Growing up in Rhode Island at a young age I knew what a PT Boat was; especially famous one's like Kennedy's PT 109. PT Boat PT-658 Deck Tour and Interior Tour shows details and closeups of all weapons and equipment on board. Later, rigorous testing performed on each design as well as changes in armament revealed limitations or problems that had to be fixed before they could meet required performance specifications. Elco competed for the, Other PT boats gaining fame during the war were. Tempress Pro Casting Boat Seat 50 $11999 - $12499 Small Business +1 colors/patterns Tempress All Weather High Back Seat 84 $11899$129.99 FREE delivery Thu, Feb 16 Small Business Best Seller +10 colors/patterns Leader Accessories A Pair of New Low Back Folding Boat Seats (2 Seats) 889 $12999 FREE delivery Fri, Feb 17 Or fastest delivery Wed, Feb 15 The Board is of the opinion that certain changes in design are required to enable PT-69 and boats of the PT-20 Class to carry safely their military loads in rough weather. These planks were held together by thousands of copper rivets and bronze screws. PT-308 (Higgins) had her stern sheared off by a collision with PT-304 during a night mission in the Mediterranean on 9 March 1945 and yet returned to base for repairs. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images) During WWII the US realized their PT boats had more potential than just simple torpedo dispensers. On early series of boats, this cannon was mounted on the stern. "), was named in honor of Frank Sinatra, with whom the boats' Commanding Officer met at a nightclub shortly before MTBRON 22 left New York for the Mediterranean Theatre. On 11 October 1940, an agreement between the Navy and Huckins was finalized. The 1938 United States Navy PT, which has been restored and adapted to Coast Guard Standards, is a durable boat that was originally used in the US fleet for a period of time. \"Save the PT Boat\" is a 501c3 non profit organization and appreciates all the support we can get! PT658 - Virtual Boat Tour PT658 VIRTUAL TOUR SEE - HOW TO USE - BENEATH THE TOUR WINDOW: This virtual tour was created and supplied by: Visiting Media, Portland, OR - (503) 427-9786 or visit their website: visitingmedia.com She was acquired by Fleet Obsolete in June 2008 and moved to Kingston, New York, for possible restoration. It has been released as PT 207 and PT 212 and maybe others. The Huckins withdrew due to bilge stringer failure. The vessel was sold in 1952 to Otto Stocker who operated the "Sightseer" as an excursion vessel from Otten's Harbor in Wildwood, New Jersey. Current price is $675,000 USD. So, putting this together, a PT boat is a patrol torpedo boat. This conprehensive reference covers, for the first time, PT Boat tactics, formations and seamanship. Several PT boats were lost due to friendly fire from both Allied aircraft and destroyers. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. Shortly after her retirement from service, the PT-796 was used as a float during President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade to represent PT-109, with the PT-109 hull number painted on the bow, and several of PT-109's surviving crew members manning the boat. Five 78-foot (24m) boats were assigned to Squadron 14 (PT-98 through PT-102) which was commissioned in early 1943; and ten boats assigned to Squadron 26 (PT-255 thru PT-264) which was commissioned in mid 1943. Print product data sheet. The effectiveness of PT boats in the Solomon Islands campaign, where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships, as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The Tokyo Express" operating in New Georgia Sound (called "The Slot" by the Americans), was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. Now located in a New Jersey boatyard in awaiting restoration.[46]. The nucleus of this collection are PT Boats 617 and 796, the world's only restored pair of PTs on public exhibition. [5] Not invited to participate in the original design competition, by late 1940, Huckins had a meeting with Captain James M. Irish, Chief of Design of BuShips, and offered to build a "planing seagoing hull" PT boat, on the condition the Navy loan Huckins engines and agree to look at the Huckins boat. Country United States. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee. These were to be provided to the Dutch forces under Lend Lease but were re-requisitioned to the USN as PT 368371 after the fall of the Netherlands to German forces. The squadron acted as a diversionary force in Gulf Juan, and as an anti-E-boat screen in the Nice-Cannes area. [5], The final PT boat design competitor was Huckins Yacht Corporation of Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to starring in the television series this boat was purchased as war surplus by Howard Hughes and was used as the camera chase boat when the Spruce Goose made its only flight. PT-615, an 80-foot (24m) Elco originally assigned to MTBRON 42, was commissioned after the war ended. These 16 rockets plus 16 reloads gave them as much firepower as a destroyer's 5-inch (127mm) guns (albeit without their accuracy). [3] In the summer of 1915, Lieutenants Hampden, Bremner, and Anson approached John I. Thornycroft & Company about developing a small high speed torpedo boat, and this effort eventually led to the Coastal Motor Boat which first went into service in April 1916. USN ELCO PT Boat Deck Stern Chocks (x2 per PT Boat). Diy Boat. PT-309 is located at the National Museum of the Pacific War / Admiral Nimitz Museum[39] in Fredericksburg, Texas, and was restored by the (now defunct) Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM). PT boats operated in the southern, western, and northern Pacific, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel. Finish adequate. The tour starts from Bow and works back to see entire boat with detail views of each weapon and piece of equipment. Equipped armament for the smaller proposal was to be either two torpedoes and two depth charges, or .50-cal machine-guns and a smokescreen generator. Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 22, or RON22, was transported to the combat theater aboard the USS Merrimack. