Consolidated PB2Y Coronado

PB2Y Coronado
An early PB2Y-2 in flight.
General information
Type	Maritime patrol bomber
Manufacturer	Consolidated Aircraft
Status	Retired
Primary users	United States Navy Royal Air Force
Number built	217
History
Introduction date	December 1940
First flight	17 December 1937
Variants	Consolidated XPB3Y

The PB2Y Coronado is a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft, and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, medical/hospital plane, and transport roles. Obsolete by the end of the war, Coronados were quickly taken out of service. Only one known example remains, at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Before WW2 large flying boats were important for long distance international routes, as the ability to land on water without a land-based airstrip was useful. It proved to be good supporting aircraft in the Pacific War, which often required transport across long distance of oceans in harm's way, to places with no prepared airstrips.

There were two main configurations, one with several turrets including a prominent ball turret in the nose with two 50-cal machine guns, and one unarmed, with a clean nose.

The aircraft had a unique place in history, bringing Admiral Nimitz to Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese surrender for WW2. Also, after the war one was used by Hughes Aviation. Of the aircraft one survived the war to be exhibited in an aviation museum.

After deliveries of the PBY Catalina, also a Consolidated aircraft, began in 1935, the United States Navy began planning for the next generation of patrol bombers. Orders for two prototypes, the XPB2Y-1 and the Sikorsky XPBS-1, were placed in 1936; the prototype Coronado first flew in December 1937.^[1]

After trials with the XPB2Y-1 prototype revealed some stability issues, the design was finalized as the PB2Y-2, with a large cantilever wing, twin tail with very marked dihedral, and four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines. The two inner engines were fitted with four-bladed reversible pitch propellers; the outer engines had standard three-bladed feathering props.^[2] Like the PBY Catalina before it, the PB2Y's wingtip floats retracted to reduce drag and increase range, with the floats' buoyant hulls acting as the wingtips when retracted. The price of the PB2Y-2 was US$300,000, or approximately three times that of the PBY Catalina.^[3]

Development continued throughout the war. The PB2Y-3, featuring self-sealing fuel tanks and additional armor, entered service just after the attack on Pearl Harbor and formed most of the early-war Coronado fleet. The prototype XPB2Y-4 was powered by four Wright R-2600 radials and offered improved performance, but the increases were not enough to justify a full fleet update. However, most PB2Y-3 models were converted to the PB2Y-5 standard, with the R-1830 engines replaced with single-stage R-1830-92 models. As most existing PB2Y-3s were used as transports, flying low to avoid combat, removing the excess weight of unneeded superchargers allowed an increased payload without harming low-altitude performance.^[4]

A prototype of the Consolidated XPB3Y variant was ordered, which would be a long range version of the Coronado, but this was cancelled.

Coronados served in combat in the Pacific with the United States Navy, in both bombing and antisubmarine roles. PB2Y-5 Coronados carried out four bombing raids on Wake Island between 30 January and 9 February 1944.^[3] However, most served as transport and hospital aircraft, and additional tasks included executive transport and search and rescue.

The British Royal Air Force Coastal Command had hoped to use the Coronado as a maritime patrol bomber, as it already used the PBY Catalina. However, the range of the Coronado (1,070 miles) compared poorly with the Catalina (2,520 mi), and the Short Sunderland (1,780 mi). Consequently, the Coronados supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease were outfitted purely as transports, serving with RAF Transport Command. The 10 aircraft were used for transatlantic flights, staging through the RAF base at Darrell's Island, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, though the aircraft were used to deliver vital cargo and equipment in a transportation network that stretched down both sides of the Atlantic, from Newfoundland, to Brazil, and to Nigeria, and other parts of Africa. After the war ended five of the RAF aircraft were scrapped, one was already lost in collision with a Martin PBM Mariner and the last four were scuttled off the coast of Bermuda in 1946.^[5]

In combat missions PB2Y claimed five enemy aircraft shot down over the course of WW2.^[6] Likewise, an example of one lost to combat is at Kerema Rhetto, Okinawa, 5 May 1945. An example of a search and rescue mission is that a PB2Y landed hard on water of Kagoshima Bay to rescue a downed pilot. Unable to takeoff again, a PBM Mariner picked up the crew and pilot, then scuttled the aircraft with a strafe.^[7]

