Designed in the 1930s, this military seaplane saw the light of day in October 1936. After 3,500 units built, it remains the most widely used seaplane in aeronautical history. Technically outdated by 1944, but robust and versatile. It earned an enviable reputation on all fronts. It was the hero of many exploits and saved many lives... Forty years later, it was still with the South American Air Force.
Specifications:
31m wingspan; 19m length; maximum speed: 315 km/h; weight 15T; engines Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 - 14-cylinder double star 1,200 hp; fuel 7,900l; armament: 2 - 7.62mm and 2 - 12.7mm; crew: 8 to 9 men.
On the Strait of Tiran, at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, at the bottom of a lagoon protected by the Cape of Humayd, in Saudi Arabia, still existed the wreck of a "Catalina" seaplane. The story was that journalists had chartered this aircraft to cover the battle of Sinai during the Suez crisis in October 1956. The seaplane was machine-gunned by Egyptian troops and had to flee to the east of the Gulf of Aqaba, where it was forced to land. There is no trace of this incident anywhere. It would be nice to know who these journalists were, and where they had come back from - Aqaba, Tabuk or Al Wadj. Another version (warbirdregistry.org) is that the seaplane had been machine-gunned in 1960 by Bedouins; this version seems unlikely, as the local Bedouins in 1966 were armed only with old rifles, not machine guns or even Kalashnikovs; the 300 shots recorded on the wreckage would have represented a fortune for them. And in 1966, there was no trace of armed forces anywhere on the Saudi coast between Jeddah and Akaba. There's a little historical puzzle to be solved here...
(In the spring of 1960, Mr. Kendall took a trip around the world with his wife and children and his secretary and son. A photographer joined the group to cover part of the trip for Life magazine.
On March 22, 1960, they landed in the Straits of Tirana and anchored the plane a short distance from shore to spend the night. They heard someone shouting, but didn't pay the slightest attention.
In the afternoon of the following day, they were attacked with machine guns and automatic weapons on a nearby promontory. The children were able to swim back to the plane. Mr. Kendal and his secretary were wounded trying to start the Catalina, but managed to move it about 800 meters, unfortunately, it ran aground on a coral reef.
The shooting lasted 30 to 40 minutes and no fewer than 300 bullets hit the plane. The fuel tanks were punctured and 4,000 liters of fuel escaped from the holes, but miraculously the plane didn't catch fire. The sea was only a meter and a half deep, and everyone on board managed to get out of the plane and reach the shore.
On the beach, they were captured by a group of Bedouins attached to the Saudi army, who had mistaken them for Israeli commandos. They were eventually taken prisoner in Jeddah, interrogated and finally released with the help of the American ambassador. The ambassador protested to the Saudi government, but they refused to accept any responsibility for the attack and the loss of the plane...)
