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Under
water at Renton, Washington
The
Martin PBM Mariner was a patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and
the early Cold War period. It was designed to complement the PBY
Catalina in service. 1,366 were built, with the first example flying on
February 18, 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940. HISTORY
Here
you can see there was a big crew inside her hull. See her FLYING
The
designation PBM-5 appeared as the final version of the XPBM-1
Mariner.
The PBM-5 model sported improved defensive armament (no fewer than 8
heavy
caliber machine guns) Pratt & Whitney radials and AN/APS-15 series
search radar. She was a twin
engine flying boat with a high-mounted monoplane gull wing, twin tail
rudders, retractable
stabilizing floats and a deep hull-like fuselage. SOURCE A
crew of 7 to 9 men operated the ship. Armament generally positioned at
the bow, tail and dorsal positions with
an additional 2 machine guns at the beam (waist) positions
firing through hatches. The bombload was a respectable 8,000 pounds. 1,717 were produced covering various models for use by
American and British forces. Classification
Type: Maritime Reconnaissance Flying
Boat Contractor: Martin
Company - US
Length: 79.82ft Width:118.01ft Height: 27.49ft Max Speed: 211mph Max Range: 2,240miles Rate-of-Climb:452ft/min Service Ceiling: 19,800ft (3.7miles) |
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 The
Navy made an attempt to pick the plane up by its tail. The PBM was far
too
weak to be lifted in this manner and broke apart. The detached section
was brought to the
surface and loaded on a barge. After this incident the Navy again
abandoned the project.
The location or condition of the tail section is unclear.
View: NAVY REPORT See a larger Plane by Martin - the Water Bomber |
If
an aerial photo were taken when the PBM-5 sank, it would have looked
something like the image at left.
The
PBM-5 currently rests in approximately 80 feet of water
and 6 feet of silt near the south end of the lake. The Cedar River
enters the lake nearby
bringing a large volume of silt each fall and spring. Over the past few
decades the PBM-5 has
been slowly covered. Only the occasional Navy salvage attempts keep the
plane from being
completely covered.
Twice the Navy has attempted to salvage this aircraft and both times personnel were injured in the attempt. The first attempt in 1990 cleared much of the silt from around the aircraft. the image below displays what had been dug out.  When the PBM was being moved from the naval station at Sand Point to a storage hanger at the south end of the lake to be mothballed, The plane landed safely but missed a tie-up buoy while taxiing to shore. Unable to turn around, the plane ran over a small pier damaging the flotation pontoon on the starboard wing. With uneven flotation the plane turned on its side. By the time the PBM hit the bottom it had completely flipped and came to rest in an inverted position.  |
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