Martin PBM 3/5 "Mariner"

June 3, 2022
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Martin PBM-3/5 Mariner
Martin PBM

No caption/date [circa 1944?]/photo number; photographer unknown.  On tarmac with beaching gear in place, with flight & maintenance crews and staff of unknown air station posed on the tarmac in front of the PBM; note the SPARs, tractors, depth charges, and open weapon bay under port nacelle.


History:

The Coast Guard acquired 27 Martin PBM-3 during the first half of 1943.  In late 1944, the service acquired 41 PBM-5 models and more were delivered in the latter half of 1945.  Ten were still in service in 1955 although all were gone from the inventory by 1956.  These flying boats became the backbone of the long-range aerial search and rescue efforts of the Coast Guard in the early post-war years.

As of 31 October 1944 the Coast Guard's PBM's were stationed at the following Coast Guard Air Stations: five PBM-3's at Elizabeth City; one PBM-3C at Miami; two PBM-3S's at Port Angeles; two PBM-3S's at St. Petersburg; two PBM-3S's at Salem; one PBM-3C and three PBM-3S's at San Diego; and two PBM-3S's at San Francisco.


USCG
Service
Number

Type:

Date acquired:

Disposition:

Notes, stations assigned, general information, etc.

1284

P5M-1G

20 Nov 1953

Transferred to USN

 

1285

P5M-1G

Jun 1954

Transferred to USN

 

1286

P5M-1G

Jul 1954

Transferred to USN

 

1287

P5M-1G

Sep 1954

Transferred to USN

AIRSTA San Francisco (July 1955)

1295

P5M-1G

Sep 1954

Transferred to USN

 

1296

P5M-1G

Jul 1954

Transferred to USN

AIRSTA San Francisco (August 1955)

1297

P5M-1G

Aug 1954

Transferred to USN

 

1312

P5M-2G

 

Transferred to USN

Stationed at AIRSTA St. Petersburg; 
Stationed at AIRSTA San Francisco

1318

P5M-2G

 

Transferred to USN

AIRSTA San Diego (1958)

1319

P5M-2G

 

Transferred to USN

 

1320

P5M-2G

 

Transferred to USN

 


A Martin PBM crew scrambles

No caption/date/photo number; photographer unknown.  On ramp in preparation for launch, crew is running to the PBM; view is forward quarter, port side.  Note beaching gear and anchor with hoist.

Martin PBM

Original caption: "Coast Guard Air Station PBM 94732 taxing for take-off.  This is the type plane used for off shore landings."; Photo No. A-136; 10 July 1947; photographer unknown. 

Martin PBM

Martin PBM

Martin PBM

Martin PBM damaged during an off-shore landing

"PBM-5G #84698, Damaged in offshore landing in seas approximately 2 to 2 1/2 feet high.  Both engine mounts were broken, left stabilizer smashed and twisted, main spar badly buckled, fuel tanks ruptured, air-[craft] had to be sunk by gunfire as menace to navigation."; no date/photo number; photographer unknown.  View from starboard, photo is slightly out of focus and faded.


AIRCRAFT TYPE/SERIES: PBM-3 Martin Mariner Model 162
Total Units Operated: 37
Entered Service : 12/05/43
Exited Service : 07/01/46
Months Operated : 31


USCG             Date                   Rec'd              Date              Type          Station      MSN       Disp No.                 Comm                 From            Decom                                                              


6513            03/02/45                USN            05/18/46          PBM-3S          SFO         2966         To USN


6515            12/05/43                USN            03/10/46         PBM-3S          SAN         2968          To USN


6518            02/29/44               USN            04/23/46          PBM-3S          NOW        2971          To USN


6519            02/17/45               USN            04/23/46          PBM-3S           PIE          2972          To USN


6524            02/10/45               USN            01/18/46          PBM-3S           DKY        2977          To USN


6535            12/20/43               USN            04/30/46          PBM-3S           PIE         2988           To USN


6542            05/15/44               USN            05/15/46          PBM-3S           ECG     2995            To USN


6559          12/05/43               USN            11/29/45           PBM-3S           DKY       3012             To USN


6573          12/20/43               USN            08/11/44           PBM-3S           NOW    3026             To USN


6574          02/29/44               USN            05/15/46           PBM-3S            PIE       3027             To USN


6576          08/04/44               USN            04/19/45            PBM-3S           ECG    3029            To SLM


                   04/19/45               USN            06/07/46            PBM-3S           SLM                          To USN


6581          12/21/43                USN           05/17/46            PBM-3S          SLM     3034             To USN


6582          12/20/43               USN            05/23/46            PBM-3S           SAN    3035             To USN


6586          08/07/44               USN            05/19/45            PBM-3S           SAN    3039             To USN


6589          01/01/44               USN            04/24/46            PBM-3S           ECG     3042           To USN


6590          12/21/43               USN            05/21/45            PBM-3S           NOW     3043           To USN


6593          01/26/44               USN            08/23/44            PBM-3S           NOW     3046           To USN


6596          12/26/43               USN            05/17/46            PBM-3S           DKY        3049           To USN


6601          12/21/43               USN            07/31/44            PBM-3S           SFO        3054           To USN


6602          03/08/44               USN            08/02/44            PBM-3S           ECG        3055           To USN


6613          01/01/44               USN            07/01/46            PBM-3S           SAN         3066           To USN


6615          12/05/43               USN            05/13/45            PBM-3S           SFO         3068           To USN


6620          05/05/45               USN            06/07/46            PBM-3S           SFO         3073           To USN


6656          03/31/44               USN            08/10/44            PBM-3S           SFO         3109           To USN


6663          02/29/44               USN            08/02/44            PBM-3S           ECG         3116           To USN


6665          12/20/43               USN            04/19/46            PBM-3S           SAN          3118          To USN


6666          02/29/44               USN            06/28/45            PBM-3S           SFO         3119           To USN


6678          12/20/43               USN            10/19/44            PBM-3S           SLM         3131           To USN


6694          01/01/44               USN            05/10/46            PBM-3S           SLM        3147            To USN


6707          12/21/43               USN            08/19/44            PBM-3S           SLM        3160            To USN


6710          12/27/43               USN            03/25/46            PBM-3S           ECG       3163             To USN


6746          12/20/43               USN            08/19/44            PBM-3S           PIE          3199            To USN


6747          12/20/43               USN            09/21/44            PBM-3S           PIE          3200            To USN


01658        05/02/45               USN            05/15/46            PBM-3S           NOW       3216            To USN


01663        05/02/45               USN            01/11/46            PBM-3S           SFO        3221           Crash DBR


01680        05/02/45               USN            06/17/46            PBM-3S           NOW       3238           To USN


48214        10/12/45               USN            06/21/46            PBM-3D           DKY       7968            To USN


Sources:

PBM file, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office Archive.

Arthur Pearcy, U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Since 1916 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991), pp. 251-253.

Gordon Swanborough & Peter M. Bowers.  United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911  (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990-third edition), pp. 360-362.