Martin PBM Mariner

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox aircraft

The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin-engine American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with the first example flying on 18 February 1939, and the type entering service in September 1940, with the last of the type being retired in 1964.

A Mariner, otherwise noted for its WW2 and post-War service, was the type that vanished searching for Flight 19. Flight 19 vanished in the Bermuda Triangle; it and the Mariner that searched for it were never found with its 14 crew, though it was thought to have suffered a mid-air explosion. Another noted crash was the 1946 Antarctica PBM Mariner crash in December 1946.

Design and development

File:Martin PBM-3R Mariner taking off c1942.jpg
A transport Mariner takes off in 1942

In 1937 the Glenn L. Martin Company designed a new twin-engined flying boat, the Model 162, to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and complement the PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado. It received an order for a single prototype XPBM-1 on 30 June 1937.[1]

To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a three-eighths scale flying model, the Martin 162A Tadpole Clipper with a crew of one and powered by a single Template:Convert Chevrolet engine driving two airscrews via v-belts; this was flown in December 1937.[2][3] This was followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM-1 aircraft on 28 December 1937.[4] The first genuine PBM, the XPBM-1, flew on 18 February 1939.[1]

The aircraft had multiple gun positions including single mounts at each midship beam and stern above the tail cone. Additional guns were positioned in the nose and dorsal turrets, each fitted with two-gun turrets. The bomb bays were in the engine nacelles. The gull wing was of cantilever design, and featured clean aerodynamics with an unbraced twin tail. The PBM-1 was equipped with retractable wing landing floats that were hinged outboard, with single-strut supported floats that retracted inwards to rest beneath the wing, with the floats' keels just outboard of each of the engine nacelles. The PBM-3 had fixed floats, and the fuselage was three feet longer than that of the PBM-1. Martin also developed the even larger 4-engined Martin JRM Mars in this period.[5]

Operational history

File:PBM-1 Mariner VP-56 1940.jpg
A U.S. Navy PBM-1 of Patrol Squadron 56 (VP-56) in 1940.
File:Martin PBM-5 Mariner of VPB-26 aboard USS Norton Sound (AV-11) off Saipan in April 1945 (80-G-K-16079).jpg
A PBM-5 on the deck of USS Norton Sound in April 1945 off Saipan
File:PBM Mariner USS Curtiss (AV-4).jpg
A U.S. Navy PBM of Fleet Air Wing 6 is hoisted aboard the seaplane tender Template:USS after a mine-hunting patrol off North Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953).
File:Lot-799-15 (34970532473).jpg
PBM Mariner leaves a wake (August 1943)

The first PBM-1s entered service with Patrol Squadron Fifty-Five (VP-55) of the United States Navy on 1 September 1940.[4] Prior to the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941, PBMs were used (together with PBYs) to carry out Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic, including operations from Iceland. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, PBMs were used on anti-submarine patrols, sinking their first German U-boat, U-158, on 30 June 1942.[6] PBMs were responsible, wholly or in part, for sinking a total of ten U-boats during World War II.[6] PBMs were also heavily used in the Pacific War, operating from bases at Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and the South West Pacific.[7]

The United States Coast Guard acquired 27 Martin PBM-3 aircraft during the first half of 1943. In late 1944, the service acquired 41 PBM-5 models and more were delivered in the latter half of 1945. Ten were still in service in 1955, although all were gone from the active Coast Guard inventory by 1958 (when the last example was released from CGAS San Diego and returned to the U.S. Navy). These flying boats became the backbone of the long-range aerial search and rescue efforts of the Coast Guard in the early post-war years until supplanted by the P5M Marlin and the HU-16 Albatross in the mid-1950s.[8]

PBMs continued in service with the U.S. Navy following the end of World War II, flying long patrol missions during the Korean War.[9] It continued in front line use until replaced by its successor, the P5M Marlin. The last Navy squadron equipped with the PBM, Patrol Squadron Fifty (VP-50), retired them in July 1956.[10]

The British Royal Air Force acquired 32 Mariners, but they were not used operationally, with some returned to the United States Navy.[11] A further 12 PBM-3Rs were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force for transporting troops and cargo.[12][13]

