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American patrol bomber flying boat

The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin engine American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with the first example flying on February 18, 1939, and the type entering service in September 1940, with the last of the type being retired in 1964. A Mariner, otherwise noted for its WW2 and post War service, was the type that vanished searching for Flight 19. Flight 19 vanished in the Bermuda Triangle, it and the Mariner that searched for it were never found with its 14 crew, though it was thought to have suffered a mid air explosion. Another noted crash was the 1946 Antarctica PBM Mariner crash in December 1946.

In 1937 the Glenn L. Martin Company designed a new twin engined flying boat, the Model 162, to succeed its earlier Martin P3M and complement the PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado. It received an order for a single prototype XPBM 1 on 30 June 1937. To test the PBM's layout, Martin built a 3/8 scale flying model, the Martin 162A Tadpole Clipper with a crew of one and powered by a single Chevrolet engine driving two airscrews via v belts; this was flown in December 1937. This was followed by an initial production order for 21 PBM 1 aircraft on December 28, 1937. The first genuine PBM, the XPBM 1, flew on 18 February 1939.

United States Navy PBM 5A (Bureau Number (BuNo) 122071) is the only surviving Mariner. It is on loan from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C., and is currently on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Operated by the USN between 1948 and 1956, it is painted in the markings of Transport Squadron 21 (VR 21) and coded RZ 051 of the early 1950s. The Model 162A (registered NX19168), the piloted ⅜ scale test aircraft, is on display at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

On June 16, 1944, a U. S. Navy PBM 5 exploded and crashed in San Francisco Bay, California, killing the pilot, Lieutenant William Hess, and eight other Navy crewmen. On 30 November 1944, a U. S. Navy PBM 5 crashed into Mount Tamalpais in northern California, killing eight naval aviators and naval aircrewmen. The aircraft had taken off from Naval Air Station Alameda and was part of a larger flight headed for Hawaii when it developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff. On 5 December 1945, United States Navy PBM 5 (BuNo 59225), based at Naval Air Station Banana River, Florida was believed to have been destroyed in a mid air explosion off the coast of Florida near The Bahamas, while searching for the missing TBM Avengers of Flight 19 from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On 30 December 1946, a U. S. Navy PBM 5 crashed on Thurston Island, Antarctica, while supporting Operation Highjump. On 10 September 1958, Mariner P 303 was being ferried to the Netherlands from Biak, Indonesia. Due to technical problems, a forced landing was carried out at Abadan, Iran. About two weeks later, repairs had been accomplished, and the aircraft took off. Shortly after takeoff, an oil leak was observed on engine number one. While on final approach for landing at Abadan airport, the aircraft suddenly lost height and crashed, killing all aboard. It appeared that the remaining propeller reversed thrust, causing the crew to lose control. On 9 November 1958, a PBM 5 Mariner (CS THB, named "Porto Santo") of the Portuguese airline ARTOP (Aero Topográfica) piloted by Harry Frank Broadbent and co piloted by Thomas Rowell, carrying four other crew and 30 passengers, disappeared on a scheduled passenger flight from Cabo Ruivo, Lisbon, Portugal to Funchal, Madeira. The last communication from the aircraft (when it was about 13°W) was a radio message code "QUG", meaning "I am forced to land immediately". No trace has ever been found of the aircraft, nor its six crew or 30 passengers.