World War II Seaplane



pby catalina


the military value of flying boats well-recognized, , every country bordering on water operated them in military capacity @ outbreak of war. utilized in various tasks anti-submarine patrol air-sea rescue , gunfire spotting battleships. aircraft such pbm mariner patrol bomber, pby catalina, short sunderland, , grumman goose recovered downed airmen , operated scout aircraft on vast distances of pacific theater , atlantic. sank numerous submarines , found enemy ships. in may 1941, german battleship bismarck discovered pby catalina flying out of castle archdale flying boat base, lower lough erne, northern ireland.


the largest flying boat of war blohm & voss bv 238, heaviest plane fly during world war ii , largest aircraft built , flown of axis powers.



kawanishi h8k, 1941-1945


in november 1939, ial restructured 3 separate companies: british european airways, british overseas airways corporation (boac), , british south american airways (which merged boac in 1949), change being made official on 1 april 1940. boac continued operate flying-boat services (slightly) safer confines of poole harbour during wartime, returning southampton in 1947. when italy entered war in june 1940, mediterranean closed allied planes , boac , qantas operated horseshoe route between durban , sydney using short empire flying boats.


the martin company produced prototype xpb2m mars based on pbm mariner patrol bomber, flight tests between 1941 , 1943. mars converted navy transport aircraft designated xpb2m-1r. satisfied performance, twenty of modified jrm-1 mars ordered. first, named hawaii mars, delivered in june 1945, navy scaled order @ end of world war ii, buying 5 aircraft on production line. 5 mars completed, , last delivered in 1947.








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