Restoring the American Heritage Museum’s PBY-5A Catalina That Sank 3 U-Boats

During World War II, the PBY Catalina became one of the Allies’ most important long-range patrol aircraft—hunting enemy submarines, protecting convoys, and rescuing downed airmen. But few surviving Catalinas have a story as remarkable as PBY-5A BuNo. 2459. Accepted by the U.S. Navy just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, BuNo. 2459 was among the first PBY-5A amphibians ever built. It was soon deployed to Iceland for combat operations over the North Atlantic, where it became the first PB...