PT boat
Encyclopedia
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
(hull classification symbol
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
"PT", for "Patrol Torpedo"), a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".
The original pre–World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
torpedo boats were designed with "displacement" hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
s. They displaced up to 300 tons and the top speed was 25 kn (30.4 mph; 49 km/h). The PT boats used in World War II were built using the planing
Planing (sailing)
Planing is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift .-History:...
-type hull form developed for racing boats
Offshore powerboat racing
Offshore powerboat racing is racing by large, specially designed ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.Probably one of the largest, most dangerous, and most powerful racing machines of all, the extreme expense of the boats and the fuel required to participate make it an expensive...
. They were much smaller (30–75 tons) and faster (35–40 knots). Both types were designed to strike at larger warships with torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es, using relatively high speed to get close, and small size to avoid being spotted and hit by gunfire. They were much less expensive than large warships. PT boats were much faster, smaller, and cheaper than conventional (displacement hull) vessels.
During World War II, American PT boats engaged enemy destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s and numerous other surface craft, ranging from small boats to large supply ships. PT boats also operated as gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s against enemy small craft, such as armored barges used by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese forces for inter-island transport.
History
In the late 1930s, the U.S. Navy requested competitive bids for several different concepts of torpedo boats. This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. The first class was for 55 feet (16.8 m) boats, and the second class was for 70 feet (21.3 m) boats. The resulting PT boat designs were the product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy.On June 8, 1939, contracts were let to the Fogal Boat Yard, Inc., later known as the Miami Shipbuilding Co., of Miami, Florida, for PT-1 and -2, and to the Fisher Boat Works, Detroit, Michigan, for PT-3 and -4. These four boats were essentially the Crouch design, modified in some details by the Bureau of Ships. At the same time the Philadelphia Navy Yard began construction of two other designs (PT-7 and PT-8), created by designers at the Navy Yard and the Navy Bureau of Ships.
Henry R. Sutphen of Electric Launch Company
Electric Launch Company
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts, is a United States boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 until present . It was originally run by Henry R. Sutphen in 1895...
(Elco) and his designers (Irwin Chase, Bill Fleming, and Glenville Tremaine) visited the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to see British motor torpedo boat designs. While visiting the British Power Boat Company
British Power Boat Company
The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats.It was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass...
, they purchased a 70 feet (21.3 m) design (PV70) (later renamed PT-9 during the competition), designed by Hubert Scott-Paine
Hubert Scott-Paine
Hubert Scott-Paine 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:...
.
Other entries in the competition were three boats built by Andrew Jackson Higgins of Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP, which were used extensively in D-Day Invasion of Normandy...
in New Orleans. These boats were PT-5 and PT-6 (built using government-required Sparkman and Stephens design, scaled to an overall length of 81 feet (24.7 m)) and then PT-6 "Prime" which was redesigned by Higgins personally using his own methods. The final competitor for the contract was Huckins Yacht Corporation
Huckins Yacht Corporation
Huckins Yacht Corporation is one of the oldest boat builders in the United States and is currently run by the third-generation owners Cindy and Buddy Purcell....
, which came up with competing 70 feet (21.3 m) boat class designs.
The results of the competition found that none of the boats, as built, were up to the necessary performance specifications identified by the Navy.
The Plywood Derby
The Board of Inspection and Survey decided to conduct comparative service tests. The following boats were tested off New London, July 21 to 24, 1941:- PT-6: 81 feet (24.7 m) Higgins; 3 Packard 1,200-hp engines.
- PT-8: 81 feet (24.7 m) Philadelphia Navy Yard; aluminum hull; 2 Allison 2,000-hp engines, 1 Hall-Scott 550-hp engine.
- PT-20: 77 feet (23.5 m) Elco; 3 Packard 1,200-hp 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: 72 feet (21.9 m) Huckins; 4 Packard 1,200-hp engines.
- PT-70: 76 feet (23.2 m) Higgins; 3 Packard 1,200-hp engines.
- one 70 feet (21.3 m) boat built for Britain by Higgins; 3 Hall-Scott 900-hp engines.
The test included an open-sea run of 190 miles (305.8 km) at full throttle, forever after referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby." The course started around New York Harbor, at Sarah Ledge, then led around the eastern end of Block Island, then around Fire Island Lightship, finishing at Montauk Point Whistling Buoy.
