Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina BuNo 2419 was flown by Ensign William Tanner of VP-14 on 7 December 1941. Tanner had been warned “to be alert during this period of great tension”. A few hours before the Japanese air raid, Tanner spotted a Japanese midget submarine trying to penetrate the harbor and destroyed it with the assistance…Continue reading Ens. William Tanner’s PBY-5 during the Pearl Harbor attack

This PBY-5A Catalina of VP-44 was flown by Ensign Jack Reid and his crew when the spotted the Japanese invasion fleet some 700 nautical miles west of Midway on 3 June 1942. This profile was created for Historia magazine’s special issue on great historical battles.