The fastest growing arm of the Navy- today is Aircraft Base Force, the patrol plane squadrons. The planes with which this expansion is being effected are the longest range seagoing planes in existence. Since 1928, cruising ranges have been increased from 950 miles to more than 4,000 miles. The up-to-date patrol plane now being delivered to the fleet patrol plane squadrons is a far cry from the H-boats and F-5-L’s which braved coastal seas on war-time anti-submarine patrol in 1917-18. Although the new PBY’s can trace their lineage from these flying boats of World War fame, the rapid development of modern types did not begin until 1928. Prior to that time, the fleet patrol plane squadrons consisted mostly of F-5-L’s, all World War hangovers. The NC’s had a brief, hectic career in fleet operations. The PN’s hardly could be said to have had a career in the fleet at all. They were, nevertheless, the patrol plane guinea pigs of the Navy, built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in many variations of the basic hull-type flying boat. The PN-7, as modified in the PN-12, may be said to have been the immediate forerunner of our modern patrol squadron flying boats.
Quantity production of the PN-12 model by three aircraft corporations gave the Navy her PM’s, PK’s, and PH’s, which first joined the squadrons in 1928. Many of them still are operating with the patrol plane squadrons based at Hampton Roads, Coco Solo, San Diego, Seattle, and Pearl Harbor. They are gradually being retired in favor of PY’s and PBY’s as they succumb to the trials of a rigorous service. In the past four years, these planes, and the PY’s which have been replacing them, have operated over areas extending from the Aleutian Peninsula to the Galapagos Islands, from Honolulu to Trinidad. Their record of performance has been worthy of high praise. They have braved the glacier-bound coast of Alaska, the lava-strewn shores of the Galapagos; they have challenged the wind-swept Pacific Islands and the fog-bound Gulf of Alaska. Thousands of miles of frowning coast line and of open sea have been mirrored in their lower wing panels. They were the pioneers of long-range ocean hops. They now hold the long-distance, nonstop record for flying boats and are in a position to better that record at any time. All operations to date have been of daring scope, and there is no indication that future maneuvers will be permitted to suffer by comparison.
The current parade of bold achievement, ample precedent for which is found in the historic flights of the NC-4 and the PN9-No. 3, began with the mass flight of VP-10-F, consisting of six P-l-Y planes, from Norfolk to Honolulu via Coco Solo, Acapulco, San Diego, and San Francisco. This flight, with layovers at Coco Solo and San Diego, covered a period of about four months, and took place between September, 1933, and January, 1934. Before June of the latter year, two squadrons, accompanied by the Wright and small tenders, made the round trip from San Diego to Panama, down the west coast of Central America, and joined three squadrons from Coco Solo for operations off the coast of Cuba. In July and August of the same year, the same two squadrons, still accompanied by the Wright and small tenders of the bird class, flew as far north as Seward, Alaska, visiting Seattle, Ketchikan, and Juneau en route. They returned via Sitka and Vancouver, flying through rain and avoiding fog most of the way. In January and February, 1935, the Wright and her satellites of the bird class chaperoned three Coco Solo squadrons of PM’s, PY’s, and PD’s for a complete circuit of the Caribbean. (The PD’s are the only pontoon type patrol planes now in service.) Stops were made at Cartagena, where the Admiral surprised his officers by replying to the welcoming address in Spanish; at Curasao, where Royal Dutch Shell officials enthusiastically displayed the largest oil refinery in the world; at Trinidad, where the unruffled British lion remained unruffled; at San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the U. S. Army welcomed the Navy with open arms; at Samana Bay, Haiti, where the Haitian President’s personal representative clapped his hands and produced cold beer where there was no ice; at Kingston, where the Admiral lost his “drag” by herding all hands on board at midnight, party or no party, for the 6:00 a.m. take-off.
In April of the same year, the fleet problem took the two San Diego squadrons of PM’s to the Alaskan area again. On this trip, planes and pilots earned their spurs for hardihood. Efforts to maintain schedules were almost heroic. Snow, sleet, and fog were obstacles which were unpredictable and insurmountable. On more than one occasion, a squadron was forced to select an almost unprotected haven and to taxi throughout the night to prevent destruction in the boiling surf. A break in the weather, which accompanied release from the fleet problem, permitted a speedy return to the more inviting, but fogbound, California coast. Planes and pilots must have shared the desire to get home, which prompted the 975-mile nonstop flight from Seattle to San Diego in 950- mile planes. No doubt the 25-knot tail wind did its bit to increase the radius.
