NORTHROP N-3PB 'NO. 330 (NORWEGIAN) SQUADRON RAF

The Northrop N-3PB was an American low-wing float landing gear patrol aircraft. The drive was provided by a single engine Wright GR-1820-G205A 1,200 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1941. 24 copies of this aircraft were produced in the course of serial production. The armament was 6 7.7 mm machine guns and a bomb load of up to 900 kg or a torpedo of this weight. The Northrop N-3PB was built at the American Northrop plant, commissioned by the Norwegian government, which in the late 1930s was looking for a completely new seaplane. Despite the high pace of work, the first prototype flew into the air after the German occupation of Norway (April-June 1940). Therefore, it was decided that all ordered planes would be handed over to the RAF, which in turn would hand them over to Norwegian pilots grouped in 330 Squadron, fighting alongside the British Air Force. The aforementioned squadron was based in Iceland, where, using Northrop N-3PB planes, it performed patrol tasks and guarded the routes of Allied convoys. Later, from 1943, the squadron was rearmed with PBY Catalina machines, and the N-3PB planes began to play the role of training machines.