Martin PBM Mariner

The Martin PBM Mariner was a twin-engine patrol flying boat built by the Glenn L. Martin Company and one of the U.S. Navy's most important maritime patrol aircraft of World War II. First flown in 1939 and entering service in 1941, the Mariner featured a distinctive gull wing and twin tail. It flew long-range ocean patrols, hunting submarines, escorting convoys, and conducting search-and-rescue missions across the Atlantic and Pacific.

Mariners are credited with sinking a number of German U-boats and rescuing downed aircrew. More than 1,300 were built, and the type continued in Navy and Coast Guard service after the war until the mid-1950s, when it was gradually replaced by the larger Martin P5M Marlin.