PBM Mariner
| PBM Mariner | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A U.S. Navy PBM-5 Mariner | |
| Role | flying boat |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Glenn L. Martin Company |
| First flight | 18 February 1939 |
| Introduction | September 1940 |
| Retired | 1964 (Uruguay) |
| Primary users |
United States Navy United States Coast Guard Royal Australian Air Force Argentine Navy |
| Produced | 1937–1949 |
| Number built | 1,366 |
| Developed into | Martin P5M Marlin |
The Martin PBM Mariner was an American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War period. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina in service. A total of 1,366 were built, with the first example flying on 18 February 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940.
In 1937 the Glenn L. Martin Company designed a new twin-engined flying boat, the Model 162, to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and complement the PBY Catalina. It received an order for a single prototype XPBM-1 on 30 June 1937. This was followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM-1 aircraft on 28 December 1937.
To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a ⅜ scale flying model, the Martin 162A Tadpole Clipper with a crew of one and powered by a single 120 hp (89 kW) Chevrolet engine; this was flown in December 1937. The first genuine PBM, the XPBM-1, flew on 18 February 1939.
The aircraft was fitted with five gun turrets, and bomb bays that were in the engine nacelles. The gull wing was of cantilever design, and featured clean aerodynamics with an unbraced twin tail. The PBM-1 was equipped with retractable wing landing floats that were hinged outboard, with single-strut supported floats that retracted inwards to rest beneath the wing, with the floats' keels just outboard of each of the engine nacelles. The PBM-3 had fixed floats, and the fuselage was three feet longer than that of the PBM-1.
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