The stealthy Consolidated PBY Catalina, an amphibious combat aircraft designed to patrol the seas and skies, has been an asset to military operations and harrowing rescue missions for nearly a century. Produced in the 1930s and 1940s, this seaplane became one of World War II's most versatile and effective multi-role aircraft, used primarily for air-sea rescue operations, cargo transport, convoy bombing, and anti-submarine warfare. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in many other nations' air forces and navies. This episode reviews the PBY's use in rescuing sailors from the USS Indianapolis, searching for the German battleship Bismarck, and attacking Japanese shipping in the Pacific.
