Crash boats, at the time known as "aircraft rescue boats" or "air-sea rescue boats", were wooden speedboats built to rescue the crew of downed

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and other

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

aircraft during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. US boats came from the observation of British experience with

high-speed launch A high-speed launch (HSL) is a type of military boat typically used for air-sea rescue operations. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) and others used HSLs especially during World War II. The 64 ft. high-speed, air/sea rescue launch built by ...

es during the Battle of Britain. By the end of World War II, America had produced 300,000 planes, creating a need to have

crash rescue boat Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II th ...

s stationed around the globe. These boats were fast boats used to rescue

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

s, crew and passengers from downed aircraft in

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and air-sea rescue missions. The boats would race out to a crash site and rescue wounded aircrew. Some speed boats built before the war were acquired and converted to be crash boats and many new boats were built. Standard crash boats were built in four lengths for World War II. The smallest standard size boat was 42 feet long, while the larger boats were 63, 85 or 104 feet long. They were built for the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

, while some were transferred to the Allies. The design was similar to patrol boats built for the war, but with less or no armament and

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

equipped. The boats were designed to be light and fast to be able to get to the downed aircrew as fast as possible. Most were used in the

Pacific war The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

across the vast

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, primarily in island hopping. Some were stationed on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

to support the vast training centers. Many were designated Air Rescue Boats or ARB or AVR or ''P'' or ''C'' or ''R''

Hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

. After the war, most were abandoned or destroyed, though a few served in the

Korean war , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

(with

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

), while some sold to private and some donated to Sea Scouts. By the Korean war the

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

had taken the place of the crash boat in rescuing pilots and aircrews.

42-foot

The 42-foot crash rescue boat was built for the Army Air Forces Air-Sea-Rescue teams. The boat used design 221, with twin gasoline-powered engines and two screws. These used two

Hall-Scott Hall-Scott Motor Car Company was an American manufacturing company based in Berkeley, California. It was among the most significant builders of water-cooled aircraft engines before World War I. History 1910–21 The company was founded in 1910 ...

/ Hudson Invader Marine Engine or a

Kermath The Kermath was an automobile built in Detroit, Michigan in 1907. Kermath marine engines were produced from 1916 until the 1950s. Automobile The Kermath car was built by James Kermath, who immigrated to the Detroit area from Toronto, Canada. The ...

Sea Ranger 6 Marine engine. Due to the small size, these were used in close-to-shore rescue. The boat had no armament. The 42-foot boats were built by

Hunt Boat Company Hunt Marine Service and Hunt Boat Company was a wooden shipbuilding company in Richmond, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Ackerman Boat Company shipyard switched over to military construction and built 13 craft for the US A ...

, in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

, Palmer Scott & Company in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

and Palmer Johnson Yachts in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. US Army 42footairsearescueboat schematic 221 (2).jpg, 42 foot boats built for US Army, cutaway US Army 42footairsearescueboat schematic 221.jpg, 42 foot boats built for US Army

63-foot

The 63-foot crash boats are known as AVR-63 or Class III boats (AVR meaning Auxiliary, Vessel, Rescue). The crash boat had two main models: the 314 design and the 168 design. They weighed , had a length of ,

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , draft of , a lite 37,000 lbs and full up to 50,500 lbs. Design 314 was powered by two

Defender V12 petrol engines with a top speed of . The 168 design was powered by two

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

4M-2500 with . They had a crew of 7 or 8 and were armed with two

.50 calibre This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case length. *''OAL'' refers to the overall length of the cartridge. *''Bullet'' refers to the diameter of the bullet. Some ...

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

machine guns. The Model 314 boat had two rigid

United States Rubber Company The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemi ...

bullet sealing fuel tanks, while the 168 design had three tanks. In addition to the main two designs, there were multiple sub design models: 127, 152, 252, 293, 416, 440, Mark 2, Mark 3, Mark 4. By the end of the war, 740 of the 63-foot boats were built by 15 shipyards. The first 63 foot, model 127, was built by Miami Shipbuilding Corporation and used four Kermath 500-hp ''Sea Raider'' engines, as the Packard and the Hall-Scott engines were available. The eight model 127 went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, as did the later model 252. A few 63-foot boats were built post World War II, noted as Mark 2, 3, and 3 models. Model 152s were sent to Great Britain; these has a Watson-Flagg VeeDrive Gearbox added to them. Model 168 was built for US Navy with two 1250-hp Packard 4M-2500 marine engines for a top speed of 48 knots (55 mph). Model 440s were designed "Q" boats for six US Army command boats . Model 416s were the same as the standard 314, but with a firefighting system added, plus two water nozzles added to the foreward deck. Not all 63-foot boats were used for Crash boats. Model 293s were designed to be offensive. The Model 293s were PTC, or SC for Small Sub Chaser. Some Model 293s were transferred under

