A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the
United States 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 ...
in
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 ...
. 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. In the USN they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
The PT boat was very different from the first generation of
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
, which had been developed at the end of the 19th century and featured a
displacement hull
A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top (such as a dinghy), or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck. Atop the deck may be a deckhouse and other superstructures, such as a funnel, der ...
form. These first generation torpedo boats rode low in the water, displaced up to 300 tons, and had a top speed of . During World War I Italy, the US, and UK developed the first high-performance
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
-powered motor torpedo boats (often with top speeds over ) and corresponding torpedo tactics, but these projects were all quickly disbanded after the Armistice. World War II PT boats continued to exploit some of the advances in planing hull design borrowed from
offshore powerboat racing
Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.
In most of the world, offshore powerboat racing is led by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) regulated Class 1 and Powerboat P1. ...
and by using multiple lightweight but more powerful
marinized Marinisation (also marinization) is design, redesign, or testing of products for use in a marine environment. Most commonly, it refers to use and long-term survival in harsh, highly corrosive salt water conditions. Marinisation is done by many manuf ...
aircraft-derived
V-12 engines
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The fi ...
were able to grow in both size and speed.
During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy warships, transports, tankers, barges, and
sampan
A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...
s. Some were converted into
gunboats
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to shore bombardment, bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for troopship, ferrying troops or au ...
, which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by the Japanese for inter-island transport. Several saw service with the
Philippine Navy
The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...
, where they were named "Q-boats".
Primary anti-ship armament on the standard PT boat was four 21-inch Mark 8 torpedoes, each had a
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
warhead and had a range of at . Two twin .50-inch (12.7 mm)
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 ...
heavy machine guns were mounted for anti-aircraft defense and general fire support. Some boats carried a Oerlikon cannon.
Propulsion was via a trio of
Packard 4M-2500
The Packard 1A-2500 is an American V12 engine, V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine designed by Packard in 1924 as a successor to the World War I-era Liberty L-12. Five aero variants were produced, of which the 3A-2500 was the most numerous. Thre ...
and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled V-12
marine engine
An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pr ...
s.
Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by
fast attack craft
A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...
.
Development
At the outbreak of war in August 1914,
W. Albert Hickman
William Albert Hickman (22 December 1878 in New Brunswick – 10 September 1957) was a Canadian designer and manufacturer of innovative fast boats. He is best known as the inventor of the Hickman Sea Sled.
Biography
Born in Dorchester, New Brunswi ...
devised the first procedures and tactics for employing fast maneuverable seaworthy torpedo motorboats against capital ships, and presented his proposal to Rear Admiral
David W. Taylor
David Watson Taylor (March 4, 1864 – July 28, 1940) was a U.S. naval architect and an engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Ta ...
, the Chief of the US Navy's
Bureau of Construction and Repair The Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) was the part of the United States Navy which from 1862 to 1940 was responsible for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the ...
. In September 1914, Hickman completed plans for a "Sea Sled" torpedo boat and submitted these to the Navy in hopes of obtaining a contract. While favorably received, Secretary of the Navy
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death, who controlled Raleigh's ''News & Observer'', at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A D ...
rejected the proposal since the US was not at war, but Hickman was advised to submit his plans and proposal to the British Admiralty, which was done the following month. The Admiralty found it interesting but thought that "no fast boat of 50' to 60'
length would be sufficiently seaworthy", so Hickman built and launched his own privately financed Sea Sled capable of carrying a single 18-inch
Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo
The Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo was a Whitehead torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role in 1910. The Mark 5 was the first torpedo to be manufactured by a foreign company, the Whitehead facility in the United Ki ...
. In February 1915, this Hickman sea sled demonstrated speeds in rough winter seas off Boston to both US and foreign representatives but again, he received no contracts. The Admiralty representative for this sea sled demonstration was Lieutenant G.C.E. Hampden. 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.
Meanwhile, in August 1915, the
General Board of the United States Navy
The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, somewhat akin to a naval general staff and somewhat not. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by Secretary ...
approved the purchase of a single experimental small torpedo boat that could be transportable. This contract for C-250 ended up going to
Greenport Basin and Construction Company
The Greenport Basin and Construction Company, known by various names throughout its history, but most recently named the Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding Company, is a shipbuilder in Greenport, Suffolk County, New York. It was established in the 19th ...
, of Greenport, NY. When it eventually was delivered and tested in the summer of 1917, it was not deemed a success, so a second boat (C-378) of the sea sled design was ordered from Hickman in either late 1917 or early 1918 (conflicting dates). Using his previous design from September 1914 and the previous unsuccessful bid for C-250, the new boat C-378 was completed and fully tested just in time to be cancelled by the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
. With a full loaded weight of , C-378 made a top speed of with , and maintained an average speed of in a winter northeaster storm with seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. The Sea Sled did not surface again as a torpedo boat topic until 1939, but continued to be used by both the Army and Navy as rescue boats and seaplane tenders during the 20s and 30s. In 1922, the US Navy reconsidered using small internal combustion engine powered torpedo boats. As a result, two types and of British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats were obtained for testing. The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. In 1938, the U.S. Navy renewed their investigation into the concept by requesting competitive bids for several different types of motor torpedo boats, but excluded Hickman's Sea Sled. This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. The first class was for boats, and the second class was for boats. The resulting PT boat designs were the product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy.
Design competition
On 11 July 1938 the Navy issued notices of competitions for the design of four types of boat: 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat.Bulkley p44
The winning designs would receive a prize of $15000 with $1500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition; to be given out on 30 March 1939.
The larger boat was to not to exceed 80 feet and to carry at least two 21-inch torpedoes, four depth charges, and two .50-cal machine-guns. The performance specification was to achieve 40 knots and an operating radius of 275 miles at top speed (550 miles at cruising speed). The smaller boat was to weigh no more than 20 tons so that it could be easily transported by cargo ships. Its maximum speed was also 40 knots but specified radius was 120 miles at top speed and 240 miles at cruising speed. Armament was less - two torpedoes and depth charges, or .50-cal machine-guns and a smokescreen generator.
By September 1938, 24 designs for the smaller boat and 13 designs for the 70-footer. Three designers and five designers were asked to submit detailed plans for the 54-ft and 70 ft boats respectively by 7 November 1938.
On March 21, 1939,
Sparkman and Stephens
Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with offices in Newport, Rhode Island and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new and existing vessels for pleasure, commercial, and milit ...
won the prize in the 70-foot class and Prof. George Crouch (for Henry B. Nevins, Inc.) had won the 54-foot class.
Following the competition, contracts were placed for construction of boats: May 25, 1939, to
Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins Industries is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP (land ...
for two boats (PT5 and PT6) of the Sparkman and Stephens design, scaled up to an overall length of 81 feet; June 8, 1939, to Fogal Boat Yard (PT-1 and PT-2) and Fisher Boat Works (PT-3 and PT-4) for the Crouch design; to the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...
(PT-7, PT-8) for 81-foot boats designed by the Bureau of Ships. These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines.
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". Earlier when Sea Sleds were specifically excluded, Crouch had informed the Bureau of Ships that the Sea Sled was the best type of vessel for the job.
