Consolidated
PB4Y
Privateer
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Photo: Robert Deering 1986
National Museum of Naval Aviation
Pensacola, Florida
At the beginning of World War II, the Army Air Forces and Navy operated under the terms of a 1931 agreement between Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William Pratt and Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur with respect to operating land-based aircraft to protect the American coastline. Thus, operational naval aircraft focused more on operations with the fleet while the Army Air Forces developed a fleet of long-range bombers. As the war progressed, the British Royal Air Force successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of land-based multi-engine bombers against German U-boats and surface ships. Thus, in July 1942 the Navy requested that a percentage of the B-24 Liberator bombers destined for missions over Germany be allocated for use in antisubmarine warfare, a mission the Army Air Forces eventually relinquished. A deal was struck and the first B-24s, which in Navy parlance were called PB4Y-1 Liberators, entered service with Patrol Squadron (VP) 51 in October 1942. They not only proved valuable in the Atlantic Theater, but also made their mark in the Pacific flying low-level bombing missions against Japanese shipping and shore installations and serving as the platform for photographic squadrons. All told, total of 997 PB4Y-1s were produced for the Navy.

The emphasis on low-level operations prompted the Navy to begin work on modifications to the PB4Y-1 beginning in 1943. Featuring a longer fuselage, large single tail, and turbo super-charged engines that performed better at low-altitude, the resulting PB4Y-2 was nicknamed the Privateer and the first of 736 production aircraft entered service with Bombing Squadron (VB) 200 in August 1944. By the time of the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945, eleven squadrons operated the type, their missions ranging across the Central Pacific into Southeast Asia and eventually to the Japanese Home Islands. Typically, Privateers attacked enemy shipping at masthead level, their turret gunners strafing the decks while the pilots released the aircraft's ordnance load. In addition, one squadron, Patrol Bombing Squadron (VPB) 109, was the selected to be the first to carry the Mark 9 Bat, a guided weapon that sought out its target using a built-in radar system.

Versions of the PB4Y remained in operation for nearly a decade following World War II, equipping patrol and weather reconnaissance squadrons and serving as an air-sea rescue platform for the U.S. Coast Guard. Their service included combat missions in Korea, where Patrol Squadron (VP) 772, the first Naval Air Reserve squadron to fly combat missions in the Korean War, perfected the use of Privateers in dropping flares over the front lines to assist Marine attack aircraft in supporting operations on the ground. The aircraft also flew shipping surveillance missions over the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, with aircraft from Patrol Squadron (VP) 28 attacked on two occasions by Chinese MiG-15 jets. Privateers also saw combat on other fronts during the Cold War, with Soviet aircraft downing a Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 aircraft over the Baltic Sea in 1950. The last operational Privateers operated with the Navy as drone aircraft.

SPECIFICATIONS: PERFORMANCE:
Span:  110 ft Maximum speed:  237 M.P.H. at 13,750 ft.
Length:  74 ft., 7 in. Cruising speed: 
Height:  30 ft., 1 in. Range:  2,800 miles
Empty Weight:  37,485 lb. Service ceiling:  20,700 ft.
Gross Weight:  65,000 lb.  
Crew:  Two pilots and nine crewmen
Engines:  Four 1,350 HP Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94 engines
Armament:  Twelve .50-in. flexible machine guns in turrets and up to 1,600 lb. of bombs
   
SOURCE:   National Museum of Naval Aviation  
VARIANTS:
 
B-24
Liberator