This was a shakedown to see which company would be contracted to build the Navy PT boats. At the completion of the trials, the Navy considered all three designs. The Elco 77-footer (77 feet (23.5 m)) (PT-20)came in first with an average speed of 39.72 knots, followed by the Huckins 72 feet (21.9 m) boat (PT-69) and the Higgins 76-footer (76 feet (23.2 m)) (PT-70). the Navy saw the merits of the other two boats and decided to offer all three companies contracts. Elco received the largest share of the contract with contracts for 350 boats, Higgins was awarded contracts for 199 boats, and Huckins was awarded a contract for 18 boats.
The Elco company may have had an advantage owing to their experience in small-boat building, having built 550 80 feet (24.4 m) sub chasers for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Additionally, in 1921, they introduced the famous 26 feet (7.9 m) "Cruisette", (a gasoline cabin cruiser
Cabin cruiser
A cabin cruiser is a type of power boat that provides accommodation for its crew and passengers inside the structure of the craft.A cabin cruiser usually ranges in size from in length, with larger pleasure craft usually considered yachts. Many cabin cruisers can be recovered and towed with a...
). This success in small-boat building was followed in the 1930s with 30-ft to 57-ft "Veedettes" and "Flattops", which were gasoline-powered boats that set the highest standard in a golden era of boating. This small-boat experience helped Elco obtain a contract for 10 boats based on the 70 feet (21.3 m) Scott-Paine Model PT boat. These 70 feet (21.3 m) boats were tested and determined to be too light for open sea work, but Elco got a contract for 24 larger boats based on a lengthened 77 feet (23.5 m) design.
Elco
The Elco Naval Division boats were the largest in size of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. By war's end, more of the Elco 80 feet (24.4 m) boats were built than any other type of motor torpedo boat [326 of their 80 feet (24.4 m) boats were built]. The 80 feet (24.4 m) wooden-hulled craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled destroyers, but were comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history. They had a 20 in 8 in (6.3 m) beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
. Though often said to be made of plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
, they were actually made of two diagonal layered 1 inches (25.4 mm) thick mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
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 that damage to the wooden hulls of these boats could be easily repaired at the front lines by base force personnel. Five Elco Boats were manufactured in knock-down kit form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on the West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept.
Higgins
Higgins produced 199 78 feet (23.8 m) boats. The Higgins boats, built by Higgins IndustriesHiggins Industries
Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP, which were used extensively in D-Day Invasion of Normandy...
in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, were 78 feet (23.8 m) boats of the PT-71 or PT-235 or PT-625 classes. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engine, generators, shaft power, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the 80 feet (24.4 m) Elco boats. Many Higgins boats were sent to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
at the beginning of the war, so many of the lower-numbered squadrons in the U.S. Navy were made up exclusively of Elcos. The first Higgins boats for the U.S. Navy were used in the Battle for the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) as part of Squadron 13 and 16, and others (RON15 and RON22) in the Mediterranean against the Germans. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. A somewhat odd footnote is that even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, 3 of which have been restored to their World War II configuration), than of the more numerous Elco boats, thus seemingly demonstrating the superior construction of the Higgins boat. Of the remaining Elco boats only three hulls (one restored) are known to exist at this time.
Huckins Yacht Corporation
Frank Pembroke Huckins and his innovative Quadraconic hull helped convince the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey to accept the PT designs. After proving that the planing hull was faster, and it provided a platform for the armament requirements of a war boat, the navy awarded Huckins Yacht Corporation a PT design contract in 1941 for a total of 18 boats.Huckins built two squadrons of PT boats during World War II. A total of 18 78-foot (24 m) boats for squadrons 14 and 26 were commissioned in early 1943. They were assigned to specific outposts in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, the Hawaiian Sea Frontier
Hawaiian Sea Frontier
The Hawaiian Sea Frontier was a formation of the United States Navy established during World War II. It was organized to defend the island of Oahu. Vice Admiral David W. Bagley served as COMHAWSEAFRON from 4 April 1942 until July 1943....
at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, in the Central Pacific, and a training center in Melville, Rhode Island
Melville, Rhode Island
Melville is a village in the town of Portsmouth in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The village is also the basis of a census-designated place , which extends south along the shore of Narragansett Bay into the town of Middletown to encompass the village of Lawtons and the port...
.
Huckins licensed the use of the Quadraconic hull in PT boat construction. Huckins also granted permission for Elco, Higgins and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to use their patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength. Although neither Elco nor Higgins ever chose to use the Huckins design on their boats, rather choosing to use designs of their own.
