By the time the Great Patriotic War began, the MBR-2 flying boat was the most massive aircraft of this class in military service. Serial production of the MBR-2 (Marine close reconnaissance aircraft of the second) was carried out at the aircraft plant number 31 in Taganrog. The first aircraft was built in July 1934, production peaked in 1937 and 1938, when 360 and 364 seaplanes were assembled, respectively. Production ceased only in the second half of 1940, during which time 1,365 MBR-2s of all modifications, including passenger ones, were assembled in Taganrog. Thus, this flying boat became the most massive Soviet-made seaplane.
The aircraft was designed at the Central Design Bureau MS under the leadership of the chief designer Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev. For his plane, Beriev chose the scheme of a single-engine cantilever monoplane of mixed design with a two-legged boat, which had a large lateral deadrise. This was supposed to provide the seaplane with good seaworthiness, as well as the ability to take off and land on water at waves up to 0.7 meters. The engine with a pusher propeller was mounted on the struts above the center section. The prototype was equipped with a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled piston engine BMW VI with a capacity of 500 hp, for production cars its copy was chosen, which was produced in the Soviet Union under license - M-17.
Tests of the head copy of the seaplane and production vehicles were carried out from 1934 to 1937, the test pilot Adolf Ammunovich Olsen was engaged in them. The country's leadership got acquainted with the plane on August 5, 1933, when Stalin held a meeting at which the issue of naval aviation was raised. Designer Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, who was present at the meeting, called the MBR-2 flying boat a "piece of wood", but such an aircraft was needed by the Navy's aviation, so the seaplane was adopted.
By the beginning of World War II, the MBR-2 seaplane was outdated, it had unsatisfactory tactical and technical characteristics, especially the military were not satisfied with its low flight speed (up to 234 km / h), weak defensive armament and a small bomb load. Despite this, an adequate replacement for him simply did not exist. Having become the main seaplane of Soviet naval aviation in 1937, the MBR-2 remained so until the end of World War II, becoming the most massive flying boat in the Soviet fleet. During the war, the aircraft performed various roles, becoming a real workhorse of the naval aviation of the Navy and making its contribution to victory.
The pilots and technicians themselves called the MBR-2 "barn", and one could also come across the name "cow". "Ambarchik" was a wooden plane, which dictated some features of its operation. In particular, after each departure (and, accordingly, landing on the water), the plane had to be dried - technicians in waterproof uniforms pushed the seaplane onto land, where fires were already being made on the shore, sand was heated on fires, bags with which were then wrapped around the hull of a flying boat. It took several hours to dry the MBR-2 hull, after which the seaplane was again ready for flight. It is worth noting that Georgy Beriev himself originally planned to make the plane all-metal, but in those years the country desperately lacked aluminum, so turning to wood was a necessary measure.
By the beginning of World War II, the Northern Fleet Air Force had 49 MBR-2 seaplanes, which were part of the 118th separate reconnaissance aviation regiment (orap) and the 49th separate squadron. At the same time, the 118th brigade was the main aviation reconnaissance unit of the Northern Fleet; in June 1941, it included 37 MBR-2 flying boats (including 32 serviceable ones) and 7 GST seaplanes (including 5 serviceable ones). The flying boats were based at the hydro aerodrome in the Gryaznaya Bay of the Kola Bay. It is worth noting that it was with the MBR-2 that the history of the Air Force of the youngest Soviet fleet - the Northern Fleet - began. The first seaplanes of this type were ferried from Leningrad to Murmansk in September 1936.
With the outbreak of World War II, seaplanes began to be involved in reconnaissance operations in the operational zone of the Northern Fleet. Very soon they had to be used for bombing the advancing units of the German mountain corps "Norway", which was advancing on Murmansk. Up to 500 kg of aerial bombs could be placed under the wing of the MBR-2. The practice of inflicting daytime bombing strikes quickly showed that it is very risky for slow-moving flying boats to appear in areas where enemy fighters are operating. Low flight speed and weak defensive armament, which was limited to two ShKAS machine guns on turrets (on some models, the rear turret was closed), made them easy prey for German fighters. On June 29, 1941, MBR-2s were involved in bombing attacks on warehouses located in the port of Liinakhamari. The first raid, which was conducted by five flying boats, passed without losses, but the second group of three MBR-2 aircraft was intercepted by the enemy Messerschmitts, who shot down all three aircraft. Two crews were killed, the third managed to make an emergency landing in Titovka Bay.