Higgins built an additional ''PT-6 "Prime"'' redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. Later that same year, Higgins was to build ''PT-70'' (at their own expense) that incorporated slight improvements over ''PT-6 Prime''.
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. As a result, the Navy ordered further investigation and refinement of the existing designs until a satisfactory working design could be obtained.
At the same time, Henry R. Sutphen of
Electric Launch Company
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts ("Elco"), is an American boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 to 1949 and from 1987 to the present.
History
Elco first made its mark at the World's Col ...
(Elco) and his designers (Irwin Chase, Bill Fleming, and Glenville Tremaine) visited the United Kingdom in February 1939 at the Navy's request to see British motor torpedo boat designs with a view to obtaining one that could be used as a check on the Navy's efforts. While visiting 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 ...
, they purchased a private venture motor torpedo boat (MTB) design - PV70 - (later renamed ''PT-9''), designed by the power boat racer
Hubert Scott-Paine
Hubert Scott-Paine (11 March 1891 – 14 April 1954) was a British aircraft and boat designer, record-breaking power boat racer, entrepreneur, inventor, and sponsor of the winning entry in the 1922 Schneider Trophy.
Early life
Hubert Paine was ...
. ''PT-9'' was to serve as the prototype for all the early Elco PT boats. After the initial competition, in late 1939, the Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of ''PT-9''.
The final PT boat design competitor was
Huckins Yacht Corporation
Huckins Yacht Corporation is one of the oldest boat builders in the United States.
The company is located on the Ortega River in Jacksonville, Florida, and is run by its third-generation owners, Cindy and Buddy Purcell. Huckins manufactures custom ...
of
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
. On 11 October 1940, an agreement between the Navy and Huckins was finalized. The Navy would provide engines, and Huckins would build a PT boat at their own expense, with the caveat that the boat (upon completion) would be offered to the Navy for a later sum. This boat (designated MT-72) later became ''PT-69''. Huckins reported a profit of $28.60 on this transaction.
Plywood Derby
Background
In March 1941, during a heavy weather run from
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
to New York by Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRON 2), Elco 70-footers pounded heavily in waves even at moderate speeds, and seas continuously broke high over the bows. Operating personnel reported extreme discomfort and fatigue. All boats suffered from some sort of structural failure: forward chine guards ripped away, bottom framing under bows broken, side planking cracked ndicating lack of longitudinal strength and other weaknesses. In April 1941, MTBRON 1 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. In early 1941 the
U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was to ...
(BuShips) lent Packard engines to both Huckins and Higgins, which wanted to build competitive boats at their own expense.
A Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) PT Boat Conference convened in May 1941 to discuss future PT characteristics. All PTs prior to the Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended Elco would not be an improvement. This conference, including representatives from BuShips, BuOrd, MTBRONs, Interior Control Board, and CNO, recommended a series of comparative tests to evaluate what turned out to be five new designs of motor torpedo boats. The conference strongly recommended that no more Elco 77-footers be ordered until the tests had shown that they were indeed satisfactory.
The Board of Inspection and Survey
The
Board of Inspection and Survey
The Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) is a United States Navy organization whose purpose is to inspect and assess the material condition of U.S. Navy vessels.
The Board is currently headquartered at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virgin ...
, headed by Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., conducted comparative service testsBoard of Inspection and Survey, ''Report of Comparative Services Tests of Motor Torpedo Boats Held July 21–24, 1941 and August 11–12, 1941 at New London, Connecticut'' (Navy Department, August 14, 1941) off New London, 21 to 24 July 1941, using the following boats:
* ''PT-6'': Higgins; 3 Packard engines.
* ''PT-8'': Philadelphia Navy Yard; aluminum hull; 2
Allison
Allison may refer to:
People
* Allison (given name)
* Allison (surname) (includes a list of people with this name)
* Eugene Allison Smith (1922-1980), American politician and farmer
Companies
* Allison Engine Company, American aircraft engine ...
engines, 1
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 ...
engine.
* ''PT-20'': Elco; 3 Packard engines; equipped with special propellers; special strengthening added to hull framing and deck.
* ''PT-26'', ''-30'', ''-31'', ''-33'': Same as ''PT-20'', except with standard propellers and without special strengthening.
* ''PT-69'': Huckins; 4 Packard engines.
* ''PT-70'': Higgins; 3 Packard engines.
* One MRB-8 (Motor Rescue Boat), built for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
by Higgins; 3 Hall-Scott engines.
Each member of the Board conducted an independent inspection of every boat class, evaluating them for structural sufficiency, habitability, access, arrangement for attack control, and communication facilities.
Boats were also evaluated under two conditions of armament loading: loaded and fully equipped with four torpedoes and sufficient fuel to operate 500 NM at 20 knots; and fully loaded with two torpedoes and ten depth charges with sufficient fuel to operate at .
Boats would have their tactical parameters of each design determined by photographs from an airship.
=First open-ocean trial
=
Lastly, there was a demonstration of seakeeping qualities and hull strength by making a run at maximum sustained speed in the open ocean. An accelerometer was installed in the
pilot house
The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska
file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topp ...
of each boat to record "pounding". Conducted on 24 July 1941, this open-water trial, at full throttle, would forever after be referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby". The course started from the mouth of
New London Harbor
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...
, to Sarah Ledge, then led around the eastern end of
Block Island
Block Island is an island in the U.S. state of Rhode Island located in Block Island Sound approximately south of the mainland and east of Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, named after Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. It is part of Washingt ...
, then around Fire Island Lightship, finishing at
Montauk Point
Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318.
The ...
Whistling Buoy.
At the time, only the Elco 77-footers were loaded with armament. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. This resulted in severe conditions for several of the boats during the trial and accounted for the transverse failure in ''PT-70''s deck and subsequent hull failure as the copper fell into the hull.
Nine boats participated in the trial.''PT-26'' had previously developed deck failures while conducting standardization trials off Block Island on 21 July 1941. Six boats completed the trial, while three withdrew: ''PT-33'' suffered structural damage off Block Island; ''PT-70'' was damaged by loose copper ingots; and ''MRB'' developed engine trouble at the start of the run.
By class, ''PT-20'', an Elco 77-footer, came in first with an average speed of ; followed by ''PT-31'', with an average speed of ; ''PT-69'', the Huckins boat, was third with an average speed of ;The Huckins boat experienced a high pressure oil failure and had to go "Dead in the Water" in order to effect the repair. ''PT-6'', the Higgins 81-footer, with an average speed of was fifth; and ''PT-8'', the Philadelphia Navy Yard boat, was last, at . The other two Elco boats, ''PT-30'' and ''PT 23'' (standby boat), followed ''PT-31'', placing before ''PT-69''.
The accelerometers ranked the boats as follows: first was the Philadelphia Navy Yard ''PT-8'' with the least pounding, second was the Huckins ''PT-69'', third was the Higgins ''PT-6'', and last were the Elco 77-footers.
=Second open-ocean trial
=
Due to the problem with ingot loading, a trial with the PTs fully fitted out was conducted on 12 August 1941. Four boats - ''PT-8'', ''PT-69'', ''PT-70'', and MRB - returned and Elco sent two new boats, ''PT-21'' and ''PT-29''. During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as . All except the Huckins (''PT-69'') completed the run. The Huckins withdrew due to bilge stringer failure. 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. ''PT-21'' suffered minor cracks in the deck in the same location, but not to the same extent, as previously observed in ''PT-26'', ''PT-30'', and ''PT-33''. ''PT-29'' was assigned as a pace boat with ''PT-8'' in order to generate a pounding comparison.