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

to Russia and classified RPC for ''Russian Patrol Craft''. Model 293s were armed with Oerlikon 20mm cannon,

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s and an extra fuel tank. The 63-foot boats were built by Harbor Boat Building Company on

Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...

in San Pedro,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Fellows & Stewart Fellows & Stewart Inc. was a shipbuilding company in San Pedro, California on Terminal Island's Pier 206. To support the World War II demand for ships Fellows & Stewart built Crash rescue boats and submarine chasers. The Crash rescue boats wer ...

in San Pedro, California, Stephens Bros. Boat Builders in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

South Coast Shipyard South Coast Shipyard was a shipbuilding company in Newport, California. To support the World War II demand for ships South Coast Shipyard built: minesweepers, Torpedo Boats, Submarine chasers, & Air-sea rescue boats. South Coast Shipyard was op ...

in Newport, California, and Miami Shipbuilding Corporation,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The

British Power Boat Company The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats. History The company was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipya ...

built the

Type Two 63 ft HSL The Type Two HSL was a 63 ft high-speed launch craft made by British Power Boat Company (BPBC). The craft were used during the Second World War for air-sea rescue operations to save Allied aircrew from the sea. The Type Two superseded the 64 ft ...

63-foot crash boat for the UK from 1937. USAF 63ft Mk II air sea rescue boat underway in 1953.jpg, air-sea rescue boat 63footairsearescueboatUSNavy.jpg, air-sea rescue boat ASR-313, US ROTC, 1984.jpg, 63-foot ASR 313 built in 1943 with Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1984 StephensBrosBoatBuildersAVRs_1944.jpg, Stephens Bros. Boat Builders in Stockton, California, with 63-foot in 1944 Transfer 63ft patrol vessel 1942 to Russians.jpg, Model 293 transferring to the USSR as a patrol vessel in 1942 US Army 65ft Crashboat AVR, 1945.jpg, 63-Foot Crash boat AVR at sea 1945

85 foot

The 85-foot crash boats are known as the ASR-85s or Class II boats. ASR-85s are known for having both speed and range, being able to recover downed crews several hundred miles offshore. The 140 built crash boats are powered with two 1,500-hp (1,100-kW) Packard Marine 4M-2500 engines, with a top speed of 40 knots (74-km/h; 46-mph), and a range of 2,500 miles. ASR 85 boats used 140 gallons per hour of 87-91 octane gasoline. Tender ships would refuel and restock boats not stationed at harbors. Boats had no armament or were armed with twin 50 caliber machine guns and a 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun. The ASR-85s had a crew of 12 men: one master, two engineers, one first mate, one navigator, one radio operator, three Able seaman, one oiler, one

Emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

, and one cook. However, cross training on these small boats was mandatory. ASR-85s were built by 14 shipyards:

Wilmington Boat Works Wilmington Boat Works, Inc. or WILBO was a shipbuilding company in Wilmington, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Victory Shipbuilding built: Tugboats, crash rescue boats and sub chasers. Wilmington Boat Works opened in 1920 ...

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of Lat ...

, Peterson Builders and Simms Bros. in Dorchester, Boston, Herreshoff Manufacturing in

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of B ...

, Burger Boat in

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

, Dooley's Basin & Dry Dock in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, Cambridge Shipbuilding in Cambridge, Maryland; Daytona Beach Boat Works in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

; Eddy Shipbuilding in

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...

; Henry B. Nevins, Incorporated in City Island, Bronx; Peterson, Julius in Nyack, New York; Robinson Marine in

Benton Harbor, Michigan Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...

; Truscott Boat & Dock Co. in

St. Joseph, Michigan St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...

and

in San Pedro, California. AVR 661, one of the 85-foot crash boats, was placed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980. P-550 is the only restored to original 104s crash boat. P-250 was stationed at Avila Beach, California for World war II, supporting training at Amphibious Training Base Morro Bay and other training camps and airfields near San Luis Obispo like

Camp San Luis Obispo Camp San Luis Obispo is the original home of the California Army National Guard. It served as an Infantry Division Camp and Cantonment Area for the United States Army during World War II. History Camp San Luis Obispo, formerly called Camp Merri ...

