Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long-range maritime reconnaissance flying boat

Power Plant:

Two 1,417 kw (1,900 hp) Wright R2600-22 Cyclone fourteen-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engines

Specifications:

Armament:

Two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in each power-operated nose and dorsal turret; one 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine gun in each of two beam positions; maximum bomb load of 3,628 kg (8,000 lb).

History:

The Mariner was designed and built by the Glenn L Martin Company of Baltimore, Maryland, to meet a requirement of the US Navy for a long-range patrol flying-boat. A quarter-scale model was built and this was followed by the Model 162, a full-scale aircraft which became known as the XPBM-1, flown for the first time on 18 February 1939.

On 1 November 1940 the US Navy ordered 379 PBM-3 Mariners, of which a number were to go to Britain. In the event the RAF only received 32 PBM-3Bs (serials JX100 to XJ131). Variants of the Mariner included the PBM-3C (274 built); PBM-3D (201 built) with 1,417 kw (1,900-hp) engines in lieu of the 1,268 kw (1,700 hp) models, and improved armour; PBM-3R (5 built) for cargo/passenger transport duties seating 20; PBM-3S (156) for anti-submarine patrol work, fitted with R-2600-12 engines, and having its fuel capacity increased to 11,879 litres (2,613 Imp gals).

Last variant was the PBM-5 with 1,567 kw (2,100 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34 Double Wasps, with a gross weight of 27,216 kg (60,000 lb) and an armament of eight 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns in three power-operated turrets. The PBM-5 and PBM-5A saw extensive service in the Korean War and were not finally retired until 1960. A total of 1,368 Mariners was built, including five prototypes. After the war a number were supplied to other countries but most remained with the US Navy, the Naval Reserve and the Coast Guard. Some 300 were subject to major rebuilds, some being redesignated PBM-3E with new radar. Six PBM-5s were used to supply and carry out photographic missions with the Byrd Antarctic Expedition in 1946-47.

Twelve examples of the Mariner were supplied to the RAAF, these being PBM-3S transport variants. The then Prime Minister, John Curtin, sought to expand the RAAF. A mission was sent to the UK and the US in April 1943. President Roosevelt advised Dr Evatt, leader of the mission, that 475 aircraft had been allotted to the RAAF in addition to previous regular allocations to the RAAF. Twelve Mariners were allotted in the A70- series and the serials were painted on the aircraft before they left the US, They were finished in US Navy non-specular blue upper surfaces and matt white under surfaces.

A requisition was raised as BAC/N-950 for 12 Martin Mariners with the US Navy designation PBM-3C. On 12 October 1943 the US Navy advised that 12 “part used” Mariners would be supplied from Norfolk Depot, Virginia that they would be modified at the Martin Factory at Baltimore to type PBM-3S, and all spares and equipment would be covered by the original requisition. It was then asked if the armament and radar could be left fitted to the Mariners but the advice received was that it would not be possible as the original bid had been made on the basis of the RAAF needing them for sea transport. For the military and radar equipment to be part of the order would mean extensive delays in delivery.

Thus all 12 aircraft were ex-US Navy aircraft and were returned to Glenn L Martin Co for modification, this involving stripping at the Martin plant. Subsequently they were delivered to TTSA for servicing, fitting out and delivery to the RAAF. Modifications to the RAAF aircraft included bomb-bay fuel tanks; the navigator position remained on the flight deck; no guns were installed; no radar was fitted and no radome; a radio altimeter was installed; the auxiliary hull fuel tanks were installed in the aft living compartment; and the galley was forward under the flight deck.

The first (A70-1 – USN Bu No 6512 – Martin No 2965) departed Norfolk on 6 November 1943 for Almeda, departed Almeda on 13 November, and was flown to Rathmines by Sqdn Ldr Wood, arriving at Rathmines, NSW on 20 November. Bu No 6505 was originally allocated but due to hull damage was replaced by Bu No 6622 (Martin No 2975) which became A70-10. The last aircraft was delivered on 6 January 1944, all at first being attached to No 1 Flying Boat Repair Depot at Lake Boga in Victoria.