The Royal Netherlands Navy acquired 17 PBM-5A Mariners at the end of 1955 for service in Netherlands New Guinea.[14] The PBM-5A was an amphibian with retractable landing gear. The engines were Template:Convert Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34. After a series of crashes, the Dutch withdrew their remaining aircraft from use in December 1959.[15]

Variants

File:Martin XPBM-1 Mariner in flight c1939.jpeg
The XPBM-1 showing the original retractable floats.
XPBM-1 (Model 162)
Prototype. Powered by two 1,600 hp (1,194 kW) R-2600-6 engines.[2]
PBM-1 (Model 162)
Initial production version. 5× .50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns. Two R-2600-6 engines; 21 built.[2]
XPBM-2 (Model 162)
Conversion of one PBM-1 as experimental catapult-launched long-range strategic bomber.[16]
PBM-3 (Model 162B)
Improved version. 1,700 hp (1,270 kW) R-2600-12 engines; 32 built.[16]
PBM-3R (Model 162B)
Unarmed transport version of PBM-3. 18 new build plus 31 converted from PBM-3.[16]
PBM-3C (Model 162C)
Improved patrol version with twin .50 in machine guns in nose and dorsal turrets, and single guns in tail turret and waist positions. AN/APS-15 radar in radome behind cockpit; 274 built.[17]
PBM-3B (Model 162C)
Designation for ex-RAF Mariner GR.1A after return to U.S. Navy.[17]
PBM-3S (Model 162C)
Dedicated anti-submarine aircraft with reduced armament and weight for improved range. Six were prototyped from the PBM-3C with radar and standard armament less the dorsal turret. Later a light weight nose armament was fitted (2× fixed 0.50 in machine guns in nose. Retained were single machine gun in port waist position.; 62 conversions plus 94 built as new plus .[18][19]
PBM-3D (Model 162D)
Patrol bomber with increased power (two 1,900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-22s) and increased armament (twin 0.50 in machine guns in nose, dorsal, and tail turrets, plus two waist guns). 259 built.[18]
PBM-4 (Model 162E)
Proposed version with two 2,700 hp (2,015 kW) Wright R-3350 engines; unbuilt.[20]
PBM-5 (Model 162F)
Version with 2,100 hp (1,566 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines;[21] 628 built.[20]
PBM-5E
Variant of PBM-5 with improved radar.[21]
PBM-5S
Lightened anti-submarine variant of PBM-5.[20]
PBM-5S2
Improved anti-submarine aircraft with revised radar installation.[20]
PBM-5A (Model 162G)
Amphibian version of PBM-5, with retractable tricycle undercarriage; 36 built plus four conversions.[20]
Mariner I
British designation for 32 PBM-3B supplied to the Royal Air Force.

Operators

File:41 Sqn (AWM NEA0565).jpg
A 41 Sqn RAAF Mariner in 1944
File:Martin Mariner 524 Sqn RAF at Oban 1943.jpg
A 524 Sqn RAF Mariner I at Oban, Scotland (UK), in October 1943.
File:PBM Mariner water takeoff.jpg
A U.S. Coast Guard PBM takes off from the water assisted by RATO.
File:Martin PBM-3 Mariner in flight c1942.jpg
Martin PBM Mariner in US service in 1942
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  • Royal Air Force ordered 33 aircraft but only 28 were delivered.[24]
    • 524 Squadron operated 28 Mariner Is from October–December 1943[25] under command of No. 15 Group Coastal Command.
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Surviving aircraft

File:Martin PBM 5-A Mariner at the Pima Air and Space Museum.jpg
Martin PBM-5A Mariner on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum near Tucson, Arizona