The handcrafted Huckins PT, was produced at a speed of one per month. The Elco boats made the best showing with Elco edging the Huckins in light and heavy loaded speed tests(45.3 versus 43.8 knots), However the Huckins had a tighter turning circle (Huckins 336-P/368-S yards in diameter compared to Elco 432-P/382-S yards in diameter) and pounding factor (Elco pounded 61% more than Huckins). The Elco 77’ was considered acceptable for future construction provided changes were made to reduce pounding in a seaway, and also strengthen the structure in a manner acceptable to the Bureau of Ships.
Vosper and other types of PT boats
During World War II, the Vosper Boat CompanyVosper & Company
Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England.-History:The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work....
of Great Britain arranged for several boatyards in the U.S. to build British-designed 70 feet (21.3 m) motor torpedo boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s under license to help the war effort. 146, armed with 18 inches (457.2 mm) torpedoes, were built for Lend Lease, exported to Allied powers such as Canada, England, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. They were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, and most were passed to other countries.
In addition, the Canadian Power Boat Company
Canadian Power Boat Company
Canadian Power Boat Company was a manufacturer of MTBs and similar craft in Canada during World War II.Canadian Powerboat Company was set up by the British Power Boat Company to build Motor Torpedo Boats based on the Scott Payne design. The company was located on St. Patrick Street, next to the...
produced five Scott-Paine designed PTs for the U.S., which were also sent as Lend Lease to the UK.
Construction
With accommodation for three officerOfficer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s and 14 enlisted men, the crew 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 a PT boat was similar to the "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. PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds, just like pleasure boats. The Elco and Higgins companies both used lightweight techniques of hull construction which included two layers of double diagonal mahogany planking utilizing a glue impregnated cloth 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, yet it could be easily repaired from battle damage at the front lines.
As a testament to the strength of this type of construction, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example, the forward half of future President John F. Kennedy's PT-109 (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri
Japanese destroyer Amagiri
was the 15th of 24 s, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War. She...
. PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft on December 10, 1944 off Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
, yet remained floating for several hours. Another was PT-305 (Higgins), had her stern sheared off by a collision with another PT boat during a night mission in the Mediterranean and yet returned to base for repairs. PT-167 (Elco) was holed through the bow off New Georgia
New Georgia
New Georgia is the largest island of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.-Geography:This island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of the other larger islands in the province...
on August 10, 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, but no major modifications were made before the end of the war. (Wooden Boat Forum) During the war, both Elco and Higgins came up with stepped hull designs which achieved significant increases in top speed, ("ElcoPlane" & "Higgins Hellcat") but the Navy rejected them for full production due to their increased fuel consumption and other considerations.
Armament
The primary anti-ship armament was two to four Mark 8 torpedoTorpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es, which weighed 2600 pounds (1,179.3 kg) and contained a 466 pounds (211.4 kg) TNT warhead. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 21 inches (533.4 mm) steel torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a 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 installed aboard surface vessels...
s. Mark 8 torpedoes had a range of 16000 yards (14,630.4 m) at 36 knots. These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight 22.5 inches (571.5 mm) Mark 13 torpedo
Mark 13 torpedo
The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was designed with unusually squat dimensions for its type: diameter was and length . In the water, the Mark 13 could reach a speed of for up to . The Mark 13 ran slower than the Mark 14 torpedo...
s, which weighed 2216 pounds (1,005.2 kg) and contained a 600 pounds (272.2 kg) Torpex filled warhead. These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks. The Mk13 torpedo had a range of 6300 yards (5,760.7 m) and a speed of 33.5 knots.
PT boats were also well armed with numerous automatic weapons. Common to all US PT boats were the two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44) mounted Dewandre plexiglas enclosed hydraulically operated rotating turrets.http://www.hnsa.org/doc/pt/turret/index.htm Almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, 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, and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount.http://www.hnsa.org/doc/pt/fifty/index.htm Part of the Mark 17 Mod 1 and Mod 2 ring mount consisted of the Bell Mark 9 twin cradle. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/PT-Manual/index.html http://www.cranetechnologiesinc.com/Twin50CalBrowningNavyACMountMK9.html
Another automatic weapon commonly mounted on PT boats was the 20 mm Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
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 77 feet (23.5 m) boats (PT20 through PT44) were twin .30 cal (7.62 mm) Lewis
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
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 37 mm 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
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
M4
M4 cannon
The 37 mm Automatic Gun, M4, known as the T9 during development, was a 37 mm autocannon designed by John Browning and used in the Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra fighters, as well as experimentally on other designs. It provided interceptors with a weapon that could shoot down any...
aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
. 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
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
(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 barges, which were largely immune to torpedoes due to their shallow draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons.
