Osprey Combat Aircraft Series #65

U.S. Navy PBY Catalina Units Of The Atlantic War

by  Ragnar J. Ragnarsson

Reviewed By  Walt Fink, IPMS# 2447

MSRP: $20.95 ISBN 10: 1-84176-910-X ISBN 13: 978-1-84176-910-3 www.ospreypublishing.com A companion volume to Osprey's "U.S. Navy PBY Catalina Units Of The Pacific War", long-time IPMS member Ragnar Ragnarsson has penned a well-researched and insightful look into the "Cat's" role in the war effort in the inhospitable theater of the stormy Atlantic. The first chapter of the book deals with the development of the PBY and the Cat's ancestry, including Consolidated's PY and P2Y; various Catalina models and their differences are described in good detail. The U.S. Navy's patrol aviation development is also covered and the author does a good job of giving the reader some background material of events leading up to the beginning of hostilities with the Axis powers. Worthy of note is mention of the fact that the PBY was actually considered obsolescent and was on its way to being succeeded by the PBM Mariner---and Consolidated had delivered its last Catalina to the Navy with no further orders pending. The onset of war in Europe changed that, the PBY was put back into production, and went on to become the most successful flying boat ever designed. There's an abundance of flying stories in the book, including some downright hairy ones made even more interesting with the Cat's opponents of German U-boats and the inclement weather prevalent in the Atlantic. The author covers PBY operations in all four Atlantic theaters, from the Arctic to the Equator, and includes stories from the "Mad Cats" and Search and Rescue flying. I was particularly interested in the North Atlantic section, with operations from Iceland and Greenland. Having flown over the areas of both and looking down on some frankly dangerous terrain including glaciers, craggy mountains, fjords, and snow fields, I can appreciate the conditions these crews faced while flying their missions. In Iceland, the crews named their base "Camp SNAFU" and in a further turn to GI humor, their collection of Nissen huts (obtained from the British) was re-named "Camp Kwitcherbelliakin'". They went so far as to "plant" artificial palm trees, made of old tubing wrapped in burlap, with sheet-metal fronds. There are more than ninety sharp black-and-white photos in the book, along with twenty-eight color profile illustrations by noted artist Jim Laurier. The modeler looking for colorful PBY schemes may be a little disappointed here, but remember that once the war started, there weren't many Cats which weren't done in drab camouflage. The book's nice set of 1/144 scale line drawings of a PBY-5A should serve, however, to give the modeler a good reference for either the Minicraft kit or its larger-scale brethren. Ragnarsson has also included a couple of nice appendices describing the individual U.S. Navy Atlantic Patrol squadrons and a listing of submarines sunk by Atlantic Force PBY's. Probably more of a good reference source for the historians among us rather than pure modelers, I nevertheless enjoyed Ragnarsson's work and heartily recommend it to those interested in the Battle Of The Atlantic and Consolidated's Catalina as well. Thanks to Osprey and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this work.

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