. P-520 then served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1952. P-250 was built by Casey Boat Builders in 1943. US Army Crashboat ASR85 P-478 1943.jpg, Crash boat Type ASR85, P-478 in 1943 US Army AF ASR85footcrashboat-outline.jpg, 85-foot crash boat AirForce85-footcrashrescueboatKorea.JPG, US Air Force 85-foot crash rescue boat in Korea P-520 Crash Rescue Boat, 2007.jpg, Air Force Reserve Airmen from the 304th Rescue Squadron, on P-520 a Crash Boat on the Willamette River in Portland, Ore.

104 foot

The largest of the crash boats, the 104-foot crash boats, are also called "Class I" boats or 104s. The used Design 235, and were built with emergency medical facilities which could accommodate up to 23 people. The crew of 12 were all cross-trained to operate any part of the boat. The boats have a length of 104 ft (32 m), powered by three 625 hp (466 kW) Kermath V12 engines, and included 3 screws. The boat had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The 104-foot was large enough to operate in the open ocean easily. Some 104-foot boats worked in the Gulf of Alaska and

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

; these had cold weather options installed. The cold weather options had a heating system, ice protection on the hull, and insulation. Many of the 104-foot boats served in the South Pacific and the Caribbean. The 104-foot boats were built by Dooley's Basin & Dry Dock; Casey Boat Builders in Fairhaven, MA; Ventnor Boat Works of Atlantic City, NJ; Dachel-Carter Shipbuilding, Benton Harbor, MI; Brownsville Boat of Brownsville, TX; Sagstad Shipyard, Seattle, WA.; Stephens Brothers of Stockton, CA. , which was one of these boats during World War II, was converted into a medical ship for Canada, and was an oceanographic platform until its sinking in 1976.

United States Coast Guard

The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

operated 83-foot patrol boats, which were also used in rescue work.

Other crash boats

* Some stock recreational

speed boat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

s were purchased for near-shore crash boats for the Army and Navy, which 22 to 42 feet in length. * Chris-Craft built 31 22-foot boats in 1943, J 631-661, for the US Army. * , which as built in 1919. *Some 80-foot

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

s, with three engines and four 21" torpedoes, were put into service as crash boats. * RCAF ''Nictak'' (M 447), a Motor Torpedo Boat built in 1941, was later used as a high speed rescue launch for rescue work *, which was built in 1917 *40-foot, 45-foot, and 65-foot US Navy rescue boats were also built, along with 19 foot airboat US Navy rescue boats.

Motors

Hall Scott Defender

Hall Scott Defender powered most 63-foot Rescue Boats. The Hall Scott Defender is a straight-six engine with overhead valves and two spark plugs per cylinder. The engine uses two updraft carburetors. The first run of 1996 CID had 575 hp, while the next run was supercharged and bored and had 700 hp. *Hall-Scott produced Invader engines built in 1942:. *Engines for US Army Aircraft Rescue Boat 104 foot (P110-115 141-145)

Packard V12

The 85-foot crash boat used two Packard V12 Marine Engine engines, Packard V12 4M-2500. This was the same engine in the PT-boats, but PT boats had three engines. The 1,200 hp to 1,500 hp used 91 to 100 octane gas. The engine used a supercharger. The engine had a four-stroke, 60-degree V-12 with a 6.40-inch bore and a 6.50-inch stroke. The engine had 2,490 cubic inches and four valves per cylinder. To keep weight down this was an aluminum block with steel cylinder sleeves, each weighing 2,900 pounds. The engine had a 6.4:1 compression ratio.

Kermath

Kermath Engines built two engines the Sea Raider Special that is a V12 engine the original one used in 104-Foot boats, Sea Raider Special have four overhead valves per cylinder, overhead cams and two spark plugs per cylinder. Outputting 450 to 550 hp each. The 104-Foot boats used. The Sea Raider Six engine was used in 42-foot boats, this is straight six with four overhead valves per cylinder and overhead cam. Two spark plugs per cylinder, with 260 hp. The Sea Raider Six had a 4.9 to 1 compression ratio and used 72 octane gasoline.

Place names

Crashboat Channel in Hawaii () is named for the crash boats of World War II that rescued pilots who met misadventure in the vicinity of

Kaneohe Bay Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an a ...

, Oahu.

References

External links

U.S. Army Air-Sea-Rescue Boats (P) Built During WWII
{{WWII US ships Auxiliary ship classes of the United States Navy Patrol boat classes Ship types