[Llarry]

Just before World War II, the Navy contracted with Boeing for a new, longer-range twin-engine flying boat. The Boeing PBB Sea Ranger first flew in mid-1942 and initial tests were promising. However, the Army program to build the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the highest national priority and the Navy agreed to turn over production facilities for the PBB to the Army for B-29 production.

The PBB was the largest twin-engine flying boat designed for the USN and was powered by twin Wright R-3350 18-cylinder radials.

Just a single prototype, the XPBB-1, was manufactured and it flew for several years until scrapped after WWII.