The average speed results from the course were: Elco 77-footer (''PT-21''), ; Higgins 76-footer (''PT-70''), ; Higgins MRB and Philadelphia Navy Yard boat (''PT-8''), . Accelerometers were again installed in the pilot house of each boat, but the readings were incomplete because the violent motion of the boats made observations extremely difficult and in some cases necessitated abandonment of the observing stations. Further, many of those taken were beyond the normal range of the instruments and were considered inaccurate. Elco boats were found to pound heavily and confirmed previous reports of crew discomfort.
Board of Inspection and Survey's findings
The Elco 77-Footer Design Demonstrates:
# Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 39.7 knots; maximum speed 44.1 knots with heavy ordnance load.
# Maneuverability satisfactory except for a large turning circle of .
# Space available for four 21" torpedo tubes.
# Structural weaknesses resulting in transverse fractures of deck planking.
# Tendency to pound heavily in a seaway.
# Fittings and finish unnecessarily refined.
# Cost to the Government fully equipped $302,100.
The Huckins 72-Foot Design Demonstrates:
# Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 33.8 knots; maximum speed 43.8 knots with light ordnance load.
# Maneuverability satisfactory with a turning circle of .
# Space available for two 21" torpedo tubes and ten depth charges.
# Structural weaknesses resulting in fracture of bilge stringers.
# Very little tendency to pound in a seaway.
# Fittings and finish appropriate for a motor torpedo boat.
# Cost to the Government fully equipped $263,500.
The Navy Yard Philadelphia 81-Foot Design Demonstrates:
# Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 30.7 knots; maximum speed 33.9 knots with light ordnance load.
# Maneuverability unsatisfactory due to inability to reverse outboard engines with a large turning circle of
# Space available for two 21" torpedo tubes and ten depth charges.
# Structural strength is adequate.
# Tendency to pound severely in a seaway.
# Fittings (Navy standard for combatant ships) entirely too heavy and cumbersome for this type of craft. Finish adequate.
# Cost to the Government fully equipped $756,400.
The Higgins 81-Foot Design Demonstrates:
# Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 31.4 knots; maximum speed 34.3 knots with heavy ordnance load.
# Maneuverability satisfactory with a turning circle of 368 yards.
# Space available for four 21" torpedo tubes.
# Structural strength adequate.
# Moderate tendency to pound in a seaway.
# Fittings and finish satisfactory.
# Cost to the Government fully equipped $206,600.
The Higgins 76-Foot Design Demonstrates:
# Maximum sustained speed of 27.2 knots in rough seas; maximum speed 40.9 knots.
# Maneuverability satisfactory, turning circle not determined photographically, estimated 300 yards.
# Space available for four 21" torpedo tubes.
# Structural weaknesses caused failures in transverse bottom framing, separation of side planking from framing and extensive failures of deck fastenings.
# Moderate tendency to pound in a seaway.
# Fittings and finish satisfactory.
# Cost to the Government fully equipped $265,500.
The Board arrived at the following recommendations:
# That the Packard power plant having been found highly satisfactory be adopted as standard for future construction.
# That the ordnance installation of future motor torpedo boats consist of two torpedo tubes, machine guns and depth charges.
# That the Huckins 78-foot (''PT-69'') design be considered acceptable for immediate construction.
# That the Higgins 80-foot (''PT-6'') design suitably reduced in size to carry such ordnance loads as are required by our Navy be considered acceptable for immediate construction.
# That the Elco 77-foot design be considered acceptable for future construction provided changes in the lines are made to reduce the tendency to pound in a seaway, and the structure be strengthened in a manner acceptable to the Bureau of Ships.
# That the Philadelphia 81-foot boat (''PT-8) be stripped of excess weight and be re-engined with three Packard engines.
The Board also had the following opinion on structural sufficiency: "During the first series of tests (21–24 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. The Higgins 70' (British) boat did not complete this run because of engine trouble. The Higgins 76' (PT-70) and boats of the Elco 77' (PT-20 Class) developed structural failures even under moderate weather conditions prevailing. In the interval between the first and second test periods the PT-70 was repaired and an effort made to eliminate the causes of the structural failures. However, during the second endurance run, which was made in a very rough sea for this size boat, structural failures again occurred in PT-70. PT-69 and PT-21 experienced structural failures during the second run though these were much more ]localized as compared with those found on PT-70. 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."
Analysis of the "Plywood Derby" findings
The Board results provided very important benchmarks in the infancy of PT boat development. This type of craft presented design challenges that were still issues decades after, but there are some significant conclusions from the above recommendations and their order of merit. Those are:
# The Packard were the engines of choice.
# The Huckins 72-foot (''PT-69'') and a reduced Higgins 81-foot (''PT-6'') design were to be placed into production. Following an October 1941 BuShips conference and its new set of navy design requirements which included room to support four torpedoes and an upper length restriction of 82', the next two orders for pre-war PT boats (''PT-71'' through ''PT-102'') were awarded to Higgins and Huckins.
# Even though the Elco 77-footers posted the fastest speeds, all seven Elcos suffered from structural damage and severe pounding causing the Board to recommend a redesign to correct these deficiencies. Elco competed for the ''PT-71'' to ''PT-102'' contract but did not win due to their higher unit price. After the start of the war and significantly revising their unit cost, Elco received the next PT boat order after Higgins and Huckins. This was to be their new Elco 80-foot design.
Elco
The newly designed Electric Launch Company#History, Elco Naval Division boats were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. By war's end, more of the Elco boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. While comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history, these
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 ...
wooden-
hulled
Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...
craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s,
destroyer escort
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships.
Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
s, and
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s. Though often said to be made of
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
, they were actually made of two diagonal layered thick
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
planks, with a glue-impregnated layer of canvas in between. Holding all this together were thousands of bronze screws and copper rivets. This type of construction made it possible for damage to the wooden hulls of these boats to be easily repaired at the front lines by base force personnel. Five Elco Boats were manufactured in
knock-down kit
A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, then exported to another country or region ...
form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on the West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept.
Higgins
Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins Industries is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP (land ...
landing craft vehicle personnel
A Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel or Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) is any of a variety of amphibious landing craft designed to transport troops or armoured vehicles from ship to shore during amphibious landings.
United Kingdom
The desi ...
(LCVP) used so successfully in the beach landings at
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
in the Atlantic and the
island-hopping campaign
Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies of World War II, Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II.
The key idea is to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands in ...
in the Pacific – produced 199 boats of the '' PT-71''/''PT-235'', ''PT-265'' and ''PT-625'' classes. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engines, generators, shaft horsepower, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the Elco boats. Many Higgins boats were sent to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and Great Britain at the beginning of the war, so many of the lower-numbered squadrons in the U.S. Navy were made up exclusively of Elcos. U.S. Navy PT boats were organized into motor torpedo boat squadrons (MTBRONs). The first Higgins boats for the U.S. Navy were used in the battle for the
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 ...