Coronados served as a major component in the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) during World War II in the Pacific theater. Most had originally been acquired as combat patrol aircraft, but the limitations noted above quickly relegated them to transport service in the American naval air fleet also. By the end of World War II, the Coronado was outmoded as both a bomber and a transport, and virtually all of them were quickly scrapped by the summer of 1946, being melted down to aluminum ingots and sold as metal scrap,^[8] or used as targets for fighter gunnery practice.^[3]

After the war some were used for civilian service; one is reportedly bought by Howard Hughes to practice water landings for the 1947 flight of the Hughes Spruce Goose.^[9]

The bulk of the production was the PB2Y-3, with 210 produced it featured turrets. Significant numbers of unarmed transport version were also produced or converted from existing versions.

Coronado I

RAF Designation for PB2Y-3

XPB2Y-1

Prototype with four 1,050 hp (780 kW) Pratt & Whitney XR-1830-72 Twin Wasps, engines, one built.

PB2Y-2

Evaluation variant with four 1,020 hp (760 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-78 Twin Wasp engines, modified hull and six 0.5 in (13 mm) guns, six built.

XPB2Y-3

One PB2Y-2 converted as prototype for PB2Y-3.

PB2Y-3

Production variant with four 1,200 hp (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-88 Twin Wasp engines and eight 0.5 in (13 mm) guns, 210 built.

PB2Y-3B

Lend-lease designation for Royal Air Force aircraft.

PB2Y-3R

PB2Y-3s converted by Rohr Aircraft Corp as freighters with faired-over turrets, side loading hatch, and seating for 44 passengers, 31 built.

XPB2Y-4

One PB2Y-2 re-engined with four 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 engines.

XPB2Y-5

The XP2BY-3 converted as PB2Y-5 prototype.

PB2Y-5

PB2Y-3s converted with four 1,200 hp (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp engines, increased fuel capacity and provision for RATOG (rocket-assisted take-off gear).

PB2Y-5R

PB2Y-5s converted as unarmed transports, some fitted for medical evacuation role. The medical evacuation version could hold up to 25 stretchers.^[10]

The main operator was the United States Navy, and some served with the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. 5 served with United States Coast Guard. After the war there was some civilian use also.

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
  • No. 231 Squadron RAF

 United States

• United States Navy
  • FAW-2
  • FAW-3
  • FAW-5
  • FAW-14
  • VPB-1
  • VPB-4
  • VPB-13
  • VPB-15
  • VPB-100
  • VP-102
  • VR-2
  • VR-6
  • VR-8
  • VE-1
  • VH-1
• United States Coast Guard^[11]

There were many accidents with the PB2Y incidents of different types.^[7]

There is a sunken PB2Y Coronado in Tanapag Lagoon of Saipan. This wreck has been studied for marine archeology.^[12]

After the capture of Ebeye from the Japanese, it was used as seaplane stopover for flying boats transiting the Pacific. At least three Coronados crashed near Naval Air Base Ebeye Island, at Kwajalein Atoll.^[13]

• 14 September 1944, a PB2Y-3 broke apart during practice landings, killing one person.^[13][7]
• 12 February 1945, a PB2Y-5R crashed on landing from a trip from Honolulu, ripping off the nose and sinking claiming two lives.^[13][7]
• Also, in February 1944 a PB2Y ran into a reef while taxiing and subsequently broke up and sank in the lagoon.^[13]

Some of these wrecks were discovered in the early 21st century and in some cases are visited by divers.^[13]

Additional examples:

On 6 May 1942, a PB2Y crashed crashed and sank in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii during an emergency landing, claiming the lives of two.^[7]

On 27 December 1942 one crashed landing on the Salton Sea, killing 6.^[7]

On 21 May 1943 one crashed with the loss of all crew at Little Creek, Virginia, USA.^[7]

23 May 1943 a PB2Y ran out of fuel near Bermuda; on landing the right pontoon ripped off and the aircraft rolled over and sank.^[7]

