While other types of planes were under consideration at the beginning of the war, the airplanes just discussed were the ones that bore the brunt of the fighting in the early months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Their work in the hands of gallant Navy airmen in the heartbreaking first year of our struggle against terrific odds in the Pacific would in itself furnish material for a book many times the size of this one. [Illustration: TWO FAMOUS DOUGLAS NAVY AIRPLANES SBD _DAUNTLESS_ DIVE BOMBER TBD _DEVASTATOR_ TORPEDO PLANE] THE U. S. NAVY’S FIRST LONG-RANGE FLYING BOATS In the early twenties the memories of the famous transatlantic flight of the NC flying boats persisted in the minds of naval aviators. Much of the Navy’s interest was centered in the Pacific, and the vision of flying boats that could quickly link Hawaii to the mainland was an enticing one. On a trial flight from San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1925, Commander John Rogers, flying a Navy patrol plane, was forced down after twenty-five hours in the air. He was within four hundred miles of Hawaii when he landed on the sea. After drifting for nine days, Rogers was picked up by a submarine. Although the flight had failed, it had established a seaplane record of over 1,800 miles, and the trail was blazed. It was the development of the famous Consolidated PBY flying boats that eventually put our West Coast within twenty-four hours’ flying distance of Hawaii. You will remember the Army officer who had charge of our first air mail service back in 1918--Major Reuben H. Fleet. Major Fleet resigned from the service in 1922 and in the year following organized the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. His firm manufactured many types of airplanes, including the Army’s PB-2A fighter and the 0-19 observation plane. In 1928 Consolidated built the XBY-1, a flying boat with a wingspan of 100 feet. This was the first Consolidated flying boat purchased by the United States Navy. Following this came the big thirty-two-place Consolidated _Commodore_ flying boat. The _Commodore_ led to the development of the P2Y type of flying boat. This was a two-engined plane with a wingspan of 100 feet and a length of 62 feet. This was the plane which was to lead to the world-famous PBY _Catalina_ flying boats. In January, 1934, six P2Y’s in the service of the United States Navy made the first successful mass flight from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a distance of 2,414 miles. [Illustration: 1934-1945 WINGSPAN 104 FEET LENGTH 65 FEET THE _CATILINA_ WAS THE FIRST LONG-RANGE FLYING BOAT TO BE BUILT IN QUANTITY FOR THE U.S. NAVY. POWER TWO 9-CYLINDER RADIAL ENGINES THE FIRST MODELS WERE POWERED WITH 600-HP. ENGINES, LATER THEIR POWER WAS INCREASED TO 1050 HP. SPEED ONE HOUR 198 MILES RANGE 2,000+ MILES THE _CATALINA_, WITH A RANGE OF OVER 2,000 MILES, GAVE THE NAVY A LONG-RANGE PATROL BOAT CAPABLE OF CONNECTING OUR MAINLAND WITH THE CANAL ZONE, HAWAII, AND ALASKA.