Martin P5M Marlin
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The Martin P5M Marlin (P-5 Marlin after 1962), built by the Glenn L. Martin Company of Middle River, Maryland, is a twin piston-engined flying boat that entered service in 1951, and served into the late 1960s with the United States Navy performing naval patrols. It also served with the United States Coast Guard and the French Navy, with 285 being produced.
DevelopmentEdit
Built as a successor to the PBM Mariner, it had better engines, an improved hull, and a single vertical fin tail. The XP5M Marlin prototypes were based on the last PBM-5 Mariners, the company designation being Model 237. The type was heavily improved, again leading to the P5M-2 (Model 237B), which was redesignated SP-5B. A number of P5M-1 models were also used for training, designated TP-5A (after 1962).
DesignEdit
The Marlin was designed as a gull-winged aircraft to place the engines and propellers high above the spray. Power was provided by two Wright R-3350 radial engines. The rear hull did not lift sharply from the water at the tail, instead rising up steadily, a Martin innovation; this gave the aircraft a longer base of flotation and reduced "porpoising" over waves.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The prototype XP5M-1 had nose and tail turrets with twin Template:Convert cannon in each, as well as a dorsal turret with two 0.5 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns. The cockpit area was the same as the Mariner's. It first flew on 30 May 1948.<ref name="Swan Navy p323">Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.323.</ref>
The first of 167 production P5M-1 aircraft was produced in 1951, flying on 22 June 1951.<ref name="Swan Navy p323"/> Changes from the prototype included a raised flight deck for improved visibility, the replacement of the nose turret with a large radome for the AN/APS-44 search radar, the deletion of the dorsal turret, and new, streamlined wing floats. The engine nacelles were lengthened to provide room for weapons bays in the rear.
The P5M-1 was followed by 116 P5M-2 planes. These had a T-tail to put the tail surfaces out of the spray, an AN/ASQ-8 MAD boom at the rear of the tail-tip, no tail guns (the gun position replaced by the antenna for the AN/APN-122 Doppler Navigation Set), better crew accommodation, and an improved bow to reduce spray during takeoff and landing.
Operational historyEdit
Edit
The last flying boat operations of the United States Navy were Operation Market Time patrols by Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40) during the Vietnam War.<ref name="NW&N">An Illustrated Guide to The Air War Over Vietnam by Nalty, Bernard C., Watson, George M., and Neufeld, Jacob: Arco Publishing (1981) pp.106–107.</ref> Maritime surveillance patrols began in February 1965 to locate small craft transporting supplies from North Vietnam to Viet Cong units in South Vietnam.<ref name="M&P">The Naval Air War in Vietnam by Mersky, Peter B, and Polmar, Norman: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America (1981) p.30.</ref> VP-40 operated from seaplane tenders and patrolled off the Mekong Delta between Phú Quốc and Vung Tau.<ref name="Bonds">The Vietnam War by Bonds, Ray: Salamander Books (1979) p.132.</ref>
VP-40 carried out the final U.S. Navy Marlin flight, which landed on San Diego Bay in California on 6 November 1967.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The last U.S. Navy P5M, redesignated an SP-5B in 1962, was flown to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, on 12 July 1968 for interim storage pending construction of a display area for it at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a display area at the Smithsonian did not materialize, the aircraft later was moved to the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida,<ref name="Proceedings">Flecknoe, Harold J. "Progress". United States Naval Institute Proceedings, October 1968.</ref> where it is was on display as of 2010.
U.S. Coast GuardEdit
Seven P5M-1Gs and four P5M-2Gs were built for the United States Coast Guard for air-sea rescue service, but the Coast Guard found the planes difficult to maintain and surplus to requirements. They were subsequently transferred to the U.S. Navy, which redesignated them TP-5As and used them as training aircraft because they had no provision for armament.
Edit
The French Navy took delivery of ten former U.S. Navy Marlins between 1957 and 1959 to replace Short Sunderlands in maritime patrol service. They were based at Dakar, Senegal, in West Africa. They were returned to the U.S. Navy in 1964.
VariantsEdit
Company designationsEdit
- M-237
- Company designation for P5M-1
- M-237B
- Company designation for P5M-2
- M-270
- XP5M-1 prototype converted with a revised hull.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- M-290
- Company designation for P5M-3 which was completely revised into the unbuilt four-engine P7M SubMaster
Pre-1962 designationsEdit
- XP5M-1
- Prototype converted from a PBM Mariner with modified hull and tail.<ref name="Andrade207">Andrade 1979 p207</ref>
- P5M-1
- Production model for the United States Navy, 160 built, later redesignated P-5A.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-1G
- Modified P5M-1 for the United States Coast Guard, seven conversions, later returned to the Navy as P5M-1T.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-1S
- Modified P5M-1 with upgraded electronic and anti-submarine equipment, eighty conversions, later redesignated SP-5A.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-1T
- Seven former USCG P5M-1Gs returned to Navy as crew trainers and one former P5M-1, later redesignated TP-5A.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-2
- Updated model, 108 built for the U.S. Navy and 12 built for the French Navy. The P5M-2 featured a T-tail in lieu of the low mounted horizontal stabilizer used on the P5M-1s. United States aircraft were later redesignated P-5B.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-2S
- Most P5M-2s were modified with upgraded electronic and anti-submarine equipment, later redesignated SP-5B.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-2G
- Four P5M-2s built for the USCG, later transferred to U.S. Navy as P5M-2s.<ref name="Andrade207"/>
- P5M-3
- Completely revised as four-engine M-313 P7M-1 SubMaster. Mockup built in 1956 but lost to Lockheed P-3 Orion.
Post-1962 designationsEdit
- P-5A
- P5M-1 redesignated in 1962.<ref name="Andrade157">Andrade 1979 p157</ref>
- SP-5A
- P5M-1S redesignated in 1962.<ref name="Andrade157"/>
- TP-5A
- P5M-1T redesignated in 1962.<ref name="Andrade157"/>
- P-5B
- P5M-2 redesignated in 1962.<ref name="Andrade157"/>
- SP-5B
- P5M-2S redesignated in 1962.<ref name="Andrade157"/>
OperatorsEdit
- Template:Flagicon France
- Template:Flagicon United States
Surviving aircraftEdit
One SP-5B is located at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. This aircraft, BuNo 135533, is believed to be the last remaining example of the Marlin. It is now displayed inside the new hangar (as of the spring of 2010) and much of the exterior has been restored. The restoration is being financed by the museum and the Mariner/Marlin Association.<ref>"P5M Marlin/135533." Template:Webarchive National Naval Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 21 February 2015.</ref>
Specifications (P5M-2)Edit
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Andrade, John, U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909, Midland Counties Publications, 1979, Template:ISBN.
- Barth, Bruce D., "The Martin P5M 'Marlin'". Pacific Aero Press, 1994.
- Roberts, Michael D. Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons: Volume 2 The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL) and VP(AM) Squadrons. Washington DC: Naval Historical Centre, 2000.
- Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. London:Putnam, Second edition 1976. Template:ISBN.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2420
External linksEdit
Template:Martin aircraft Template:USN patrol aircraft Template:US patrol aircraft Template:US Navy experimental aircraft