(Attu and Kiska) as part of Squadrons 13 and 16, and others (MTBRON15 and MTBRON22) in the Mediterranean against the Germans. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.
Even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, three of which have been restored to their World War II configuration) than the more numerous Elco boats. Of the Elco boats, only three hulls (one restored) were known to exist as of 2016.
Huckins Yacht Corporation
Frank P. Huckins
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Curre ...
and his innovative Quadraconic planing hull design were latecomers to PT boat design. 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. In early July 1941, the Navy accepted ''PT-69''. After obtaining excellent testing results at the Plywood Derby, the Navy awarded Huckins Yacht Corporation a contract in 1941 for 8 boats, and later added 10 more. The design was enlarged and modified to meet the new requirements. The first three of the new design (''PT-95'' through ''PT-97'') were initially kept in the Jacksonville area for testing, resulting in several important modifications to the overall design (these boats were later assigned to Squadron 4 in 1942). Huckins ended up building just two squadrons of PT boats during World War II. Five 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. They were assigned to specific outposts in the
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
,
Miami, Florida
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 ...
, the
Hawaiian Sea Frontier
Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...
at
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
and Midway, and a training center in
Melville, Rhode Island
Melville is a census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. It lies along the shore of Narragansett Bay. The population of the CDP was 1,320 at the 2010 census. The CDP i ...
.
Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins ever chose to use it on their boats. Most probably due to the lateness in joining the PT boat program and unlike Elco and Higgins, the Huckins yard was never provided any government support to construct a larger facility prior to the war. The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at a speed of one per month. The success and ruggedness of the Huckins' 78-foot seagoing design is demonstrated by Squadron 26's constant ready-boat operations and Fleet torpedo boat training in the oceans around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war.
Vosper and other types of PT boats
During World War II, Vospers of Great Britain arranged for several boatyards in the United States to build British-designed motor torpedo boats under license to help the war effort. The boatyards were located in Annapolis, Bristol, City Island, Miami, and Los Angeles. 146 boats, armed with torpedoes, were built for
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, ...
, and exported to Allied powers such as Canada, Britain, Norway, and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. These boats were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
; most were passed to other countries. The
Canadian Power Boat Company Canadian Power Boat Company was a manufacturer of motor torpedo boats and similar craft in Canada during World War II.
A prototype 70-foot boat was built by Hubert Scott-Paine's British Power Boat Company and shipped to Canada in 1940. Canadian P ...
produced four Scott-Paine designed PTs for the U.S. These were to be provided to the Dutch forces under Lend Lease but were re-requisitioned to the USN as PT 368–371 after the fall of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to German forces.
Construction
PT boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. Crews varied from 12 to 17, depending upon the number and type of weapons installed. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons.
The hull shape of the Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the contoured "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time (and still in use today): a sharp V at the bow softening to a flat bottom at the stern. A common characteristic of this type of contoured hull is the "rooster tail" in the wake. Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at 10-11 knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds (PT 71 and PT-103 classes at around 27 knots, and the PT-265 and 625 classes at around 23 knots). The Elco, Higgins and Huckins companies used varying lightweight techniques of hull construction which included two layers of double diagonal mahogany planking utilizing a glue-impregnated or lead painted canvas layer between inner and outer planks. These planks were held together by thousands of copper rivets and bronze screws. The overall result was an extremely light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at the front lines when battle damage was sustained. According to Robert McFarlane, the US Navy built the hulls of some PT boats partially from 3,000-year-old white cedar logs recovered from sphagnum bog in New Jersey.
As a testament to the strength of this type of construction and watertight bulkheads, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example, the forward half of future President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
's ''
PT-109 PT1 may refer to:
* 486958 Arrokoth (New Horizons PT1), a Kuiper belt object and selected target for a flyby of the New Horizons probe
* Pratt & Whitney PT1, a free-piston gas-turbine engine
* Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a 1930s USAAS primary trainer ...
'' (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer ''Amagiri''. ''PT-323'' (Elco) was cut in half by a ''
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' aircraft on 10 December 1944 off
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
, yet remained floating for several hours. ''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. ''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.
In 1943, an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. This resulted in the November 1943 Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before the end of the war. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs ("ElcoPlane") which achieved significant increase in top speed. Higgins developed the small and fast ''Higgins Hellcat'', which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production due to increased fuel consumption and other considerations.
After the war, Lindsay Lord, who was stationed in Hawaii during the war, recorded the Navy's planing hull research and findings in the book ''Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls''. It covers PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs.
Armament
The primary anti-ship armament was two to four
Mark 8
Mark 8 is the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains two miracles of Jesus, Peter's confession that he believes Jesus is the Messiah, and Jesus' first prediction of his own death and resurr ...
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es, which weighed and contained a TNT warhead. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 steel
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s. Mark 8 torpedoes had a range of at . These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight
Mark 13 torpedo
The Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was the first American torpedo to be originally designed for launching from aircraft only. They were also used on PT boats.
Design
Originating in a 1925 des ...
es, which weighed and contained a Torpex-filled warhead. These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks. The Mk13 torpedo had a range of and a speed of .
PT boats were also armed with numerous automatic weapons. Common to all US PT boats were the two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically operated rotating turrets. Almost immediately after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
, the Dewandre turrets were replaced on the entire PT boat fleet with open ring twin mounts. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
, and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. Part of the Mark 17 Mod 1 and Mod 2 ring mount consisted of the Bell Mark 9 twin cradle. Another automatic weapon commonly mounted on PT boats was the 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. On early series of boats, this cannon was mounted on the stern. Later in the war, several more of these 20 mm cannons were added amidships and on the forward deck.
Forward of the chart house of some early Elco boats (PT20 through PT44) were twin .30 cal (7.62 mm)
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
machine guns on pedestal mounts. Beginning in mid-1943, some boats were fitted with one or two .30 cal Browning machine guns on the forward torpedo racks on pedestal mounts.
Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ''ad hoc'' up-fits at forward bases, where they mounted such weapons as 37mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's ''PT-109'', which was equipped with a single-shot Army M3 37mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost. The larger punch of the 37mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37mm
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed
P-39 Airacobra
The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...
fighter planes on Henderson Field,
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
. After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats, the M4 (and later M9) cannon was installed at the factory. The M4/M9 37mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
(30 rounds). 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
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons.
The installation of larger-bore cannons culminated in the fitting of the 40mm Bofors gun on the aft deck. Starting in mid-1943, the installation of this gun had an immediate positive effect on the firepower available from a PT boat. The Bofors cannon had a firing rate of 120 rounds/min (using 4-round clips) and had a range of . This gun was served by a crew of 4 men, and was used against aircraft targets, as well as shore bombardment or enemy surface craft.
Gunboats
In the Solomon Islands in 1943, three PT boats, ''PT-59'', ''PT-60'', and ''PT-61'', were converted into "PT gunboats" by stripping them of all original armament except the two twin .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun mounts, then adding two 40mm and four twin .50 cal (12.7 mm) mounts. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of ''PT-59'' after its conversion. On 2 November 1943, ''PT-59'' participated in the rescue of 40 to 50
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
from
Choiseul Island
Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island () of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at . The administrative headquarters of Choiseul Province is situated in the town of Taro, on Taro Island.