24 May 1943 a PB2Y broke in two when it was forced to land on the ground at San Mieuel Rea, Mexico.^[7]

On 26 November 1943 a PB2Y crashed while landing during a training flight at NAS Alamedea, USA.^[7]

1 January 1944 nine perished in a crash in the Great Sound of Bermuda and another crash at Bermuda occurred on 26 May 1943.^[7]

On 17 February 1944 a PB2Y engine failed during takeoff, causing it to crash into a barracks, killing 2 on the ground and 7 of 12 on the aircraft.^[7]

Galapagos, Ecuador, 17 July 1944 landing accident (nosing over) kills five.^[7]

31 July 1944, on takeoff from Funafuti Lagoon a wing clips a ship's jackstaff causing a crash, killing 22.^[7]

On 17 October 1944 one crashed into a Coronado Island near San Diego, California.^[7]

On 6 December 1945 a PB2Y-5R (no. 7241) crashed at Canton island.^[7]

On 22 June 1945, a PB2Y landed at sea on a flight between Ebeye and Saipan. All were rescued but the aircraft later sank.^[7]

• BuNo 7099 – National Naval Aviation Museum, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida^[14]

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II ^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: ten
• Length: 79 ft 3 in (24.2 m)
• Wingspan: 115 ft 0 in (35 m)
• Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m)
• Wing area: 1,780 sq ft (165 m²)
• Empty weight: 40,850 lb (18,530 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 66,000 lb (30,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial engines, 1,200 hp (900 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 194 mph (310 km/h, 168 kn)
• Cruise speed: 170 mph (272 km/h, 148 kn)
• Range: 1,070 mi (1,720 km, 930 nmi) at 131 mph (210 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 20,500 ft (6,250 m)

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 6× .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in twin nose, dorsal, and tail powered turrets
  • 2× .50 in M2 Browning machine guns in manual waist mounts
• Bombs:
  
  • 2× Mark 13 torpedoes or
  • Up to 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) of bombs, housed in the wings

Victor Bergeron created a PB2Y cocktail for his Tiki bars (Trader Vic's) in honor of World War II airmen.^[15]

Related development

• Consolidated PBY Catalina
• Consolidated XP4Y Corregidor

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Beriev Be-6
• Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking
• Boeing 314 Clipper (Served along with PB2Y as C-98)
• Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger
• Kawanishi H6K
• Kawanishi H8K
• Martin PBM Mariner
• Short Sunderland
• Sikorsky XPBS-1

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of aircraft of World War II

• "Coronados are Graveyard Bound" (PDF). Naval Aviation News (267). September 1946.
• Andrews, Hal (November–December 1989). "PB2Y Coronado" (PDF). Naval Aviation News. 72 (1). ISSN 0028-1417. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2005.
• Bridgeman, Leonard (1946). "The Consolidated Vultee Model 29 Coronado". Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. London: Studio. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
• Burney, Allan. Flying Boats of World War 2 (The Aeroplane & Flight Magazine Aviation Archive Series). London: Key Publishing Ltd., 2015. ISBN 978-1-909786-110.
• Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Five: Flying Boats. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (Fifth impression 1972). ISBN 0-356-01449-5.
• Hoffman, Richard Capt. USN (ret.). Consolidated PB2Y Coronado (Naval Fighters 85). Simi Valley, California, USA: Ginter Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0-942612-85-1.
• March, Daniel J. (2000). British warplanes of World War II. Rochester: Grange. ISBN 1-84013-391-0.
• Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 1982 (republished 1996 by the Chancellor Press, reprinted 2002). ISBN 1-85152-706-0.

• Pomeroy, Colin A. (July–August 2002). "Bermudian 'Boats: Snapshots of the RAF Flying-boat Era in Bermuda". Air Enthusiast. No. 100. pp. 40–45. ISSN 0143-5450.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Consolidated PB2Y Coronado.

• Consolidated PB2Y Coronado at www.daveswarbirds.com
• 1943 article including photos and cutaway drawing of PB27, starting bottom of page 121
• YouTube video of the sole surviving Coronado's restoration being completed and placed on indoor display