fubar57
General
Never saw the 13 . Jim, it was so ugly, they also made an "A" version.
Geo
Geo
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The RNZAF PBY-5 Catalina code XX-T
We should never have given that one back.
The RNZAF PBY-5 Catalina code XX-T
Nice picture, PBY-5 NZ4017 of 6 Sqn RNZAF, based at Lauthala Bay, Fiji, then Halavo Bay, Solomons from November 1943. Struck off charge in 1951 and most likely scrapped at Hobsonville, Auckland with all the other Kiwi Cats. Note the ASW aerials under its wings and the five symbols on the nose aft of the turret. These showed how many rescue sorties it had performed; these were called 'Dumbo Rescues' and were indicated by a caricature of Dumbo the Elephant. Note also that the beam bubble is open and the .50 is manned and ready. I'd say the pic was probably taken in 1944 whilst the squadron was at Halavo Bay.
The thing was, Capt Vick, sending it to Japan saved it for posterity. If it wasn't shipped to Japan, it would have been scrapped. The US Navy offered it to other museums in the States, who all turned it down. With that, the navy was going to scrap it, but for the curator of the Museum of Maritime Science in Tokyo, who got wind of the fact that the navy was going to dispose of it and put together a package to rescue it. There were a few die hards in the navy who protested that the aircraft was leaving the USA, but didn't have the resources to do anything about it. Its no longer in Tokyo; I'd imagine it was quite a mission to move it again.