History
In 1768, the French explor ...
and a foundering landing craft (LCP(R)) which was under fire from Japanese soldiers on the beach.
Other armament
Towards the end of the war, beginning in 1945, PTs received two eight-cell Mark 50 rocket launchers, launching spin-stabilized flat trajectory Mark 7 and/or Mark 10 rockets with a range of . These 16 rockets plus 16 reloads gave them as much firepower as a destroyer's guns (albeit without their accuracy). By war's end, the PT boat had more "firepower-per-ton" than any other vessel in the U.S. Navy.
PT boats also commonly carried between two and eight U.S. Navy Mark 6
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 in roll-off racks.
Additionally, a few PT boats were equipped to carry naval mines launched from
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
racks, but these were not commonly used.
Engines
With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all U.S. PT boats were powered by three marine modified derivations of the
Packard 3A-2500
The Packard 1A-2500 is an American V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine designed by Packard in 1924 as a successor to the World War I-era Liberty L-12. Five aero variants were produced, of which the 3A-2500 was the most numerous. Three marin ...
V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine. Improvements upon Packard's World War I
Liberty L-12
The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized Marinisation (also m ...
2A engine, the successive "M" for "marine" designated 3M-2500, 4M-2500, and 5M-2500 generations all featured slight changes and more power. Their
supercharger
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
s,
intercooler
An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines.
Internal combustion engines
Mo ...
s, dual
magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
s, and two spark plugs per cylinder reflected their aircraft origins.
Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...
aircraft engine alongside the marine 4M-2500 has long been a source of confusion. Only the British built ''PT-9'' prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured a Merlin.
The 4M-2500 initially generated . It was subsequently upgraded in stages to , allowing a designed speed of . The 5M-2500 introduced in late 1945 had a larger supercharger, aftercooler, and increased power output of . It could push fully loaded boats at . However, subsequent additions of weaponry offset this potential increase in top speed.
Fuel consumption of any version of these engines was exceptionally heavy. A PT boat carried of 100
octane
Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula , and the condensed structural formula . Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers, 2,2,4-Tri ...
aviation fuel
Aviation fuels are petroleum-based fuels, or petroleum and synthetic fuel blends, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground use, such as heating and road transport, and contain additives to enhanc ...
, enough for a 4M-2500 equipped boat to conduct a maximum 12-hour patrol. Some an hour were consumed at a cruising speed of , increasing to per hour at top speed. Hull fouling and engine wear could both decrease top speed and increase fuel consumption materially.
Service
PT boats operated in the southern, western, and northern Pacific, as well as in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
and the English Channel.
Early use
Originally conceived as anti-ship weapons, PT boats were publicly credited with sinking several Japanese warships during the period between December 1941 and the fall of the Philippines in May 1942Bulkley, Robert J, ''At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy'' (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962) – even though the Navy knew the claims were all false.
The exaggerated claims by Bulkeley about the effectiveness of the PTs in combat against larger craft allowed him to recruit top talent, raise war bonds, and caused overconfidence among squadron commanders who continued to pit PTs against larger craft. The reality was his claims that PTs had sunk a Japanese cruiser, a troopship, and a plane tender in the Philippines were untrue.
Compounding the difficulty with the early torpedoes, attacking at night PT boat crews may have sometimes failed to note a possible torpedo failure. Although the American
Mark 8 torpedo
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
did have problems with porpoising and circular runs, it could and did have success against common classes of targets. The
Mark 3
Mark 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates a conflict over healing on the Sabbath, the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, a conflict with scribes and a meeting of Jesus with h ...
and Mark 4 exploders were not subject to the same problems as the
Mark 6 exploder
The Mark 6 exploder was a United States Navy torpedo exploder developed in the 1920s. It was the standard exploder of the Navy's Mark 14 torpedo and Mark 15 torpedo.
Development
Early torpedoes used contact exploders. A typical exploder had a ...
s on U.S. submarines'
Mark 14 torpedo
The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 elec ...
es. In spite of Bulkeley's claim that introduction of the
Mark 13 torpedo
The Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was the first American torpedo to be originally designed for launching from aircraft only. They were also used on PT boats.
Design
Originating in a 1925 des ...
to PT boats in mid-1943 all but eliminated the early problems that PT boats had with their obsolete Mark 8s, difficulties remained. In the August 1943 engagement in which PT-''109'' was lost, fifteen boats shipping 60 torpedoes fired over half without a single one hitting an enemy vessel.
Night attacks
PTs would usually attack at night. The cockpits of PT boats were protected by armor plate against small arms fire and splinters. Direct hits from Japanese guns could and did result in catastrophic gasoline explosions with near-total crew loss. Crews feared attack by Japanese seaplanes, which were hard to detect even with radar, but which could easily spot the phosphorescent wake left by PT propellers. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses. There are several recorded instances of PT boats trading fire with friendly aircraft, a situation also familiar to U.S. submariners. Several PT boats were lost due to
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
from both Allied aircraft and destroyers. Enemy forces would use searchlights or seaplane-dropped flares to illuminate fleeing PT boats.
Initially, only a few boats were issued primitive radar sets. U.S. Navy PTs were eventually fitted with
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
SO radar, which had about a range. Having radar gave Navy PTs a distinct advantage in intercepting enemy supply barges and ships at night. As more PTs were fitted with dependable radar, they developed superior night-fighting tactics and used them to locate and destroy many enemy targets. During the Guadalcanal and Solomon Island campaigns in 1942–1943, the PT boats of Squadrons (MTBRON) 2, 3, 5 and 6 would lie in wait to ambush a target from torpedo range, generally about .
During some of these nighttime attacks, PT boat positions may have been given away by a flash of light caused by grease inside the black powder-actuated Mark 8 torpedo tubes catching fire during the launching sequence. In order to evade return fire from the enemy ships, the PT boat could deploy a
smoke screen
A smoke screen is smoke released to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks, aircraft, or ships.
Smoke screens are commonly deployed either by a canister (such as a grenade) or generated by a vehicle (such as ...
using stern-mounted generators. Starting in mid-1943, the old Mark 18 torpedo tubes and Mark 8 torpedoes began to be replaced. The new Mark 1 "roll-off" torpedo launcher rack (loaded with an improved Mark 13 aerial torpedo) effectively eliminated the telltale flash of light from burning grease, did not use any form of explosive to launch the torpedo, and weighed about less than the tubes.
Solomon Islands campaign
The effectiveness of PT boats in the
Solomon Islands campaign
The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, du ...
, where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships, as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The
Tokyo Express
The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the P ...
" operating in
New Georgia Sound
New Georgia Sound is the sound in the New Georgia Islands region that runs approximately southeast–northwest through the middle of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean and Melanesia.The Slot" by the Americans), was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. The Japanese were initially cautious when operating their
capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet.
Strategic im ...
s in areas known to have PT boats, knowing how dangerous their own
Type 93 torpedo
The was a -diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given to it after the war by Samuel Eliot Mori ...
es were, and assumed the Americans had equally lethal weapons. The PT boats at Guadalcanal were given credit for several sinkings and successes against the vaunted Tokyo Express. In several engagements, the mere presence of PTs was sufficient to disrupt heavily escorted Japanese resupply activities at
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
. Afterwards, the PT mission in the Solomon Islands was deemed a success.
