One of the last airworthy PBY Catalinas in the world was beached in shallow water behind an iconic roadside bar on the Florida-Alabama line last week.
The giant Consolidated PBY Catalina, with its 104-foot wingspan and crew of 10 was used to bomb enemy ships and submarines and, most importantly, rescue downed aircrews and shipwreck survivors lost on the waves. They destroyed more than 40 German U-boats, sighted the Japanese fleet first at the Battle of Midway– giving the advantage to team USA in that pivotal battle, and rescued and evacuated thousands.
3 weather beaten PBY Catalinas somewhere tropical
One of the most high-profile sea rescues for these big flying boats was after the sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis in 1945 when a PBY, against orders, landed and took aboard an amazing 56 sailors from shark infested waters.
The PBY, a 5A model named “Dumbo” by its crew, bounced along 12-foot seas to rescue as many survivors as possible.
That act was being recreated in an upcoming Nicolas Cage movie “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage” which is filming in the area using the retired battleship USS Alabama as a prop and the shallow waters of Mobile Bay as a set.
That’s how the restored PBY appeared at the bar.
According to Gulf News Today, the plane beached behind the Flora-Bama Lounge on Monday and started taking on water for reasons unknown. Settling nose-down in about three feet of surf, crews battled for days to recover the plane through a combination of dewatering, boats, and tractors.
In the end she had to be removed with a crane (see last image).
From the tail numbers the plane is confirmed to be a Cyclone powered PBY-6A Catalina currently registered as N85U. The big Cat served in the Navy (as N6453C) and later through a series of civilian owners until she was retired from smothering wildfires in 2006 and restored to her WWII-livery.
More here in my column at Guns.com
