Martin PBM-5A Mariner - Pima ASM, Tucson, AZ - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The Martin PBM Mariner was a 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 to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and supplement the PBY Catalina, the Model 162. 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 120hp (90kW) 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 inboard, like the Catalina. The PBM-3 had fixed floats, and the fuselage was three feet longer than that of the PBM-1.

The first PBM-1's entered service with Patrol Squadron Fifty-Five (VP-55) of the US Navy on 1 September 1940. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, PBM's were used (together with PBY's) to carry out Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic, including operations from Iceland. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, PBM's were used on anti-submarine patrols, sinking their first German U-boat, U-158, on 30 June 1942. PBM's were responsible, wholly or in part, for sinking a total of 10 U-boats during World War II. PBM's were also heavily used in the Pacific War, operating from bases at Saipan, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and the South West Pacific.

The US 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 US 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-1950's.

PBM's continued in service with the US 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 direct development, the P5M Marlin, with the last USN squadron equipped with the PBM, Patrol Squadron Fifty (VP-50), retiring them in July 1956.

The British Royal Air Force acquired 32 Mariners, but they were not used operationally, with some returned to the US Navy. A further 12 PBM-3R's were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force for transporting troops and cargo.

The Royal Netherlands Navy acquired 17 PBM-5A Mariners at the end of 1955 for service in Netherlands New Guinea. The PBM-5A was an amphibian with retractable landing gear. The engines were 2,100hp (1,566kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34. After a series of crashes, the Dutch withdrew their remaining aircraft from use in December 1959.

Source: Wikipedia

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Martin PBM-5A Mariner Tail Number: (S/N): BuNo 122071 Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Located in hangar 1S at Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Pima Air & Space Museum 6000 E Valencia Rd Tucson, Arizona 85756 Phone 520-574-0462 Open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Daily Last admittance at 4:00 PM $15.50-Adults $12.50-Pima Co Residents $12.75-Seniors $ 9.00-Children FREE---Children 6 & under $ 7.00-AMARG $13.50-Group Rate Access restrictions: None

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/12/2019 Castor007 visited it 07/11/2015 NW_history_buff visited it

View all visits/logs