In the 1930’s the US Navy had vast distances to cover and re-supply. They had a big base in Hawaii and the Philippines was a US colony with a very large naval base at Subic Bay. The specification was for a very long range patrol bomber that could function as a supply carrier and carry out air-sea rescue duties. The navy had commissioned several flying boat designs preferring them to land based aircraft which needed runways and maintenance.
On its maiden flight in 1936 the first prototype covered 3,443 miles non-stop, a world record at the time.
The design was very, very successful and manufacture was licensed to Vickers Canada and Boeing Canada as well as local manufacturers Martin and Douglas.
The aircraft was adopted and put into service by every allied nation that had an air force. They were used by the RAF which gave it the name “Catalina” in 1941 after Santa Catalina Island in California. The US method of aircraft identification was to use the code designation, in this case PBY. The British method was to attribute names and Catalina became the norm then reduced simply to CAT. An article about Cats at war.
https://patriotrealm.com/index.....php/3512-our-girl-t
