Although designed in the mid-1930s and in squadron service several
years prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the PBY Catalina proved its
soundness in combat throughout the four years that the World War 2
raged across the Pacific. Deadly in its primary role as a submarine
hunter, the PBY was the scourge of the Imperial Japanese Navy's
submarine force. Its amphibious traits also made the aircraft well
suited to air-sea rescue, and thousands of Allied airmen were saved
from a watery grave by PBY crews. Using personal interviews, war
diaries and combat reports combined with original Japanese records
and books, Louis B Dorny provides a view on the role of the
Catalina from both sides of the war. Illustrated with over 80
photographs and color profiles detailing aircraft markings, this is
the definitive history of and insight into the PBY's use by the
US Navy and Allied forces in the Pacific during World War 2.
"Osprey has now published two books covering both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. "Units of the Atlantic War "has 32 color plane drawings, "Units of the Pacific War "has 31 ... The combat history of the PBY Catalina in every theater of the war is more interesting than one would consider. The PBY books revealed information that I had not considered about the valuable contribution these planes made toward defeating Germany and Japan." -Michael Koznarsky, "Historical Miniature Gamer "(Issue 10) "The PBY has been described in many books, but this title fills a niche with detailed descriptions of Catalina unit and individual actions throughout the Pacific War."- Louis B. Dorney, "International Plastic Modellers Society" (August 2008) "Besides providing a history of the development of seagoing aircraft, the author describes many of the combat actions in which the PBYs were involve, and the wealth of photos and color illustrations depict the unit markings and other features i