Accidents and incidents

File:USSChandeleur(AV-10) UpoluIslandSamoa.jpg
A damaged PBM Mariner is loaded on USS's aft deck in Apia Harbor, Samoa, on 15 February 1943.
  • On 11 November 1942 a U.S. Navy PBM-5 (BuNo 1256) Naval Air Station Banana River, Florida. In unknown circumstances, while flying in the vicinity of the Banana River NAS, the seaplane caught fire and crashed. All 11 occupants were killed.[33][34][35]
  • On 6 August 1943 a U.S. Navy PBM-5 (BuNo 6713) (VP-205 USN/P-4) (Trinidad and Tobago) was shot down by the German submarine Template:GS with no survivors among the 12-man crew.[36][37]
  • On 16 June 1944, a U.S. Navy PBM-5 exploded and crashed in San Francisco Bay, California, killing the pilot, Lieutenant William Hess, and eight other Navy crewmen.[38]
  • On 30 November 1944, a U.S. Navy PBM-5 crashed into Mount Tamalpais in northern California, killing eight naval aviators and naval aircrewmen. The aircraft had taken off from Naval Air Station Alameda and was part of a larger flight headed for Hawaii when it developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  • On 5 December 1945, a U.S. Navy PBM-5 (BuNo 59225), based at Naval Air Station Banana River, Florida, took off to search for the five TBM Avengers of Flight 19 from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which had disappeared during a training flight. The PBM was not heard of again, and it vanished from radar 20 minutes after taking off. A vessel in the area reported seeing a fireball and found an oil slick, and the PBM is believed to have been destroyed in a mid-air explosion off the coast of Florida near The Bahamas, but no remains of the PBM or its crew ever were found.[39][40]
  • The 1946 Antarctica PBM Mariner crash occurred on 30 December 1946, on Thurston Island, Antarctica, when a U.S. Navy PBM-5 Mariner crashed during a blizzard. Three men were killed in the crash. The six survivors were rescued 13 days later.[41][42] Buno 59098 was one of four aircraft lost during Operation Highjump.[42]
  • On 10 September 1958, Mariner P-303 was being ferried to the Netherlands from Biak, Indonesia. Due to technical problems, a forced landing was carried out at Abadan, Iran. About two weeks later, repairs had been accomplished, and the aircraft took off. Shortly after takeoff, an oil leak was observed on engine number one. While on final approach for landing at Abadan airport, the aircraft suddenly lost height and crashed, killing all aboard. It appeared that the remaining propeller reversed thrust, causing the crew to lose control.[43]
  • On 9 November 1958, a PBM-5 Mariner (CS-THB, named Porto Santo) of the Portuguese airline ARTOP (Aero-Topográfica) piloted by Harry Frank Broadbent and co-piloted by Thomas Rowell, carrying four other crew and 30 passengers, disappeared on a scheduled passenger flight from Cabo Ruivo, Lisbon, Portugal to Funchal, Madeira. The last communication from the aircraft (when it was about 13°W) was a radio message code "QUG", meaning "I am forced to land immediately". No trace has ever been found of the aircraft, nor its six crew or 30 passengers.[44][45]

Specifications (PBM-1)

File:Martin PBM-5S Mariner 3-view line drawing.png
3-view line drawing of the Martin PBM-5S Mariner

Template:Aircraft specs

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

Notes

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Bibliography

Template:Refbegin

  • Bridgeman, Leonard. "The Martin Model 162 Mariner." Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. Template:ISBN.
  • Donald, David, ed. American Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1995. Template:ISBN.
  • Dorr, Robert F. "Variant Briefing: Martin Flying Boats: Mariner, Mars and Marlin". Wings of Fame, Volume 7, 1997, pp. 114–133. London: Aerospace Publishing, Template:ISBN.
  • Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. London: Macdonald, 1968. Template:ISBN.
  • Hoffman, Richard A. "Dutch Mariners: PBMs in Service with the Netherlands Navy". Air Enthusiast, No. 97, January/February 2002, pp. 73–77. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Hoffman, Richard A. The Fighting Flying Boat: A History of the Martin PBM Mariner. Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press, 2004. Template:ISBN.
  • Hoffman, Richard A. "South American Mariners: Martin PBMs in Argentina and Uruguay". Air Enthusiast, No. 104, March/April 2003, pp. 29–33. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Jefford, C. G. RAF Squadrons. Ramsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, UK, First edition, 1988. Template:ISBN.
  • March, Daniel J. British Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1998. Template:ISBN.
  • Martin PBM-3C US Navy Pilot's Handbook (MTPBM3C-POH-C). Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, 1944.
  • Martin PBM-3D 1943 Pilot's Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions (AN 01-35QF-1). Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, 1944.
  • Martin PBM-3D 1945 Pilot's Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions (AN 01-35EE-1). Washington, DC: The Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, 1944.
  • Martin PBM-5 1947 Navy Model Pilot's Handbook (AN 01-35ED-1). Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, 1944.
  • PBM-3S PNM-3D Handbook of Structural Repair Navy Model (A.N. 01-35QG-3). Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, 1944.
  • Roberts, Michael D. Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons: Volume 2: The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL) and VP(AM) Squadrons. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 2000.
  • Smith, Bob. PBM Mariner in action - Aircraft No. 74. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1986. Template:ISBN.
  • Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. London: Putnam, 1976. Template:ISBN.
  • Sweet, Donald H. et al. The Forgotten Heroes: The Story of Rescue Squadron VH-3 in World War II.Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey:DoGO, 2000. Template:ISBN.

