 1940s, most of the flying boat models of the Catalina were withdrawn while the amphibian models would see longer service.
While considered to be obsolete during the Cold War, its role having been increasingly subsumed by a new generation of land-based aircraft, several operators elected to continue to make use of the type. In June 1952, a Swedish Air Force Catalina (Swedish designation "TP 47") was shot down by Soviet MiG 15 fighters over the Baltic Sea in what became known as the Catalina Affair. The last military-operated Catalina was withdrawn in the 1980s. Several ex-military Catalinas have been flown by civil operators, including for air racing.