Later a number were attached to No 41 squadron at Rathmines and later at Cairns, QLD. Eventually No 40 squadron and No 114 Air Sea Rescue Flight operated the type. The twelve Mariners used call signs VHCPA to VHCPL. One (A70-3) was stripped to bare metal at Port Moresby, NG to try and increase its performance, and this was the only one not in camouflage. A number were given names, including Donald Duck (A70-4); Eventful Eve (A70-5); Red Bikini Girl (A70-6); G for George (A70-7); Rose Bay Rose (A70-9), Jacquinot Bay Jane (A70-10), and Ah Sweet Mystery (A70-11).

The Mariners delivered were: A70-2 (Bu No 6528, Martin No 2181); A70-3 (Bu No 6546, Martin No 2199); A70-4 (Bu No 6549, Martin No 3002); A70-5 (Bu No 6566, Martin No 3019); A70-6 (Bu No 6526, Martin No 2979); A70-7 (Bu No 6506, Martin No 2959); A70-8 (Bu No 6565, Martin No 3018); A70-9 (Bu No 6575, Martin No 3028); A70-10 (Bu No 6622, Martin No 2975); A70-11 (Bu No 6664, Martin No 3117); and A70-12 (Bu No 6538, Martin No 2991). Pilots involved in the delivery flights were Sqdn Ldr Wood [A70-1], Sqdn Ldr Thurston [A7-2], Fl Lt Kirk [A70-3 and A70-9], Flt Lt Townsend [A70-4], Flt Lt Robertson [A70-5 and A70-12], Flt Lt Tamblyn [A70-6 and A70-11], Sqdn Ldr Monkton [A70-7 and A70-10), and Flt Lt Duigan [A70-8].

The type was basically used for transport duties, but many search and rescue operations were carried out. During its operations with the RAAF the Mariner carried 24,702 passengers, 974,413 kg (2,148,177 lb) of freight, and flew 5,745 flying hours. After the war the Mariner continued to serve with No 40 Squadron, alongside Short Sunderlands. The last operation of the type was on 8 February 1946 when A70-7 rendezvoused with HMS Grenville to fly a sick rating to Cairns. On 30 April 1946 A70-8 was flown to 1 FBRD at Lake Boga where it joined the other eleven aircraft. The type was declared surplus to requirements on 25 March 1948 and they were broken up.

A number of flying boat hulls, including Catalinas, Sunderlands and at least two Martin Mariners, were cut down after the war and used as barges in the 1950s, carrying timber up and down the Murray River powered by truck engines driving propellers through the hull. Several sank, and the remainder were scrapped. The forward sections of the hulls of two were converted into caravans and one of these (A70-3) has been restored at the Aviation Heritage Museum at Bull Creek in Western Australia and the other survives in Portland SA.

One complete Mariner is known to survive. PBM-5A (BuA 122071, N3190G), owned by the Smithsonian Institute, was restored and is on display at the Pima Air Museum at Tucson, Arizona. Another was located in the 1990s in Lake Washington near Seattle. Efforts were made to recover the aircraft but the aircraft broke in two so the attempt was abandoned. There are reports of a survivor at the Aviacion Naval Uruguaya in Montevideo. At least two were operated with civil registrations in Colombia, South America. Naviera Colombia Division obtained seven aircraft and two were stripped for freight operations, the others being converted to spares.

During the Korean War US Navy Mariners based at Iwakuni in Japan flew regular patrols of nine to twelve hours deep into the China Sea along the shores of China, North Korea and Manchuria, and also the Tsushima and Formosa Straights. Others operated in support of the Bikini nuclear tests. Admiral Byrd’s 1946 – 47 High Jump Antarctic Expedition used examples. One during Operation Nanook flew within 724 km (450 miles) of the North Pole. Three were supplied to the Argentine Navy and 17 to the Netherlands Navy.