D-Day invasion
Some PT boats served during the
Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...
. During the D-Day invasion, PTs patrolled the "Mason Line", forming a barrier against the German S-boats attacking the Allied landing forces. They also performed lifesaving and anti-shipping mine destruction missions during the invasion.
Barge attacks
Perhaps the most effective use of PTs was as "barge busters." Since both the Japanese in the New Guinea area and the Germans in the Mediterranean had lost numerous resupply vessels to Allied air power during daylight hours, each attempted to resupply their troop concentrations by using shallow draft barges at night in very shallow waters. The shallow depth meant Allied destroyers were unable to follow them due to the risk of running aground and the barges could be protected by an umbrella of shore batteries.
The efficiency of the PT boats at sinking the Japanese supply barges was considered a key reason that the Japanese had severe food, ammunition, and replacement problems during the New Guinea and Solomon Island campaigns, and made the PT boats prime targets for enemy aircraft. The use of PT boat torpedoes was ineffective against these sometimes heavily armed barges, since the minimum depth setting of the torpedo was about 10 feet (3 m) and the barges drew only 5 feet (1.5 m).
To accomplish the task, PTs in the Mediterranean and the Pacific (and RN and RCN motor torpedo boats in the Mediterranean) installed more and heavier guns which were able to sink the barges. One captured Japanese soldier's diary described their fear of PT boats by describing them as "the monster that roars, flaps its wings, and shoots torpedoes in all directions."
Although their primary mission continued to be attack on surface ships and craft, PT boats were also used effectively to lay mines and smoke screens, coordinate in
air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...
operations, rescue shipwreck survivors, destroy Japanese
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
boats, destroy floating mines, and carry out intelligence or raider operations.
After the war, American military interviews with captured veterans of the Imperial Japanese Navy, supplemented by the available partial Japanese war records, were unable to verify that all the PT boat sinking claims were valid. Like many other victory claims by all parties involved (aircraft pilots, surface ships, submarines) this unclear verification was due in part to the Japanese military's policies of destroying military records.
Repair training
In 1944, several Higgins boats (''PT222'', ''PT-283'', ''PT-284'', ''PT-285'', and ''PT-282'') were converted, releasing ''PT-59'', ''PT-60'', and ''PT-61'' for transfer back home to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center in
Melville, Rhode Island
Melville is a census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. It lies along the shore of Narragansett Bay. The population of the CDP was 1,320 at the 2010 census. The CDP i ...
, for use in training in hull repair techniques.
Supply
PT boats lacked a large capacity refrigerator to store sufficient quantities of perishable foods. While docked, PT boat squadrons were supported by PT boat tenders or base facilities which supplied boat crews with hot meals. As PT boats were usually located near the end of the supply chain, their crews proved resourceful in bartering with nearby ships or military units for supplies and using munitions to harvest their own fish.
Boats
Many PT boats became famous during and after World War II:
*'' PT-41'', commanded by Ensign
George E. Cox, Jr. USNR
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
, carried General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three (MTBRon 3) was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: ''PT-31'' ...
(MTBRON 3), was awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
for his operations in the Philippines before rescuing MacArthur. Bulkeley's story inspired a book and the movie ''
They Were Expendable
''They Were Expendable'' is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story ...
'', which was based on it. ''PT-41'' was the flagship of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, based in the
Philippine Islands
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
1941–1942 (''PT-41, −31, −32, −33, −34, −35'').
* ''Life'' magazine published an article about the PT boat captains in the battles off
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
, featuring the exploits of Lieutenants "Stilly" Taylor, Leonard A. Nikoloric, Lester Gamble, and Robert and John Searles; the article mentioned many boats in MTB
Squadron
Squadron may refer to:
* Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies
* Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...
s
Two
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
and
Five
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
(in particular, ''PT-36'', ''PT-37'', ''PT-39'', ''PT-44'', ''PT-46'', ''PT-48'', ''
PT-59
''PT-59 / PTGB-1'' was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat (PT boat) of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser ''PTC-27'', and was reclassified as ' ...
'', ''
PT-109 PT1 may refer to:
* 486958 Arrokoth (New Horizons PT1), a Kuiper belt object and selected target for a flyby of the New Horizons probe
* Pratt & Whitney PT1, a free-piston gas-turbine engine
* Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a 1930s USAAS primary trainer ...
'', ''PT-115'', and ''PT-123'').
*Other PT boats gaining fame during the war were ''PT-363'' and ''PT-489'', the boats used by
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Murray Preston to rescue a downed aviator in Wasile Bay, off Halmahera Island, for which Preston was awarded the Medal of Honor.
*''
PT-109 PT1 may refer to:
* 486958 Arrokoth (New Horizons PT1), a Kuiper belt object and selected target for a flyby of the New Horizons probe
* Pratt & Whitney PT1, a free-piston gas-turbine engine
* Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a 1930s USAAS primary trainer ...
'', commanded by
Lieutenant, junior grade
Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies.
United States
Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...
, John F. Kennedy, was made famous through
Robert J. Donovan
Robert John Donovan (August 21, 1912 – August 8, 2003) was a Washington correspondent, author and presidential historian. He died from complications from stroke.
Biography
Donovan attended Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York, where he ...
's 1961 book '' PT-109: John F. Kennedy in World War II'' and the 1963 film based on it, ''PT 109''.
* ''PT-59'': Commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade, Kennedy after the loss of ''PT-109''. Its remains have (possibly) been discovered in the
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland.
The northern stretch, also called the Spuyte ...
in the
Inwood, Manhattan
Inwood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, at the northern tip of Manhattan Island, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Hudson River to the west, Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Marble Hill to the north, the H ...
section in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Losses
According to the book ''"At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy"'' 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II were lost to various causes.
* Accidents,
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
, sea conditions – 32
*
Scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
to prevent capture – 27
* Rammed by the enemy – 8
* ''
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' – 2
* Hit
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
– 9
* Enemy
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...
– 6
*
Strafed
Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons.
Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...
– 8
* Enemy naval gunfire – 7
Surviving boats
At the end of the war, almost all surviving U.S. PT boats were disposed of shortly after
V-J Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...
. Hundreds of boats were deliberately stripped of all useful equipment and then dragged up on the beach and burned. This was done to minimize the amount of upkeep the Navy would have to do, since wooden boats require much continuous maintenance, and they were not considered worth the effort. The boats also used a lot of high octane gasoline for their size, making them too expensive to operate for a peacetime navy. Much of this destruction (121 boats) occurred at PT Base 17, on
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
, Philippines, near Bobon Point.
