Martin PBM Mariner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_PBM_Mariner

The Martin PBM Mariner was an American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II
and the early Cold War period. It was designed to complement the Consolidated
PBY Catalina in service. A total of 1,366 were built, with the first example
flying on 18 February 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940.

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. It
received an order for a single prototype XPBM-1 on 30 June 1937. This was
followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM-1 aircraft on 28 December
1937.

To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a ? scale flying model, the Martin 162A
Tadpole Clipper with a crew of one and powered by a single 120 hp (89 kW)
Chevrolet engine; this was flown in December 1937. The first genuine PBM, the
XPBM-1, flew on 18 February 1939.

The aircraft was fitted with five gun turrets, and bomb bays that 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.


Role
flying boat

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Glenn L. Martin Company

First flight
18 February 1939

Introduction
September 1940

Retired
1964 (Uruguay)

Primary users
United States Navy
United States Coast Guard
Royal Australian Air Force
Argentine Navy

Produced
1937–1949

Number built
1,366

Developed into
Martin P5M Marlin

The first PBM-1s entered service with Patrol Squadron Fifty-Five (VP-55) of the
United States Navy on 1 September 1940. Prior to the USA's entry into World War
II, 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. PBMs were responsible, wholly or in part, for
sinking a total of ten U-boats during World War II. PBMs were also heavily used
in the Pacific War, operating from bases at Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and the
South West Pacific.

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.

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

Specifications (PBM-1)

General characteristics
Crew: Seven
Length: 79 ft 10 in (23.50 m)
Wingspan: 118 ft 0 in (36 m)
Height: 27 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Wing area: 1,408 ft² (131 m²)
Empty weight: 33,175 lb (15,048 kg)
Loaded weight: 56,000 lb (25,425 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-2600-6 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,600 hp (1,194 kW)
each

Performance
Maximum speed: 178 kn (205 mph, 330 km/h)
Range: 2,600 nmi (3,000 mi, 4,800 km)
Service ceiling: 19,800 ft (6,040 m)
Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (4.1 m/s)

Armament

Guns: 8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (two each in nose, dorsal
and tail turrets, one each in blisters amidships)
Bombs: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of bombs or depth charges or 2 × Mark 13 torpedoes






*