Consolidated P4Y-1 [PB4Y-1] Liberator

History:

The Coast Guard acquired a total of four (?) PB4Y-1's beginning in 1944 and all saw service through 1947.  These were B-24's modified for reconnaissance duties.  The Coast Guard acquired these venerable aircraft to help fill the rapidly expanding search and rescue effort during and immediately after World War II.  Their extremely long-range and overall reliability made them an outstanding platform for extended searches far offshore.  At least one of these aircraft were used by the Coast Guard's International Ice Patrol in the spring and fall of 1946.

Photographs:

No official caption/date/photo number; photographer unknown.

 

No caption/date/photo number; photographer unknown.
Coast Guard PB4Y-1 at Argentia, Newfoundland.

Sources:

Aircraft files, Coast Guard Historian's Office.

Arthur Pearcy, U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Since 1916 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991), pp.139-140.