The successful accomplishment of these extended flight operations is a credit to planes and personnel of the patrol plane squadrons. Such operations, however, are not sufficiently spectacular to win public acclaim. Every now and then it is a good idea to give the public a yardstick of naval achievement. The flight of the XP-3-Y-1 in October, 1935, was just such a yardstick. This forerunner of the PBY, now joining the patrol plane squadrons, was groomed to break the long-distance, nonstop record for seaplanes. When she was poised at Coco Solo for the record attempt, two new destroyers, en route to San Diego, took station along the Central American coast, and the Wright (just out of yard overhaul) lay to at the southern end of the Gulf of Lower California. After a 24-hour delay, the plane took off and headed for the lowlands bordering on Lake Nicaragua. At this point, she crossed the Central American isthmus and continued up the west coast of Mexico, passing directly over the Wright nearly 24 hours later. It was a thrilling experience for the personnel of the Wright to see her running lights come out of the darkness, to hear the drone of her motor increase to a crescendo when overhead, then fade with her lights in the distance as she sped on to a landing on San Francisco Bay and a world’s record of 3,300 miles without stop. By this remarkable flight, the Navy announced to the public that her flying boats were superior to any others in existence, not excepting the great flying clippers.
In November, 1935, the Honolulu squadrons of PM’s, PK’s, PH’s, and PY’s operated in the Hawaii-Midway area. The Wright and small tenders were in attendance as usual. As a side issue of this maneuver, the Wright visited the Line Islands and incurred King Neptune’s hatred by approaching the equator too closely without his permission. This almost proved the undoing of the Wright pollywogs when that ship finally crossed the Line in February, 1936, accompanied by patrol squadrons of PM’s, PD’s, and PY’s from Coco Solo. On this invasion of Neptune’s domain, the planes visited Colombia, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands (where the Baroness no longer resides).
A return engagement with the Coco Solo squadrons was imposed on the Wright by the fleet problem in April and May, 1936. She brought along the two San Diego squadrons, one of which had by this time been equipped with P-2-Y’s. These two squadrons flew from San Diego to the scene of the maneuvers by easy stages, then later returned from Coco Solo by much the same route. The flight operations incident to the problem were extensive, taxing the tender facilities to the limit.
In July and August, 1936, the San Diego squadrons flew north to join the recently formed Seattle squadron of P-2-Y’s in new operations in the Alaskan area. While the Wright maintained a mobile base at Sitka, the short-legged squadron of PM’s examined the adjacent Alaskan littoral and the long-legged PY’s hopped the Gulf of Alaska as part of the day’s work. The weather was exceptionally good—for Alaska. Some sharpshooting by the aerologist contributed materially to the success of the flight operations.
The Honolulu squadrons conducted the next operations. Extensive flights in the Hawaiian area made in the face of 30- and 40-knot winds, and frequent takeoffs and landings under the most unfavorable surface conditions proved the mettle of pilots and planes. The tenders, too, overcame their share of difficulties in carrying out the flight schedules.
To the writer, this operation is significant as having been fraught with more hazards than any other patrol plane operations of recent years. Only the rugged planes with which the squadrons are now equipped could have weathered the beating they took. The limiting weather conditions under which operations can be conducted from mobile bases practically obtained during most of the cruise. The ultimate limit may undoubtedly be accurately estimated from a consideration of the conditions encountered on this operation.
Significance also attaches to the operations in connection with the last fleet problem, in that the limit of tender service was more nearly attained than in any previous or subsequent maneuvers. A given tender can dispense her facilities at only one maximum rate. The determination of this rate is of vital interest in the future design of tenders. The actual figures in number of planes, hours in the air, and services required which represent this limit should be available from a study of those maneuvers.
In the opinion of the writer, the limits imposed by considerations of weather and tender facilities will become less and less significant as the planes become larger and acquire greater cruising radius. Eventually, the flying boats will be of such long range that they will be able to circumvent practically all bad weather, and will always return to a permanent base, no matter how far afield their patrol duties may take them. This may sound fantastic at first blush, but a review of the development of the flying boat in the past 8 years should lend some support to the supposition. As the writer completes this article, he can see through his porthole the practice take-offs of the PBY’s, which, in a few days, will fly direct to Honolulu from San Diego. They are merely forerunners of more powerful planes which will make the above prediction a reality.