After their participation in the Revolution of 1947,
the Paraguayan Naval Aviation (ANP - Aviación Naval Paraguaya) was
almost dismantled. This was due to the fact that the ANP fought on the
rebel side and since the Government forces won, the Navy had to pay the
price.
In October 1947 two Republic
Seabee amphibians were delivered from manufacturer Republic Aviation
Corporation in USA to Ministerio De La Defensa Nacional, Government of
Paraguay, Asunción, Paraguay, through Republic distributor Horacio
Torrendell S.A.; Montevideo, Uruguay. It is unknown what
happened to the Seabees 1947 - 1949. It is possible that
they were stored in Uruguay or in Paraguay due to unstable politics in
Paraguay. A third Seabee is also reported to have been delivered
to Paraguay, possibly c/n 1003.
On April 4th, 1948, Lt. Tomás Galeano was appointed
as the Commander of the Paraguayan Naval Aviation. By that time, the
only aircraft used by the ANP were two N.A.F N3N-3s hydroplanes and only
one of them was in flying condition. He requested new aircraft to the
Commander of the Navy but it took a while to finally get a positive
answer.
In 1949, the Ministry of Defense started looking for
suitable aircraft for the Navy, either hydroplanes or amphibians. Since
military authorities had to deal with a reduced budget, they started
looking for second-hand planes. Somehow, they got in touch with a
Uruguayan company, Horacio Torrendell S.A., that used to import all
kinds of airplanes at that time (late 1940s). Some Paraguayan Navy top rank Officers inspected the
Seabees and recommended their purchase to the Ministry of Defense.
The three Seabees were bought in December 1949 (???) and
were brought to Paraguay immediately. They were officially assigned to
the ANP in January 1950. They received the following serials:
Naval 101: Republic
RC-3 Seabee (c/n 1005). Built in 1947. It was
originally assigned US registration number NC6722K and
was officially delivered from Republic Aviation Corp. to Swedish Seabee
distributor Hans Osterman AB (Stockholm, Sweden) on 25 September 1947.
However, it seems that Hans Osterman AB cancelled the delivery, and in
October 1947 the aircraft was reassigned to Ministerio De La Defensa
Nacional, Government of Paraguay, Asunción, Paraguay, through
Republic distributor Horacio Torrendell S.A.; Montevideo, Uruguay.
It received the serial NAVAL
101 in the Paraguayan Naval Aviation in 1950. It was extensively used
during the 1950's as a trainer and transport plane. It was wfu in 1960
and later scrapped.
Naval 102: Republic
RC-3 Seabee (c/n 1037). Built in 1947. It was
originally assigned US
registration number NC6749K and was officially delivered from Republic
Aviation Corp. to Swedish Seabee distributor Hans Osterman AB (Stockholm,
Sweden) on 26 September 1947. However, it seems that Hans Osterman
AB cancelled the delivery, and in October 1947 the aircraft was
reassigned to Ministerio De La Defensa Nacional, Government of
Paraguay, Asunción, Paraguay, through Republic distributor Horacio
Torrendell S.A.; Montevideo, Uruguay. It received the serial NAVAL
102 in the Paraguayan Naval Aviation in 1950. It was extensively used
during the 1950's as a trainer and transport plane. It was wfu in 1960
and later scrapped.
Naval 103: This has been a “mistery plane”
for decades but it is very likely that this Seabee was c/n 1003. Horacio
Torrendell S.A. just imported three Seabees and this one was one of
them. It was also built in 1947 and originally registered as NC6720K for
Clara Livingston of Puerto Rico. It received the serial NAVAL 103 in
January, 1950 in the ANP. This plane was lost in a fatal accident at
Ypacaraí Lake on July 3rd, 1957. It’s only crew member, Lt. PAN (Navy
Pilot) Raúl Viera Cazal, died in the crash.