The culmination of larger bore cannons resulted in the installation of the 40mm Bofors gun
Bofors 40 mm gun
The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/boforstm252/index.htm 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 5420 yards (4,956 m). 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.
Towards the end of the war, beginning in 1945, PTs received two eight-cell Mark 50 rocket launchers,http://www.hnsa.org/doc/launchers/cat-0165.htm launching 5 in (127 mm)spin-stabilized flat trajectory Mark 7 and/or Mark 10 Rockets http://www.hnsa.org/doc/ordnance/pg172.htm with a range of 11000 yards (10,058.4 m). These 16 rockets plus 16 reloads gave them as much firepower as a destroyer's 5 in (127 mm) guns. 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
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s in roll-off stern racks. Additionally, a few PT boats were equipped to carry Naval Mines launched from mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to 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, an enemy vessel...
racks, but these were not in common usage.
Although not a weapon, U.S. Navy PTs also were fitted with Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
SO radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, which had about a 17 nm
Nautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
range. Having radar gave Navy PTs a distinct advantage in intercepting enemy supply barges and ships at night.
Engines
All U.S. PT boats were powered by three 12-cylinderCylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
-fueled engines. These engines were built by the Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
Motor Car Company, and were a modified design of the 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine. The 3A-2500 was an improved version of the 2A
Liberty L-12
The Liberty L-12 was a 27 litre water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine of 400 horsepower designed both for a high power-to-weight ratio and for ease of mass production.-History:...
engine used on the Huff-Daland XB-1
Huff-Daland XB-1
|-See also:-External links:***...
Liberty bomber of World War I vintage. Packard modified them for marine use in PTs, hence the "M" designation instead of "A". (i.e., 3A-2500 then 3M-2500). The three successive versions of these engines were designated as 3M-2500, 4M-2500, and 5M-2500, each of which had slight improvements over the previous version. Their aircraft roots gave them many features of aircraft engines, such as supercharger
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
s, intercooler
Intercooler
An intercooler , or charge air cooler, is an air-to-air or air-to-liquid heat exchange device used on turbocharged and supercharged internal combustion engines to improve their volumetric efficiency by increasing intake air charge density through nearly isobaric cooling, which removes...
s, dual magneto
Magneto (electrical)
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce alternating current.Magnetos adapted to produce pulses of high voltage are used in the ignition systems of some gasoline-powered internal combustion engines to provide power to the spark plugs...
s, two spark plug
Spark plug
A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...
s per cylinder, and so on. Packard built the Rolls Royce Merlin aero engine under license alongside the 4M-2500, but with the exception of the PT-9 prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy, the Merlin was never used in PTs. The 4M-2500s initially generated 1200 hp
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(895 kW) each, together roughly the same power as a Boeing B-17 bomber. They were subsequently upgraded in stages to 1500-hp
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(1,150 kW) each, for a designed speed of 41 knots (76 km/h). The final engine version, the Packard 5M-2500, (late 1945) had a larger supercharger, aftercooler, and power output of 1850 Hp. This much power could push the fully loaded boats at 45 to 50 knots. However, using the older 4M-2500 engines, increases in the weight of the boats due to more weaponry offset the potential increase in top speed. Fuel consumption of these engines was phenomenal; a PT boat carried 3,000 gallons (11,360 liters) of 100 octane
Octane
Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH36CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain...
avgas
Avgas
Avgas is an aviation fuel used to power piston-engine aircraft. Avgas is distinguished from mogas , which is the everyday gasoline used in cars and some non-commercial light aircraft...
. A normal patrol for these boats would last a maximum of 12 hours. The consumption rate for each engine at a cruising speed of 23 knots was about 66 gallons (250 l
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
) per hour (200 gallons (760 l) per hour for all 3 engines). However, at top speed, consumption increased to 166 gallons (628 l) per hour per engine (or 500 gallons [1,890 l] per hour for all 3 engines). Navy acceptance trials for every boat required it be able to demonstrate ability to achieve design speed of 41+ knots. Going at this speed, the 3,000 gallons of fuel would be used in only about 6 hours. Wartime conditions such as hull fouling and engine wear could sometimes cause the boats top speed to be degraded until maintenance could be performed.
