PBM-3 "Mariner"

This page is about the American bomber PBM-3 "Mariner". For the other version, see PBM-1 "Mariner".

PBM-3 "Mariner"

PBM-3 "Mariner"

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	3.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Bomber

Hydroplane

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Description

The PBM-3 "Mariner" is a premium gift rank II American bomber with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.85 "Supersonic" as part of the Sea Voyage event that ran from 21 February to 11 March 2019.

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 3 962 m349 km/h

Turn time34 s

Max altitude6 200 m

Engine2 х Wright R-2600-12

TypeRadial

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight21 t

Due to the fact that it is a large seaplane, the PBM-3 is not very manoeuvrable and has trouble banking. However, when you get into a high-angle bank, it does turn fairly easily because of its large wings. As for payloads, it doesn't matter which payload you take for flight performance. All of the bombs are contained in the nacelle-mounted bomb bays and won't have a large difference in manoeuvrability.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,962 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	336	325	6200	34.4	35.3	3.5	3.5	585
Upgraded	364	349		33.8	34.0	6.5	4.9

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
405	450	333	324	280	~5	~2

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 220	< 220	< 230	> 312

Survivability and armour

Crew6 people

Speed of destruction

Structural405 km/h

Gear450 km/h

• No armour
• Small fuel tanks in wing roots, rest in bottom of fuselage

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB557

RB3 864

SB1 934

Crew training4 800

Experts32 000

Aces250

Research Aces440 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 60 / 190 / 210 %

2 × 124 / 124 / 124 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Radiator Airframe Compressor Wings repair Engine Cover Engine injection		bmg50_turret_belt_pack Mk 13 Mod 0 bmg50_turret_new_gun MBC-25 LBC-25 AN-Mk 1 LBC-25

Armaments

Suspended armament

List of setups (5)

Setup 112 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bomb

Setup 28 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bomb

Setup 38 x 1000 lb AN-M65A1 bomb

Setup 48 x 1600 lb AN-Mk 1 armor-piercing bomb

Setup 58 x 1000 lbs Type A Mark I aircraft laid magnetic mine

The PBM-3 "Mariner" can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 12 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,200 lb total)
• 8 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (4,000 lb total)
• 8 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (8,000 lb total)
• 8 x 1,600 lb AN-Mk 1 bombs (12,800 lb total)
• 8 x Type A Mark I mines

Defensive armament

Turret12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition400 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

Turret12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition600 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

Turret12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition350 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

2 х Turret12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition375 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

The PBM-3 "Mariner" is defended by:

• 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, nose turret (400 rpg)
• 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, 2 x waist turret (375 rpg = 750 total)
• 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, dorsal turret (600 rpg)
• 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, tail turret (350 rpg)

Usage in battles

In RB, the PBM-3 should be used as a traditional heavy bomber, as with the addition of naval mines, the PBM-3 is capable of ending the game on airfield map as long as its not an uptier.

A single mine is able to destroy a normal base with 2 required for a double HP base, and it takes merely 5 mines to destroy a full HP airfield in a downtier. From the start of the game simply fly around the main fighting, bomb whatever bases still remain after potential allies destroy them, then bomb the airfield for an easy victory. In an uptier however it will take at least two runs to destroy an airfield, but you can still rack up plenty of lions and research by heavily damaging it.

Against enemy aircraft that have seen and are heading towards you, you are generally better off turning to get as many guns on target as possible in order to have the best chance of a kill. Having access to the universal targets belt helps, as most aircraft in this tier have a weakness to fire.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Massive bomb load: can carry 8,000 lbs of bombs (as much as a B-24)
• Access to 8 naval mines
• Mines plus amphibious ability makes it a good aircraft for naval battles
• Unlike most other naval bombers, its bomb bays allow it to drop a single bomb at once.
• Very sturdy, can survive a lot of punishment to the body from heavy machine guns and even light cannons

Cons:

• Big, slow target
• Lacklustre defensive turrets
• Does not have controllable landing gear
• Turns very sluggishly