In addition to conducting reconnaissance and bombing in the interests of the ground forces, the MBR-2 seaplanes of the Northern Fleet in the summer of 1941 were involved in the fight against a serious enemy in the person of the German destroyers of the 6th Flotilla, which conducted raids on Soviet coastal communications. True, the flying boats did not achieve any serious success in this matter. After an unsuccessful hunt for German destroyers, the MBR-2 returned to their usual combat work. At the same time, they had to fly without fighter cover, so only the small number of German fighter aircraft in the Arctic allowed the low-speed "barns" to avoid serious losses. What a meeting with the enemy in the air promises was once again demonstrated by the battle on August 27 over the Barents Sea, when an MBR-2 unit conducting reconnaissance was discovered and shot down by enemy fighters.
From October 1941, the seaplanes of the Northern Fleet switched to combat missions only in the dark. As soon as the weather permitted, the aircraft were recruited to deliver harassing bombing strikes against enemy forces directly on the front line. Their tasks were not limited to this, on the night of December 5-6, 1941, the MBR-2 attacked enemy ships in the port of Liinakhamari. As a result of the air raid, the transport "Antje Fritzen" (4330 brt) received direct hits, three sailors were killed on board, and five more people were injured.
It so happened that the MBR-2 in 1941 was practically the only available aircraft, which in the Soviet naval aviation could be used to solve anti-submarine defense tasks. For this reason, the 49th squadron of the Northern Fleet Air Force, which became part of the White Sea Military Flotilla (BVF), together with a link of MBR-2 flying boats from the 118th brigade, began to search for enemy submarines in the White Sea and on the approaches to it … On September 4, 1941, a pair of MBR-2s from Squadron 49 discovered a German submarine on the surface to the west of Cape Kanin Nos. The aircraft attacked the target, dropping PLAB-100 depth charges on it, the boat began an urgent dive, and an oil slick formed on the surface of the sea after the attack. Having replenished ammunition and refueling, the "barns" bombed the area of the oil slick one more time. The submarine U-752 was hit by Soviet aircraft here, and its fuel tanks were damaged. At the same time, the boat did not sink and returned to the base for repairs. Although the Germans did not suffer losses in submarines, the activity of Soviet aviation and anti-submarine patrols forced them to somewhat reduce their activity in the water area and on the approaches to the White Sea. However, not only the enemy got from the MBR-2, on October 7, 1941, a pair of flying boats mistakenly attacked the Soviet submarine S-101, which was performing the transition from Belomorsk to Polyarny.
Also, flying boats MBR-2 were used for anti-submarine cover for the northern convoys of the Allies, which went to Soviet seaports. From 6 to 13 July 1942, the MBR-2 carried out reconnaissance, and also searched for transports of the infamous defeated convoy PQ-17, they were also actively used during the escort of the largest northern convoy PQ-18. On September 10, 1942, a pair of MBR-2 seaplanes together with the Groza patrol ship attacked a German submarine, caught on the surface. After the attack, spots of diesel fuel and air bubbles appeared on the surface. On September 16 of the same year, a pair of MBR-2s dropped 4 anti-submarine bombs on a submarine, which was spotted 45 miles west of Belushya Bay.
In the summer of 1942, after German submarines became active near Novaya Zemlya, and the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer broke through in the Kara Sea, the command of the Northern Fleet decided to form a naval base on Novaya Zemlya, where the 3rd air group was located, the basis of which made up 17 flying boats MBR-2. In addition, the 22nd reconnaissance air regiment, transferred here from the Caspian Sea, was introduced into the White Sea military flotilla, the regiment had 32 "barns". Permanent reconnaissance flights of the MBR-2 in the Kara Sea, made from Novaya Zemlya, began on September 5, 1942. Previously, only Soviet pilots of polar aviation flew in these areas.
In 1943, the quantitative and, more importantly, the qualitative growth of the aviation of the fleet began. However, despite the emergence of new aviation technology, the MBR-2 seaplanes were still quite actively used - the polar nights completely belonged to these flying boats. On the night of January 24-25, 1943, they bombed the Norwegian port of Kirkenes. The blow was delivered by MBR-2 from the 118th brigade. 12 flying boats made 22 sorties that night, dropping a total of 40 FAB-100 bombs and 200 small fragmentation bombs AO-2, 5. There were no direct hits on the enemy ships, but one of the bombs exploded in the immediate vicinity of the one in the roadstead. awaiting the unloading of the Rotenfels transport (7854 brt). The close gap on the ship ignited the hay that was on board along with other cargo. Despite all the measures taken (the Norwegian fire brigade and 200 Soviet prisoners of war were urgently called on the ship, who were ordered to dump the dangerous cargo into the sea), it was not possible to extinguish the fire and the Germans had to sink the ship. Although it was soon raised, 4,000 tons of various cargoes were lost during the sinking, and the ship itself stood up for repairs for a long time. It was later revealed that this success of the "barns" was the largest victory of the Soviet naval aviation in all theaters of military operations in 1943.
Despite being used as an anti-submarine aircraft, the MBR-2 never became effective in this role. This was largely due to the absence of radar equipment on board the flying boat, which in those years had already begun to firmly become part of the armament of anti-submarine aircraft of other countries. Despite this, the MBR-2 continued to be actively used for anti-submarine purposes, especially against the background of the intensification of the struggle on polar communications in 1943-1944. So in 1943, out of 130 sorties in the interests of anti-submarine defense, which were carried out by the aircraft of the White Sea military flotilla, 73 were made by MBR-2 seaplanes.
Even during the war years, Lendleut Catalins began to replace the MBR-2 in the Arctic regions, while the White Sea still remained with Soviet seaplanes. Here they conducted ice and air reconnaissance, continued to search for enemy submarines, especially in the areas of the Svyatoy Nos and Kanin Nos capes, and conducted convoys. By June 1944, the White Sea military flotilla still included 33 MBR-2 flying boats, which were used quite intensively, in 1944 they made 905 sorties, in 1945 - 259 sorties.
Simultaneously with the receipt of the Catalina flying boats, there was a natural process of writing off the MBR-2 that had served its purpose. At the same time, the crews of the MBR-2, who at that time had solid combat experience, despite all the shortcomings of their aircraft, which were extremely outdated at that time, on occasion delivered troubles to German submariners. For example, on October 22, 1944, a pair of "barns" from the 53rd mixed regiment of the BVF Air Force flew out in search of a submarine, which was discovered by radio reconnaissance 15 hours ago, the same boat was marked by an unsuccessful attack on the RT-89 trawler. The submarine (and it was U-737) was actually in the area indicated for the search. Flying boats found the submarine on the surface and immediately attacked. First, anti-submarine bombs were used, and then the enemy's submerging boat was fired upon from machine guns. As a result, the submarine was lightly damaged, three members of its crew were injured. The submarine was forced to interrupt the military campaign and returned to the Norwegian port of Hammerfest for repairs.
In addition to routine combat work, MBR-2 flying boats took part in several unusual operations. For example, in September 1944, the MBR-2 flying boat took part in the evacuation of the crew of the British Lancaster bomber, which was involved in Operation Paravan (attack on the battleship Tirpitz). One of the bombers did not make it to the Yagodnik airfield near Arkhangelsk, after running out of fuel, he made an emergency landing on the "belly" on one of the swamps near the village of Talagi. In order to get the English crew out of this wilderness, they had to parachute a guide who took the pilots to the nearest lake, where they were taken by a Soviet seaplane. Another interesting case occurred on October 20, 1944, when the German seaplane BV 138 for technical reasons was forced to land in the area of the Morzhovets island. The request for help by radio communication only drew attention to the unknown radio station, as a result, an MBR-2 flying boat was sent to the area for searches, which discovered the unlucky colleagues and pointed the hydrographic vessel "Mogla" at them, whose sailors hijacked the German crew and their plane in captivity.
After the end of World War II, the military service of the surviving MBR-2 flying boats came to an end. They stayed longest in service in the Pacific Fleet, where they were used to a limited extent until 1950.