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Further reading

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External links

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Template:Martin aircraft Template:USN patrol aircraft Template:ADF aircraft designations

  1. ↑ a b Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 318.
  2. ↑ a b c Dorr 1997, p. 122.
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Green 1968, p. 177.
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b Dorr 1997, p. 115.
  7. ↑ Dorr 1987, p. 116.
  8. ↑ "1943: Coast Guard Acquires Martin PBM-3/-5 Flying Boats."US Coast Guard. Retrieved: 8 Dec 2018.
  9. ↑ Dorr 1987, p. 118.
  10. ↑ Roberts 2000, Appendix 1, p. 671.
  11. ↑ March 1998, p. 172.
  12. ↑ A70 Martin Mariner Template:Webarchive. RAAF Museum:RAAF Point Cook. Retrieved: 24 May 2009.
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Hoffmann 2002, p. 74.
  15. ↑ Hoffman 2002, pp. 76–77.
  16. ↑ a b c Dorr 1997, p. 123.
  17. ↑ a b Dorr 1997, p. 124.
  18. ↑ a b Dorr 1997, p. 125.
  19. ↑ Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p. 320.
  20. ↑ a b c d e Dorr 1997, p. 126.
  21. ↑ a b Donald 1995, p. 184.
  22. ↑ Hoffman 2003, pp. 29–31.
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Hoffman 2003, p. 33.
  25. ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 96.
  26. ↑ "Mariner/Marlin - anywhere, anytime" 1993 Turner Publishing Company 1993.
  27. ↑ "PBM-3/5 Mariner." United States Coast Guard. Retrieved: 27 May 2009.
  28. ↑ Hoffman 2003, pp. 31–32.
  29. ↑ a b "Martin PBM-5A Mariner." Template:Webarchive Pima Air and Space Museum. Retrieved: 2 August 2009.
  30. ↑ "Martin Mariner PBM-5 in Lake Washington." The tail section is currently on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum. Template:Webarchive Pima Air & Space Museum. Retrieved: 7 August 2009.
  31. ↑ "Martin PBM Mariner Patrol Bomber-BuNo 59172." Template:Webarchive United States Navy, 29 March 2009. Retrieved: 7 August 2009.
  32. ↑ "Martin 162A NX19168." airliners.net. Retrieved: 7 August 2009.
  33. ↑ Banana River NAS website
  34. ↑ Possibly what may have been plane wreckage and some human remains were found in the Banana River/Cape Canaveral in May 1961
  35. ↑ Aviation Safety Network 202610
  36. ↑ Martin PBM MAriner Forum
  37. ↑ UBoats.net
  38. ↑ William Hess 1944 obituary
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Ranter, Harro and Fabian I. Lujan. "ASN Aircraft accident Martin PBM-5 Mariner CS-THB North Atlantic Ocean." Template:Webarchive Aviation Safety Network, 2005. Retrieved: 28 June 2011.
  45. ↑ 1958 / NOV / 09 - Accident with the Seaplane - CS-THB - disappeared between Lisbon and Funchal GIAA Final Report (in Portuguese) Template:Webarchive
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