This is the summary of plane numbers I derived from PBY Catalina in Action, by Capt.W.E.Scarborough. You can also search by side (squadron) numbers, registration numbers, and occasionally, by c/n. Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard (for example: 81-P-*) to return up to 200 planes. There are more details below the table.
| FLYING BOATS | AMPHIBIANS | |||||||||||
XPBY-1 |
PBY-1 |
PBY-2 |
PBY-3 |
PBY-4 |
PBY-5 |
Commercial |
XPBY-5A |
PBY-5A |
PBY-6A |
28-5 |
OA-10A |
Canso A |
See below |
Guba I- Guba II |
46639- 46698 |
9737- 9750 |
44-33868- 44-34097 |
9751- 9805 |
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Transatlantic |
04792- 05045 |
46724 |
Y74- Y85 |
9806- 9844 |
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Mail1- Mail3 |
7243- 7302 |
63993- 64099 |
11001- 11090 |
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P9630 |
FP525- FP533 |
64101- 64107 |
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FP535- FP536 |
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| 28-5 | PBY-5 | PBY-5B | PBN-1 | PB2B-1 | PB2B-2 | Color legend | 02948- 02977 |
Color legend | ||||
W8405- W8434 |
FP100- FP324 |
02791- 02946 |
44205 |
JX618- JX662 |
Catalina IA (28-5AMC) |
04399- 04420 |
Catalina IA (28-5AMC) |
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AM264- AM269 |
04425- 04514 |
44220- 44223 |
JZ828- JZ841 |
Catalina IB |
33960- 34059 |
Catalina ? (28-5NME) |
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AH530- AH569 |
08124- 08549 |
????? (x 194) |
JX645- JX646 |
Catalina II (28-5ME) |
08030- 08123 |
Catalina IIIA |
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Z2134- Z2153 |
JX571- JX585 |
NZ4023- NZ4056 |
JX648 |
Catalina IIA (28-5MC Canso) |
46450- 46579 |
PBV-1A (67832-68061) |
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AJ154- AJ162 |
JV925- JV935 |
A24-200 A24-206 |
JX652 |
Catalina IVA |
48252- 48451 |
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9701- 9736 |
NZ4001- NZ4022 |
A24-300- A24-309 |
Catalina IVB |
46580- 46638 |
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JX200- JX269 |
A24-350- A24-386 |
Catalina VI |
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63992 |
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Planes
From this page, you'll be able to "drill down" through the database. The first level currently shows the general information about the plane, including sources, photos, and a list of owners. During the plane's military career, each squadron or unit is listed as a separate owner. For each owner, you can drill down to the sources that list the ownership (sometimes there are conflicts), photos taken during the ownership, and base assignments during the ownership. At the base-assignment level, you can drill down to the sources and photos pertinent to the base assignment. You can also list the flights/actions the plane made from that base. From the flight/action level, you can again list the sources and photos for the flight, and you can drill down to list the flight crew.
Please remember that there are around four thousand PBYs and the records have been scattered and lost over the past sixty years, so this database will always be largely incomplete. (Your contributions would be greatly appreciated!) I'm scanning and posting the public records I find in various archives. Often, I have to make inferences (noted in my source references) from these documents; feel free to double-check my data and correct my interpretations. The Books page lists other valuable sources I've used. These books provide a much better sense of history and experience than the distilled data at this web site - they are worth finding.
Squadrons
Another section of the database details PBY squadron histories. Occasionally, an unrelated squadron or ship history will be included due to a personal interest. (This is also true of some archive documents.)
Crews
The military careers of PBY crewmembers are detailed in a new section, still under construction. Also, see the PBY Catalina International Association's web site.