Two years previously, Qantas pilots had been given the task of ferrying 18 new PBY Catalina flying boats to Australia for use by the RAAF. Differing greatly to the C Class Empire flying boat, the Catalinas had been specially designed as a patrol bomber for the US Navy. Arguably the most successful flying boat ever built, Catalinas were unbelievably versatile and seemingly indestructible. With a range of 5000 kilometers (over 3000 miles), it was inevitable that they would one day wind up in use in Australia.
The first Catalina to make its presence felt in Australia was in 1939. Chartered by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, the aircraft was used by the famous Captain P G Taylor to survey an alternative air route from Sydney to Britain, in the event that the empire route from Sydney via Singapore should ever be severed. His journey took him from Port Hedland in Western Australia to Mombassa in Kenya via Batavia, Cocos Island, Diego Garcia and the Seychelles.
Although Capt. Taylor gained distinction for having pioneered this and many other international air routes (he also used a Catalina, the ‘Frigate Bird’, to fly across the Pacific from Sydney Australia to South America in 1951), he may be best remembered for his efforts in walking on the struts of Charles Kingsford Smith’s aircraft, ‘The Sydney’ in mid-flight to gather oil from one engine and transfer it to the other. This Herculean effort did not go unnoticed by the designers at Boeing (manufacturers of the stately China Clippers, and America’s answer to the Empire Class flying boat). These large aircraft actually contained small tunnels inside each wing, through which an unlucky engineer could crawl, in the event that some form of in-flight maintenance was necessary.
Having proved itself in peacetime operations, the Catalina heralded a remarkable chapter in Australian aviation history. Again at the urging of the British government (without whom the pre-war flying boat service would never have happened), the RAF supplied Qantas with five Catalina aircraft, if Qantas agreed to open a flying route from Perth to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). It was to be the world’s longest regular non-stop service – a total distance of 5632km (3520 miles). To enable a flight over such a long distance, the aircraft were stripped of all unnecessary weight, including almost all creature comforts, save for seats, a small basket of food and a thermos. Airmail was carried on microfilm, thereby reducing a load of several tons to a parcel of around 60 pounds, and only three passengers were allowed. To further complicate matters, these missions were flown in complete radio silence across enemy-patrolled waters. This also meant that pilots had to navigate by dead reckoning, using only a map, a compass and the stars to find their way.
On 10th July 1943, the first service departed from Koggala Lake in the south of Ceylon bound for Perth, where it would land on the Swan River. This was the first of 271 flights that took place between 1943 and 1945, all without incident. Depending on the prevailing conditions, a typical flight lasted anywhere from 27 to 32 hours. Because of the length of the flights, passengers witnessed the sunrise twice while airborne. At the end of each journey, passengers were awarded a certificate admitting them to the ‘Secret Order of the Double Sunrise’.
The famous Catalina flying boat that were used to undertake these missions were also distinguished in other theatres of war. The Black Cats, as they were dubbed because of their matte black paint, used to patrol the oceans searching for enemy shipping.
Just before dusk on the 4th of April 1942, a lone Catalina sighted a large Japanese fleet (the same carrier fleet that attacked Pearl Harbour four months earlier, with six aircraft carriers and 300 aircraft) 640km (400 miles) south of Ceylon. The fleet was sailing to attack the headquarters of the newly established British Far Eastern Fleet. The radio operator onboard the Catalina managed to transmit the location of the fleet shortly before the aircraft was shot down by six Japanese Zeros from the carrier Hiryu in high pursuit. However, allied forces on the island had been alerted to the enemy’s presence and managed to prepare somewhat for the ensuing Battle of Ceylon, which commenced Easter Sunday 5th April. The heroic actions of the crew of that Catalina remain as part of the island nation’s folklore.
The years immediately following the World War II brought with them something of a dilemma for Australian aviation officials. The flying boat that had served them so well were now obsolete. Advances in the field of aviation, such as pressurised aircraft that fly much higher and faster than their pre-war counterparts, coupled with a large increase in the number of land-based facilities, combined to make flying boats redundant. The British built three large flying boats after the war but only one ever flew (just a few times) before all three were mothballed and eventually scrapped.
Although they were luxurious, a journey from Australia to England by seaplane took over five days. A converted Lancaster bomber on the other hand, could make the journey in a little over 60 hours (although providing much fewer passenger comforts along the way). Until suitable civilian aircraft became available, the post-war answer was to use a combination of Hythe flying boat and Lancastrian aircraft. Passengers could either choose to travel quickly in cramped quarters on a land-based aircraft; or, comfortably in a slower flying boat.
Yet the hardy Catalina remained, being used in remote places or for applications such as firefighting, where the ability to land on either land or water presented an obvious advantage. In one bold post-war experiment, the RAAF were to attach crude rockets to the fuselage of a number of Catalinas to assist in providing greater power on take-off. Trans-Australia Airlines and Ansett widely used Catalinas in domestic aviation, especially in northern Australia, until the early 1960s, when these services were gradually replaced with newer, purpose-built land-based aircraft.
Flying boats were to remain a feature of domestic aviation in Australia, until the mid-70s, when the last flying boat service to Lord Howe Island was finally removed. The flying boats had, by that stage, become too old to keep in regular service. No new models being available, an all-weather airstrip was constructed on land.
By the 1970s the terminal at Rose Bay was being used for a different purpose - tourism, charter flights and other special duties became its mainstay with the last of the gracious flying boats departing in 1977.
Sources: Warwick Abadee
Qantas Airways Archives Department (Ted Malmgren)
The Royal Air Force
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