Corgi AA36112 PBY5A Catalina Pearl Harbor 80th Anniversary

 

Consolidated PBY-5 CatalinaBuNo.2360 14-P-5, VP-14, US Navy, NAS Kaneohe Bay,Hawaii, Post Pearl Harbor Raid, Late 1941 / Early 1942,America prepares to strike backAs the Japanese naval Task Force prepared to launch its devastating surpriseattack against multiple US military targets around the massive naval baseat Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, their main targets may havebeen the huge warships moored in Battleship Row, but they wereacutely aware of the threat posed by another American machine.The Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats based on theIsland of Oahu possessed the range to detect theJapanese ships and could alert American forces to theirpresence, not only undermining the effectiveness of the strike,but also placing the ships in danger of attack themselves. Witha strong force of Mitsubishi Zero fighters retained to protect thetask force from air attack, pilots performing this role knew thatif a Catalina strayed too close, they would only have seconds todestroy the aircraft, before it could relay details of its discoveryto naval headquarters, where a coordinated attack couldimmediately be launched. As it was, a US Navy Catalina did detect theJapanese raid prior to the first bomb falling, but that of a midget submarineapproaching the entrance of the harbour. Immediately launching an attack on thevessel and reporting their discovery to headquarters via coded message, the mainattack had already started before military officials had time to plan their response