Darwin Catalinas

Darwin Catalinas

By ScubaDownUnder Team · 2026-07-14

Six Catalina flying boat wrecks have been located in the Northern Territory, and all six were lost in East Arm, Darwin Harbour. Only three of them come from the Japanese raid of 19 February 1942: the other three are Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Catalinas lost in accidents in 1945. Some older accounts describe four raid aircraft scattered across the inner harbour as Darwin's easiest wreck dive. The Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (AUCHD) does not support that picture, and one of the three raid aircraft lies in closed waters.

## The raid Catalinas

Catalinas 4, 5 and 6, as AUCHD numbers them, belonged to the US Navy's Patrol Wing 10, whose presence in Darwin, AUCHD says, reflected the retreat of Allied forces before the Japanese advance. They were aircraft 4, 8 and 41 of the wing: two PBY-4s and one PBY-5, a 28-5MNE model that had come from the Netherlands East Indies naval air service. All three were at anchor in East Arm, undergoing mechanical maintenance, when Japanese aircraft strafed and sank them at about 10 am. AUCHD records no deaths on Catalinas 5 and 6.

Only a limited number of PBY-4s were built, so AUCHD rates two of the three as rare examples of their type. On each the tail section has gone and the engineering compartment has collapsed, but the wrecks are intact enough to show the main features of the Catalina's design.

## The 1945 Catalinas

The other three are RAAF aircraft. A24-206, "Catalina 3", sank at her mooring on 20 June 1945 when a depth charge fell into the water and exploded while she was being loaded for a mission, killing two men; she lies in about 5 metres, with a wing section some distance from the hull. A24-1, "Catalina 1", the first of more than 250 Catalinas the RAAF operated, crashed on take-off at the Elizabeth River, East Arm, on 30 August 1945, setting out to bring prisoners of war home from Singapore; AUCHD says her wreck was later towed to shore. A24-69, "Catalina 2", caught fire at her mooring on 14 December 1945.

## Diving them

Catalina 4 lies in 14 metres; AUCHD publishes no depth for Catalinas 5 and 6. Catalina 6 is one of only two sites in Darwin Harbour under a regional harbourmaster's closed-waters order, and the NT Government says it cannot be entered without permission from the NT Heritage Branch.

No dive operator advertises the Catalinas by name. 50 Great Dives lists the Catalina flying boats among the other dives in the Darwin area, and Dive Darwin, which runs guided harbour wreck tours, does not say which wrecks it visits. If you want the Catalinas, ask Dive Darwin before you book.

## Conditions

Port Darwin's tides reach a maximum range of 7.8 metres, with a mean spring range of 5.5 metres and a mean neap range of 1.9 metres, and the currents they drive are complex and strong. No visibility figures are published for East Arm's wrecks; on the Mauna Loa in the main harbour, the NT Heritage Branch says visibility rarely exceeds two to three metres even on a well-planned day.

Box jellyfish are most likely in NT waters from 1 October to 1 June, but stings have been recorded in every month: cover your skin, and know that NT first aid for a sting is vinegar, never fresh water. Saltwater crocodiles are abundant in the Territory again, and the Parks and Wildlife Commission runs a crocodile survey and trapping program in Darwin Harbour. East Arm is also home to East Arm Wharf, which has taken ships up to Panamax size since it opened in 2000, so expect commercial shipping.

## Site Access and Logistics

The Catalinas can only be reached by boat. [Dive Darwin](https://www.divedarwin.com.au) runs five-hour guided harbour wreck tours from Dock 2, Stokes Hill Wharf (Sea Darwin Cruises), 7am to 12 noon, visiting two of the harbour's roughly 90 wreck sites, with scuba gear, a guide, permits and lunch included. In October 2026 the tour was listed from AUD $440. Dive Darwin requires PADI Advanced Diver certification and a minimum age of 15.

AUCHD lists the three raid Catalinas as protected under the Northern Territory Heritage Act, each with a 70 metre radius zone, and the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 protects sunken aircraft lost 75 or more years ago. Do not disturb, damage or remove anything, and report any new find within 21 days. Catalina 6 needs Heritage Branch permission; for the others, the NT Government says to contact the Heritage Branch (08 8999 5039, heritage.branch@nt.gov.au) to find out whether you may dive a wreck or need a permit.

The Larrakia people are the Traditional Owners of Darwin Harbour. For the raid's shipwrecks, see the [USAT Meigs](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/usat-meigs), the [SS Mauna Loa](https://scubadownunder.com/blog/ss-mauna-loa) and the [Darwin Harbour Wrecks](https://scubadownunder.com/dive-sites/darwin-harbour-wrecks) site page.

## Sources

- [AUCHD: Catalina 4 (USN #41)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8072) - [AUCHD: Catalina 5 (USN #4/8)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8073) - [AUCHD: Catalina 6 (USN #4/8)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8099) - [AUCHD: Catalina 3 (A24-206)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8071) - [AUCHD: Catalina 1 (A24-1)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8074) - [AUCHD: Catalina 2 (A24-69)](https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=8075) - NT Heritage Branch: U.S.A.T. Mauna Loa brochure (PDF, linked from the NT Government maritime heritage page) - [50 Great Dives: USAT Mauna Loa (1942)](https://50greatdives.com/auswreckx/entry/188/) - [Wikipedia: Darwin Harbour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Harbour) - [Wikipedia: Port of Darwin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Darwin) - NT Government: Box jellyfish (nt.gov.au/wellbeing/emergencies-injuries-and-accidents/bites-and-stings/box-jellyfish) - Be Crocwise, NT Government: Saltwater crocodile policy (becrocwise.nt.gov.au/crocodile-management/saltwater-crocodile-policy) - [DCCEEW: Visiting underwater cultural heritage sites](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/underwater-heritage/visiting-underwater-heritage-sites) - [DCCEEW: Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/underwater-heritage/auchd) - NT Government: Maritime heritage (nt.gov.au/leisure/arts-culture-heritage/visit-a-cultural-or-heritage-site/maritime-heritage) - Dive Darwin: Darwin Harbour Wreck Tours booking page (divedarwin1.rezdy.com/708255/darwin-harbour-wreck-tours) - [Dive Darwin: Home](https://www.divedarwin.com.au) - [Tourism NT: Dive Darwin Historic Wreck Diving Tour](https://northernterritory.com/tours/dive-darwin/dive-darwin-historic-wreck-diving-tour)

Header photo: Darwin Harbour from Stokes Hill Wharf, looking across to East Arm Port, by Dietmar Rabich, [CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Darwin_%28AU%29,_Stokes_Hill_Wharf,_East_Arm_Port_--_2019_--_4359.jpg).