Production boats
A few (one 80' Elco, one 72' Vosper, and three 78' Higgins) were cut up and destroyed between 1998 and 2008, leaving (a known) total of 12 PT boats, and 2 experimental PT boat hulls in various states of repair, surviving today in the U.S.:
;''PT-48''
''PT-48'' is possibly the last surviving Elco PT boat. In July 1942, ''PT-48'' (nicknamed "Prep Tom" and "Deuce") was assigned to MTBRON 3(2). This second Squadron 3 was the first to arrive in the Solomons and saw heavy engagement with the "Tokyo Express". PT 48 was one of the first 4 boats to arrive at Tulagi, on 12 October 1942. On the night of 13/14 October 1942, PT-48 engaged a Japanese destroyer at . This Squadron saw action in the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and Funafuti. ''PT-48'' is today in need of major restoration, after having been cut down to and used as a dinner cruise boat. Because of this boat's extensive combat history, having survived 22 months in the combat zone at Guadalcanal (more time in combat than any other surviving PT boat), a preservation group, "Fleet Obsolete" of
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...
, acquired and transported it to
Rondout Creek
Rondout Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, United States. It rises on Rock ...
in 2009 for eventual repair.
;''PT-305''
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 boat, assigned during the war to MTBRON-22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. Squadron 22 was operating with the British
Royal Navy Coastal Forces
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Fo ...
, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. In 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-305'' was cut down to for use as an oyster seed boat in
Crisfield, Maryland
Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 2,515 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statisti ...
. ''PT-305'' was acquired by the Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM), and then sold in May 2007 to the
National World War II Museum
The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street
Maga ...
in
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. After a lengthy restoration ''PT-305'' has been restored to a seaworthy, operational vessel. It was relaunched in March 2017, and the museum is booking rides on
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...
on Saturdays, or static tours other days of the week.
;''PT-309''
A Higgins, PT-309 ("Oh Frankie!") was assigned during the war to MTBRON 22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron was operating under the British Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. In April 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. Coincidentally, the ''PT-309'' ("Oh Frankie!"), 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. ''PT-309'' is located at the
National Museum of the Pacific War
The National Museum of the Pacific War is located in Fredericksburg, Texas, the boyhood home of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Nimitz served as commander in chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CinCPAC), and was soon afterward named commander i ...
/ Admiral Nimitz Museum in
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg (german: Friedrichsberg) is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, this city had a population of 10,530.
Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. O ...
, and was restored by the (now defunct) Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM). ''PT-309'' is restored (but non-operational) in a static diorama display without engines installed. Her external restoration was completed by the Texas group in 2002, and is to a high standard.
;''PT-459''
''PT-459'' ("Mahogany Menace") a Higgins boat, was assigned to MTBRON 30 on 15 February 1944. MTBRON 30 saw action in the English Channel as part of the Invasion of Normandy. 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. After the war, the ex-PT459 was cut down to and highly modified into a sightseeing boat and fishing trawler. She was acquired by Fleet Obsolete in June 2008 and moved to Kingston, New York, for possible restoration.
;''PT-486''
''PT-486'', an Elco boat, was placed in service on 2 December 1943. It was used in the training squadron MTBRON 4 in Melville, Rhode Island, during World War II until it was placed out of service 16 January 1946. Along with PT-557, the vessel was purchased from BFM Industries (Brooklyn, NY) by Capt. George C. Sinn of Wildwood Crest, NJ on 9 October 1951 for $1,015.00. 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. The business was later sold to Capt. Charles Schumann in the 1980s. He named the vessel Schumann's "Big Blue" and ran the business until 2002. Remarkably, the PT486 was sold to the son of the original owner, Capt. Ronald G. Sinn, who in 2012 sold the boat to "Fleet Obsolete" of Kingston NY. Plans are for restoring the vessel to recreate the World War II appearance.
;''PT-615''
''PT-615'', an Elco originally assigned to MTBRON 42, was commissioned after the war ended. ''PT-615'' was returned to Elco after being sold and was heavily modified into a yacht, which was leased to actor
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
. He named the boat ''Tarbaby VI'', and used her through the 1950s. The boat was serviced and stored by Elco. She was sold several times, and moved to Kingston, NY for possible restoration.
;''PT-617''
''
PT-617
Motor torpedo boat ''PT-617'', also known as ''Big Red Cock'' and ''Dragon Lady'', "is the sole surviving 80' Elco type PT boat and represents the United States's most heavily used, highly favored, and combat-tested PT boat type in World War I ...
'' is an Elco boat located at the
Battleship Cove
Battleship Cove is a nonprofit maritime museum and war memorial in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States. Featuring the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels, it is home to the highly decorated battleship . It is located at ...
Naval Museum in
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
. She was obtained from the backwaters of Florida and moved to its current location by JM "Boats" Newberry, the founder of PT Boats Inc. "Boats" along with the team at Battleship Cove Museum restored her during 1984–89, inside and out, at a cost of US$1 million. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in
Germantown, Tennessee
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census.
Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east-southeast. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants. The ...
.
The quality of the restoration was extremely high, and the boat is on display inside a weatherproof building, on blocks out of the water. She is available for public viewing, and has portions of her hull cut away to display the cramped interior of the crew's quarters. General visitors are not allowed inside the boat in order to help preserve her historic integrity.
;''PT-657''
''PT-657'', a Higgins boat, has been converted into a charter fishing boat. She is located in San Diego and is now named ''Malihini''.
;''PT-658''
''PT-658'' is a Higgins boat and one of two 100% authentically restored and operational U.S. Navy PT boats afloat today. Relaunched after hull restoration from 1995 to 2005, it is located at Pier 308, Vigor Shipyard in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
's Swan Island Lagoon. Maintained by an all volunteer group, it is powered by the three Packard V12 5M-2500 gas engines and includes all weapons, electronics, equipment and accessories restored to appear as they did the day the US Navy accepted the boat, 31 July 1945.
''PT-658'' was added to the
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 2012.
;''PT-724''
''PT-724'', a surviving Vosper built at the Annapolis Boat yard in Maryland, has been used as a yacht, and has since been acquired by the Liberty Aviation Museum to be restored back to original Vosper configuration.
;''PT-728''
''PT-728'', a surviving Vosper boat built under license at the Annapolis Boat Yard in Maryland, was restored in
Key West, Florida
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
. Her deck house was reconfigured to partially resemble an Elco instead of its original Vosper 70 ft configuration. ''PT-728'' was acquired by Fleet Obsolete and moved to Kingston. There ''PT-728'' allows up to 49 tourists the chance to ride on a "PT boat". This boat is the only U.S. Coast Guard regulation-approved PT boat licensed to take passengers for hire, and the only surviving U.S.-built Vosper design. In spring of 2012, ''PT-728'' was acquired by the Liberty Aircraft Museum of Port Clinton, OH for further restoration.
;''PT-766''
''PT-766'' is an Elco boat that is a private yacht ("Finished Business") located in Washington D.C. She represents the final class of Elco's with significant updates to the superstructure and radar and was intended for MTBRON 44, but was cancelled due to the end of the war.
;''PT-796''
''
PT-796
''PT-796'' is a 78-foot PT boat built by Higgins Industries of New Orleans in 1945. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 as one of a very few surviving World War II PT boats. A "Higgins" boat, she is part of the collection of ...
'' ("Tail Ender") is a Higgins. After the war ended PT-796 was used in the Key West/Miami area for experimental purposes. She was retired from service in the late 1950s. 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-109s surviving crew members manning the boat. Today, ''PT-796'' is located at the
Battleship Cove
Battleship Cove is a nonprofit maritime museum and war memorial in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States. Featuring the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels, it is home to the highly decorated battleship . It is located at ...
Naval Museum in
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
, in a
Quonset hut
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...
-style building, protected from the weather, and up on blocks. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in
Germantown, Tennessee
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census.
Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east-southeast. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants. The ...
.
Experimental boats
;''PT-3''
Two of the experimental PT-Boats also still survive, ''PT-3'' (built by Fisher Boat Works) in New Jersey and ''PT-8''. ''PT-3'' was designed by George Crouch and employed lightweight planing hull construction methods. A barrel-back (which provided increased strength to the sides and deck), a unique double longitudinal planked (mahogany outer planking and Port Orford cedar inner planking) lightweight hull on bent laminated oak framing, she was the "featherweight" of transportable PT boat design, but was later rejected by the Navy during trials in 1941 after being deemed too short to carry 4 torpedoes, as well as being able to only launch torpedoes stern first, which was a procedure considered too dangerous by BuOrd. PT-3 and PT-8 were both part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 1 (MTBRON 1) during the testing period. After testing was completed, PT-3 was transferred to Canada in April 1941 under lend-lease. PT-3 served with the RCAF Fleet as the RCAF Bras d'Or M413 (B119) based at Eastern Air Command in Halifax. She was transferred back to the United States in April 1945. Now located in a New Jersey boatyard in awaiting restoration.
;''PT-8''
''PT-8'' (built at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard) in Louisiana was built entirely from aluminum but did not pass the speed acceptance criteria for use as a PT boat for the U.S. Navy due to its weight. She was reclassified as a harbor patrol boat (YP 110) for the duration of the war. PT-8 was stored in a yard for several decades in Baytown, TX, but has since moved.
;UK Vosper
The two Vosper boats in England were built by Vosper itself, and the first is in fairly good condition at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. The second UK built boat is in private hands, floating on a canal north of London and being used as a private residence, though it is remarkably intact in its World War II configuration.
Exported PT boats
Ten Higgins boats were delivered in 1948 for use by the
Argentine Navy
The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...
during the late 1940s up until the late 1970s. All of these boats are now retired from naval use, with two still in civil use today as sightseeing boats on
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...
: the ''Leonardo da Vinci'' and the ''Mar de la Plata''. The other six boats are in various states of disrepair, sunk or scrapped.
The PT boat design was also exported after the end of the Second World War as an unarmed
air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...
launch for use by the
South African Navy
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...
.
Movie stand-ins
The original 1962–66 ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...
'' TV series used a Vosper design PT-694
Prior to starring in the television series this boat was purchased as war surplus by
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
and was used as the camera chase boat when the ''
Spruce Goose
The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use duri ...
'' made its only flight. The stern of the Vosper boat is visible in the footage of that event.
In
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's 1945 war film, ''
They Were Expendable
''They Were Expendable'' is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story ...
'', two Elcos were used during filming along with four former MTBRON 14 78-foot Huckins.
For the 1962 movie ''
PT-109 PT1 may refer to:
* 486958 Arrokoth (New Horizons PT1), a Kuiper belt object and selected target for a flyby of the New Horizons probe
* Pratt & Whitney PT1, a free-piston gas-turbine engine
* Consolidated PT-1 Trusty, a 1930s USAAS primary trainer ...
'', several USAF
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 were converted to resemble 80-foot Elcos when the few surviving boats were found to need too much work to make them seaworthy for use during the film.
See also
*
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 ...
, producer of the PT boat prototype
*
Fairmile D motor torpedo boat
The Fairmile D motor torpedo boat was a type of British motor torpedo boat (MTB) and motor gunboat (MGB)Reynolds, Leonard C. ''Dog Boats at War: Royal Navy D Class MTBs and MGBs, 1939–1945.'' 2000. designed by Bill Holt and conceived by Fairm ...
(British "Dog Boats")
*
E-Boats
E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...
(German equivalent)
*
MAS (motorboat)
''Motoscafo armato silurante'' (torpedo-armed motorboat), commonly abbreviated as MAS, was a class of fast torpedo-armed vessels used by the (Italian Royal Navy) during World War I and World War II. Originally, "MAS" referred to (armed motorbo ...
(Italian equivalent)
*
Wooden boats of World War 2
Splinter fleet or Splinter navy was a nickname given to the United States wooden boats used in World War II. The boats served in many different roles during the war. These boats were built in small boatyards on the West coast and East coast, ...
Notes
Bibliography
*
* Robert J. Bulkley, At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy ' (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962)
* Victor Chun, ''American PT Boats in World War II: A Pictorial History'' (Schiffer Publishing, 1997)
* T. Garth Connelly, Don Greer, Tom Tullis, Joe Sewell, ''Pt Boats in Action (Warships, No 7)'' (Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1994)
* David Doyle "Elco 80' PT Boat on Deck" (Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2010)
*
* Michael Green, ''PT Boats (Land and Sea)'' (Capstone Press, 1999)
*
* Angus Konstam, ''PT-Boat Squadrons – US Navy Torpedo Boats'' (Ian Allan Publishing, June 2005)
* An excellent compendium of information about the Elco PT boats can be found in "''Allied Coastal Forces of World War II''" Volume II by
John Lambert John Lambert may refer to:
*John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII
*John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War
*John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c. ...
and Al Ross. . This book has a detailed history of the development of the various Elco boats, with numerous drawings and photos. It also has sections on PT boat construction, as well as chapters on the Packard engines and typical weaponry used aboard PT boats.
* Board of Inspection and Survey, ''Report of Comparative Services Tests of Motor Torpedo Boats Held July 21–24, 1941 and August 11–12, 1941 at New London, Connecticut'' (Navy Department, August 14, 1941)
* Lindsay Lord, ''Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls'' (Cornell Maritime Press, 1946)
* David Seidman, ''Damned by Faint Praise, The Life and Hard Times of Albert Hickman'' WoodenBoat 100th Issue, May/June 1991, Published by Woodenboat Publications, Inc., Brooklin, ME
* Andrée Conrad, ''Huckins, The Living Legacy'' (Ortega River Books. 1998)
*
Robert J. Donovan
Robert John Donovan (August 21, 1912 – August 8, 2003) was a Washington correspondent, author and presidential historian. He died from complications from stroke.
Biography
Donovan attended Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York, where he ...
, ''PT 109: John F. Kennedy in WWII'', 40th Anniversary Edition, McGraw Hill (reprint), 2001,
* Richard Tregaskis, ''John F. Kennedy and PT-109'' (Random House, 1962)
* Robert D. Ballard, ''Collision With History: The Search for John F. Kennedy's PT 109'' (National Geographic, 2002)
* Haruyoshi Kimmatsu, "The night We sank John Kennedy's PT 109" appeared in '' Argosy'' Magazine December 1970, Vol. 371 No. 6
* Tameichi Hara, ''Japanese Destroyer Captain'' (Ballantine Books, 1978)
* Duane T. Hove, ''American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of World War II'', Burd Street Press, (2003)
*
James Michener
James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...
Photos of the Elco PT boat ''PT-617'' in Fall River, MA
Photos of the Higgins PT boat ''PT-796'' in Fall River, MA
Photos of life on board a PT boat in the Pacific in World War II by PT boat Veteran Milt Donadt of ''PT-235''