History

Service experience gained from the twenty-one PBM-1s in USN service found anticipated deficiencies and desires, so Martin went back to the drawing board for a major redesign. The most obvious change was replacing the retractable wing float with a robust fixed mount (possibly due to reliability issues with the retractable design) and eliminating the wing bomb bay for more fuel tanks and enlargement of the nacelle bomb bay. Also changed was the round bubble windows in waist mounts to square openings with doors similar to those of the B-24s. Also added were small vanes above and below the horizontal stabilizer attached to the vertical, a feature unique only to the Mariner. There was also numerous turrets variations, different makes or mounting two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine gun options. To top off the multitude of external changes, more powerful 1,700 hp (1,270 kW) Wright R-2600-12 engines were installed to balance the increased weight. The PBM-3 was the largest and heaviest twin-engine seaplane in production at the time. It was not long before a large radome was added in a prominent structure above the cockpit, reducing performance but benefiting from finding enemy submarines and ships farther away; the result was sinking a number of Japanese and German submarines during their service.

With all the additions and improvements over the previous version, the new Mariners were sent far afield with many successful missions. Production was at full tilt, but the added complexities limited production rate compared to the PBY. The PBM-5 was introduced with more improvements, mainly internal systems, culminating in the PBM-5a with retractable landing gear. In all, 1,366 of the Mariners were built, the second most produced twin-engine seaplane in the history of aircraft right after the venerable PBY.

After WW2, while the USN was rapidly retired all of its non-amphibious PBYs, the seaplane-only Mariners were still soldiering on past the Korean war, and the amphibious PBMs into the early 1960s. Eventually, they were replaced with a major new redesign, the Martin P5M Marlin.

Devblog

In the mid 1930s, the U.S. Navy was eager to replace their outdated flying boats with newer models. In order to do so, the Navy started a competition between aircraft manufacturers, whose winner would receive a production contract with the Navy.

The Martin company submitted the designs on their four-engine Model 160 aircraft, which didn't garner any significant interest from the Navy. However, Martin continued to work on the design, reworking it into a two-engine aircraft, designated Model 162.

This design proved to be a lot more successful, with the Navy quickly ordering for a prototype of the aircraft to be produced. Designated XPBM-1 "Mariner", the prototype conducted its maiden flight in February 1939. Following successful trials, the aircraft was adopted by the USN as early as September 1939 and ordered into production.

In late 1940, Martin received a large order for more flying boats to be manufactured. However, with the company's production capacity being reached, construction of these new machines was delayed. In the meantime, the PBM was further improved by installing new engines, increasing overall size and doubling payload capacity. The new PBM-3 Mariner entered production in 1941, with the first batch of 32 vehicles entering service in 1942.

The Mariners primarily served with the USN as coastal patrol aircraft before the outbreak of WW2. However, after the United States' entry into WW2, Mariners were used in the anti-submarine role in the Atlantic and also took part in operations in the Pacific Theatre.

The PBM-3 Mariner flying boats of the third series served very briefly during WW2, as nearly all PBM-3s from the first series were converted into unarmed transport machines shortly after their construction. Nevertheless, the aircraft proved to be very successful and further models were built in large numbers - in total more than 1360 Mariner vehicles of different modifications. Mariners were also used in small numbers by Great Britain, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and the Netherlands. The last Mariners were phased out of service during the 1960s, being replaced by newer aircraft.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the PBM-3 "Mariner" from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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Videos

PBM-3 "Mariner" - High bombload, Low Performance - Napalmratte

The PBM-3 "Mariner" In Game - TheEuropeanCanadian

See also

Related development

• PBM-1 "Mariner"

External links

• [Devblog] PBM-3 Mariner: The Eye in the Sky
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance
• [Wikipedia] Martin PBM Mariner
• [Air Vectors] The Martin Mariner, Mars, & Marlin Flying Boats - PBM-3 Mariner series

Glenn L. Martin Company
Attackers	AM-1
Bombers	B-10B · B-26B · PBM-1 · PBM-3 · PBM-5A
Jet bombers	B-57A* · B-57B*
Export	Martin 139WC · Martin 167-A3 · B-26C
	* These aircraft were license-built from The English Electric Company Limited who developed and built the British English Electric Canberra.