👋 Hey friends! In this video, we are featuring the Catalina flying boats based in Ireland in World War 2 and the secret overfly deal between the neutral Irish Republic and Britain.

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The Catalina flying boat, that distinctive large vintage aircraft with a fuselage in the shape of a boat, had a hugely important role in World War 2 (WW2). Ireland was major hub for its operations keeping the Allied navy and cargo boats safe as they crossed the Atlantic. What prompted the story on Ireland Made today was a near 80 year old plane we saw gracefully flying across the sky at the Bray Air Spectacular.

Right from the start of WW2 Lough Erne, became an important Royal Air force (RAF) flying boat base for Coastal Command due its close proximity to the Atlantic, just about 30 miles away. Unfortunately those 30 miles lay across County Donegal a part of neutral Eire, the present day Republic of Ireland. However a secret deal was struck between Britain and the Irish Republic that allowed the aircraft to overfly Donegal along a narrow corridor to reach the Atlantic. This concession gave the Catalina's an extra 100 miles range, which was crucial to the protection of the Atlantic convoys. Also in the secret agreement a British rescue boat, the Robert Hastie, was stationed in Killybegs, Donegal.

Ireland was not the only country that had to compromise it’s neutrality to aid the War effort. When the flying boats arrived from the US, America was still neutral and to make matters more difficulty for President Roosevelt the Catalinas arrived with supporting US Navy aviation support staff. To send American military personnel directly into the combat risked an international incident, and if discovered would give ammunition to Roosevelt's enemies at home. "If Congress finds out", Roosevelt told the Navy fliers, "I will be impeached."

Lower Lough Erne was the most westerly flying-boat base in the UK. Opened in February 1941, its HQ was at Castle Archdale with a training base at Killadeas and a control tower, station headquarters, hangars, flying-boat pens, a slipway, workshops and a machine-gun range. There were 108 flying-boat moorings offshore as well as 40 boat moorings.

One of the most notable successes of the Lough Erne Catalinas was linked to the German battleship The Bismarck. An entry in the Castle Archdale log for 27 May 1941 reads: ‘German battleship sunk at 11.00 hours. Aircraft of 209 and 240 squadrons operating from this station were responsible’.

The Consolidated PBY Catalina (PBY-5/PBY-5A) or Catalina flying boat specification:
1. Engines - two 1200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine
2. Cruising speed – 201 kph (12 4mph), maximum 288 kph (179 mph)
3. Range – 4,030 km (2,520 miles), could remain airborne for up to 28 hours
4. Service Ceiling – 4,815 m (15,800 ft)
5. Wing-span – 31.6 meters (104ft)
6, Length – 20 meters (65ft)
7. Accommodates - nine-seater
8. Armament - five machine-guns and 4500lb of bombs, depth charges, mines or torpedoes

There were numerous incidents where Catalina’s went off course and landed outside the Donegal corridor into areas of the neutral Republic. There were approximately 162 wartime incidents involving various Allied aircraft crashes or forced landings in southern Ireland.

The Catalinas flew in parallel with Belfast built Short Sunderland MKIII flying boats. We will focus on these in a future story.

The last operational patrol from Castle Archdale was on 3 June 1945 andthe base closed on 18 August. Many of the Catalinas were scrapped, but some were scuttled on the lake in 1947. Another great story of The Second World War in Northern Ireland Any sub-aqua divers want to explore Lough Erne Branch - IWAI?

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Sources of information:
1. Caledonww2.com
2. Historyireland.com
2. Independent.ie
3. Irelandseye.com
4. Irishwaterwayshistory.com
5. Iwm.org.uk
6. Pbycatalina.com
7. Seawings.co.uk
8. The Second World War in Northern Ireland Facebook page
9. Ww2irishaviation.com

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