Patrol Bombers (PBYs) in the Aleutian Islands

According to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, “The Consolidated PBY Catalina was the U.S. Navy's most successful patrol flying boat of [World War II], but naval aviators also used the PBY to attack ships at night, and to search for and rescue people stranded at sea.”

Despite treacherous weather (williwaws) the PBY-5A (Patrol Bomber; Y denotes manufacturer: Consolidated Aircraft Co.) could land on water or on runways and was critical to American and Allied success in the Aleutian Islands.

Explore exciting recollections about PBYs in the Aleutians.

PBY Operations at Dutch Harbor, 1942-43

By Bill Maris
It is raining heavily right now and that brings back many memories also of how to keep warm and dry under the circumstances. Mostly if we weren't flying we would look for a passage way or compartment we could hide in as well as staying out of the Ships Crew as they performed their duties of running the Home we happened to be living on at the time. Or maybe if we were lucky and happened to be in Dutch Harbor, the barracks there were nice, so you could take a nap, play cards, read or just plain wonder around and see what the rest of the gang was doing.

We always tried to go over to the old Hotel for breakfast where a couple of Army men had opened up the kitchen and served Spam, eggs, coffee and biscuits for $2.00 a plate. That was choice eating. Then there was a store somewhere in town that we could buy canned food along with canned heat that we would use in a corner of the barracks to heat and eat between times when we got hungry.

Quite a few of the Station Band members lived in our wing of the barracks so every afternoon or evening they would gather and play requests for us as they practiced their regular music. Most of these men were former pro's from named bands so they were good.

A few of us would go for walks around the station just checking on our planes to see if the ground crews needed any help, as well as get some exercise by hiking over to the Army camp were two of my high school friends were stationed in the Army and swap sea stories.

At Dutch Harbor they had movies every afternoon and a bowling alley that we used regularly, taking turns setting pins and keep from getting hit as they flew around when some strong bowler would send them flying.

One afternoon we were at the movie and un-be-known to us our two F4F fighters were airborne, they made a few low passes over the station and someone hollered air raid, the doors got torn off the hinges as we all evacuated the theater only to find it was a false alarm as we recognized our F4F's putting on a airshow for us.

Everyone was still "trigger happy"! They were able to launch and recover the F4's from a portable "cat and arresting gear unit" that was built adjacent to the end of the new runway that was started. Never seen it in operation. That is where the current runway is now. The CB's carved out the side of the mountain to make revetments to hide the PBY's in and that helped make the start of the runway. Lots of rock was carved out of the mountain as the length was extended to allow us to land our PBY-5A when they arrived, taking off and landing on the bay was the safest for quite a while. Landing on the runway was a act of God considering that you had to almost fly right into the mountain then kick hard right rudder and drop in with your left wing almost touching the revetments walls, at least we could go down the seaplane ramp in to the bay if we overshot and run out of runway, fortunately I never seen anyone have to do that.

Watched three of our PBY-5's taking off one morning, one taxied way over to the right side of the bay, one taxied out almost to the spit and one was just leaving the ramp. The plane on the right took off and went out the channel, the one out by the spit turned around and started his take off towards the ramp while at the same time the plane that had just left the ramp applied takeoff power towards the spit, well all hell broke loose, the plane at the spit continued his take off run and was just getting airborne when the plane that had started from the ramp seen he was on a collision course, did a hard port turn still on the water, caused him to water loop, burying his port wing almost up to the engine, the port blister flew out due to the excess twisting of the fuselage, luckily he didn't take any water on and made it back to the ramp were he was recovered and turned over to the maintenance crews for inspection and repairs. So another plane was loaded and the crew manned it and off they went on their assigned mission. Don't know what went on at the next "All Pilots Meeting,” but you know there was hell to pay for such stupidity of airmanship. So you see we always had some kind of excitement to enjoy!

One early morning while at Dutch, Floyd Hill AMM1/c Plane Captain was pre-flighting his assigned plane, walked out on the starboard wing and as usual gave it a couple of bounces to check the wing tip float lock when he heard a crunching noise behind him, further check revealed that the main wing spare was broken, when, how long ago, no one knew of any problems before. Probably broken due to excessive turbulence while on a flight. We were more diligent believe me when pulling our pre-flights.

Another Sea Story of VP-43 Who Operated Over Land and Sea!

By Bill Maris

It is the only time I flew a PBY and never got out of the tie downs and yet became airborne. With both engines running, yoke pushed forward to keep the nose down, trying to stay on the cradles the CB's [US Naval Construction Battalions "Seabees"] had/were making as fast as possible to slide under the hull's to keep us from rocking, unlocking the beaching gear and collapsing on same and punching a hole thru the bottom of the hull. I could feel the PBY hull rock on the cradle as it would lift up then fall back again as the wind would gust to many mph on the ASI [air speed indicator]. A very exciting time for sure. I believe it was Maw Chandler my radioman who was helping me.

Mother nature sure played games with us during that period of time as the storm lasted for hours, all night and then into the next day. The CB's had parked all their trucks with the dump beds elevated along with other heavy vehicles and cats amongst the PBY's to help break the force of the wind gust.

There were two PBY's parked nose against the mountain in a revetment and one Willy-wa picked the outboard one up, turned it 180 around sent it back down and other than break the tie down lines didn't hurt either PBY.

Sheet metal, barrels and ply wood got more flight time than anything else other than the blowing snow. If it wasn't secured, it disappeared. The former neat CB lumber yard by the barracks looked like a tic tac toe game area, lumber of all sizes scattered everywhere.

The aerographers had a bomb shelter covered with 12 x 12 timbers chris-cross over their fox hole and I watched a twister pick those beams up as they all became airborne and disappeared down by the power house and into the dock-bay area. The only thing we lacked were dancing girls to go with the music from the wind as it whistled thru the area. Most amazing I don't remember of any of our crew getting hurt. --GB BILL, VP-43

PBY Goes Airborne Without a Crew!

By Cal Olsen (first published in a print edition of The Williwaw)

It was on November 21, 1942, I'll never forget it, Johnny Kegg and I were told to go down to the airstrip where our plane was moored (43-P-25) and tie it down as the storm was approaching. We did as told and barely got out of the plane when the Williwaw hit. We ran as fast as we could and lay down flat on the runway. We watched as the plane was lifted into the air, turned upside down and dropped on the deck. One of the Chief's waited too long to lie flat and the Williwaw blew him into the hangar wall hurting his back. We headed back to our barracks. Boy, what an experience.

Note: According to Bill Maris, “Ole “Calmer” Olsen, VP-43 relieved Maw Chandler as radioman on Maris’ crew.” If you have any information about Mr. Cal Olsen, please contact Aleutian Islands World War II National Historic Site.

Who is Bill Maris?

Bill Maris was a member of VP-43 (Patrol Bombing Squadron 43) who was stationed in the Aleutian Islands. As a flight mechanic, he witnessed and documented the destructive forces of weather on aircraft and humans. Explore his experiences through his large photo collection and many recollections.

What is a Williwaw?

Williwaw is a well-known weather phenomenon known in the Aleutians defined as "a sudden, violent and frigid windstorm that drops from a mountainous coast onto the sea." They occur when parcels of cold, compressed air in high-altitude snow and ice fields are pulled down to sea level by gravity and are probably influenced by the meeting of the cold currents of the Bering Sea and warmer currents of the Pacific.

References

Navy History
Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum