Aircraft History
Built by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in San Diego. Deliverd to the United States Navy (USN) as PBY-5 Catalina bureau number unknown (four digits).
Assigned to Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14). No known tail number, nickname or nose art.
Wartime History
On December 7, 1941 this Catalina was moored in Kaneohe Bay (Kāneʻohe Bay). Attacked by the first wave of Japanese aircraft including B5N Kate torpedo bombers that bombed the airfield and facilities, approximately nine minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This Catalina was damaged and afterwards stripped for usable parts then sunk into Kaneohe Bay. The precise identity of this Catalina is unknown.
This aircraft is one of two Catalinas from VP-14 damaged and sunk into Kaneohe Bay. Most likely, this Catalina is either PBY 2364, PBY 2365 or PBY 2369.
Jim Sawruk adds:
"I did some work with this back in the 1990s. It is a VP-14 PBY destroyed during the attack against Kaneohe. There was a long video made at that time. No nameplates were recovered so we have it narrowed down to a few BuNo's but the exact one is unknown. The wreck had been stripped out after sinking and Wendy from the Navy Yard interviewed the officer that was in charge of it. They removed all of the guns and equipment that they could. He was living in Hawaii at the time they did their work. Nearby is the mooring block on the seabed where they would have attached the mooring buoy that the aircraft would have tied up to."
Wreckage
This Catalina remains in situ in Kaneohe Bay laying on a sandy bottom with the hull laying on the starboard side with the nose facing the southeast and the rear of the hull facing northwest. One of the anchors is stowed on the left side of the nose. The tail section is in poor condition and located to the west.
The wreckage is off limits to divers, aside from those with special permission to dive the site. To date, no serial number or bureau number was found n the wreckage, therefore the precise identity of this Catalina is unknown.
During 1994, a ECU dive team surveyed this Catalina including Dr. Hans Van Tilburg and Wendy Coble.
During June 8-19, 2015 this aircraft was surveyed by a team of student divers led by Dr. Hans Van Tilburg from the University of Hawaii conducting a Maritime Survey on behalf of NOAA ONMS.
References
AIIR USN Overseas Aircraft Loss List December 1941 PBY-5 Catalina VP-14 lost December 7, 1941
NOAA "Rare images and video reveal details of U.S. Navy seaplane lost in Pearl Harbor attack" Dec 3, 2015
AP "New images show large seaplane that sank 74 years ago in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor" Dec 5, 2015
Thanks to Jim Sawruk, Wendy Coble and Dr. Hans Van Tilburg for additional information
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Last Updated
November 9, 2019
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