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. On 11 July 1938 the Navy issued multiple 'notice of competitions' for proposals of design of four separate types of boat: a 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat. Cost to the Government fully equipped $302,100. However, the USN held two major designs as their standard PT boat and this included the ELCO 80-footer and the Higgins 78-foot. As more PTs were fitted with dependable radar, they developed superior night-fighting tactics and used them to locate and destroy many enemy targets. World War II PT boats continued to exploit some of the advances in planing hull design borrowed from offshore powerboat racing and by using multiple lightweight but more powerful marinized aircraft-derived V-12 engines were able to grow in both size and speed. According to the deck log of PT-305, she was kept on board the Merrimack for several days, anchored in the port of Mers El Kbir in Algeria until 25 April. The Higgins 76-footer (PT-70) completed the entire run but also suffered structural failures, attachments between planking and web frames pulling loose, and deck fastenings in the neighborhood of engine hatches showing extensive failures. Some 200 US gallons (760L) an hour were consumed at a cruising speed of 23 knots (43km/h), increasing to 500 US gallons (1,900L) per hour at top speed. Maximum sustained speed of 27.2 knots in rough seas; maximum speed 40.9 knots. [4] The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. Be sure to check website at www.savetheptboatinc.com PT-658 was named to the. [33], One of two fully restored and operational PT boats and the only combat veteran of the two, PT-305 ("Half Hitch", "Barfly", "USS Sudden Jerk") is a Higgins 78-foot (24m) boat, assigned during the war to MTBRON-22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. An accelerometer was installed in the pilot house of each boat to record "pounding". PT 48 is the only remaining 77' Elco PT Boat and a member of the heroic WWII "Mosquito Fleet". [9], The Elco 77-Footer Design Demonstrates:[9], The Huckins 72-Foot Design Demonstrates:[9], The Navy Yard Philadelphia 81-Foot Design Demonstrates:[9], The Higgins 81-Foot Design Demonstrates:[9], The Higgins 76-Foot Design Demonstrates:[9], The Board arrived at the following recommendations:[9], The Board also had the following opinion on structural sufficiency: "During the first series of tests (2124 July) the Huckins design (PT-69), the Philadelphia design (PT-8) and the Higgins design (PT-6) completed the open sea endurance run without structural damage. PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on 10 December 1944 off Leyte, yet remained floating for several hours. In an important note after winning the design competition for the smaller PT boat, George Crouch wrote that Hickman's Sea Sled design would be far superior "in either rough or smooth water to that of the best possible V-bottom or hard chine design". She was retired from service in the late 1950s. In late June 1945 the squadron was shipped to the U.S. for refitting and transfer to the Pacific, but the war ended while still in New York. PT-796 ("Tail Ender") is a 78-foot (24m) Higgins. PT Interior. PT 48 was one of the first 4 boats to arrive at Tulagi, on 12 October 1942. These features made it highly desirable due to the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese Daihatsu-class barges, which were largely immune to torpedoes due to their shallow draft. These rapid machines proved deadly as highly mobile machine . The Admiralty representative for this sea sled demonstration was Lieutenant G.C.E. [22] Only the British built PT-9 prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured a Merlin. PT-167 (Elco) was holed through the bow off Bougainville on 5 November 1943, by a torpedo which failed to detonate; the boat remained in action and was repaired the next day. The 691 P boat is boathouse kept and the work continues at the current time with the gun carriages for the two twin .50 cal gun turrets under construction and as well, the interior accommodation continues to go forward. Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine alongside the marine 4M-2500 has long been a source of confusion. In 1943, an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. The two Vosper boats in England were built by Vosper itself, and the first is in fairly good condition at Portsmouth. FineScale Modeler reviews the 1/72 scale plastic model PT boat kit. Squadron 22 was operating with the British Royal Navy Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. Those are:[9]. A hangar-style indoor display houses the Elco PT boat (PT-617) and Higgins PT boat (PT-796). Five Elco Boats were manufactured in knock-down kit form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on the West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept. In April 1943, 25-year-old John F. Kennedy arrived in the Pacific and took command of the PT-109. Charles Schumann in the 1980s. 2008. p. False claims in Fleming, Thomas, "War of Revenge", Spring 2011, At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy by Captain Robert J. Bulkley, Jr. USNR (Retired), Learn how and when to remove this template message, escape from Corregidor Island, Philippines, "Motor Torpedo Squadron ONE, Report for Pearl Harbor Attack, "Damned by Faint Praise: The life and hard times of Albert Hickman", "Navy Acquires Small Speedy Torpedo Boats", Giant Killers, The Elco PT Boat Construction, "DESCRIPTION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DEWANDRE-ELCO POWER-OPERATED MACHINE GUN TURRET", "Twin .50 Cal Browning Navy Aircraft Mount MK9", "WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL TM 9-252", PT Boats, Inc.- Action Report Into Action, Southwest Pacific Return to the Philippines, "JFK's WWII boat may be at the bottom of the Harlem River", PT Boat burning November & December 1945 Samar, Philippines PT Boats Inc, "The decade-long, $6M effort to put a 74-year-old WWII boat back to water", National Museum of the Pacific War official site, "PT-658, last remaining operable PT boat from World War II, named to National Register of Historic Places", "Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive: PT-694", At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy. U.S. Navy PT boats were organized into motor torpedo boat squadrons (MTBRONs). Maneuverability satisfactory with a turning circle of 336 yards (307m). In April 1941, MTBRON1 reported enthusiasm over the 81-foot Higgins (PT-6), and with the Higgins showing such good seakeeping further purchase of Scott-Paine boats was unnecessary. Period Second World War. Her deck house was reconfigured to partially resemble an 80-foot (24m) Elco instead of its original Vosper 70ft configuration. Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. The newly designed 80ft (24m) Elco Naval Division boats were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. The 85ft patrol boats replaced the ageing patrol boat fleet of Naval Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) and support . Sometimes you just have to create a custom yacht to go with your custom Ferrari. 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