Service
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 1942. Attacking at night, PT crews may have sometimes failed to note a possible torpedo failure. Although the American Mark 8 torpedo did have problems with porpoising and circular runs, it could and did have success against common classes of targets. The Mark 3 and Mark 4 exploders were not subject to the same problems as the Mark 6 exploders on U.S. submarines' Mark 14 torpedoMark 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, and was supplemented by the Mark 18 electric torpedo in the last 2 years of the war...
es. Introduction of the Mark 13 torpedo
Mark 13 torpedo
The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was designed with unusually squat dimensions for its type: diameter was and length . In the water, the Mark 13 could reach a speed of for up to . The Mark 13 ran slower than the Mark 14 torpedo...
to PT boats in mid-1943 all but eliminated the early problems that PT boats had with their obsolete Mark 8s.
PTs would usually attack under the cover of night. The cockpits of PT boats were protected against small arms fire and splinters by armor plate. Direct hits from Japanese guns could and did result in catastrophic gasoline explosions with near-total crew loss. They 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" from both Allied aircraft and destroyers.
Initially, only a few boats were issued primitive radar sets. Later in the war, 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 Squadron (RON) 2, 3, 5 and 6 would lie in wait to ambush a target from torpedo range (generally about 1000 yards (914.4 m)). During some of these nighttime attacks, the PT boats' position may have been given away by a flash of light caused by grease inside the black powder actuated Mark XIII torpedo tubes catching fire during the launching sequence. In order to avoid return fire by the enemy ships, the PT boat could deploy a smoke screen using stern-mounted generators as they escaped and evaded the enemy ships. The enemy forces would use searchlights or seaplane-dropped flares to locate the fleeing PT boat, illuminating them for destruction by their heavy-caliber guns. Sometimes PT boats used depth charges as a last-ditch confusion weapon to scare off pursuing destroyers. They could adjust the depth charge setting to go off at 100 feet (30.5 m), and by the time it exploded the pursuing destroyer would be right above the explosion. Starting in mid-1943 and thereafter, the old black powder actuated Mk13 Torpedo tubes loaded with Mark 8 torpedoes were removed and replaced with a newer style of torpedo launcher. The new Mark 1 "Roll-off" Torpedo launcher rack (which was loaded with an improved Mark 13 aerial torpedo) effectively eliminated the problem of a flash of light giving away the position of the PT boat as a result of burning grease. The new launcher did not use any form of explosive to launch the torpedo, and it was about 1000 pounds (453.6 kg) less weight than the old tube style launchers.
During the war, a few PT boats were modified to become a "PT Gunboat". In the PT Gunboat, the torpedoes were all removed and replaced with more and heavier guns. These versions mounted extra armor, though tests showed this was not very effective.
The effectiveness of PT boats in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
campaign, where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The Tokyo Express
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 Pacific campaign of World War II...
" in "the Slot", was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. The Japanese were initially cautious when operating their capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s in areas known to have PT boats, since they knew how dangerous their own Type 93s
Type 93 torpedo
The Type 93 was a -diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy , launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given it after the war by Samuel E. Morison, the chief historian of the U.S...
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
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
. Afterwards, the PT mission in the Solomon Islands was deemed a success.
Throughout World War II, PTs operated in the southern, western, and northern Pacific, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and the English Channel. Some served during the Battle of Normandy. 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.
To accomplish the task, PTs in the Mediterranean and the Pacific (and RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and RCN
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
MTBs
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
in the Med) 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 it wings, and shoots torpedoes in all directions."
Though 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
Air-sea rescue is the coordinated search and rescue of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people who have survived the loss of their sea-going vessel. ASR can involve a wide variety of resources including seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships...
operations, rescue shipwreck survivors, destroy Japanese suicide
Japanese Special Attack Units
During World War II, Japanese Special Attack Units , also called shimbu-tai, were specialized units of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army normally used for suicide missions...
boats, destroy floating mines, and to 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.
Supply
Although they did have a small refrigerator on board, PT boats lacked the larger capacity refrigerators of larger ships to store meat, milk, butter, and eggs, so crews depended on the ingenuity of their cook, who might also be quartermaster and signalman, and what he could do with sandwiches, SpamSpam (food)
Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
, Vienna sausage, beans, and orange marmalade. PT boat squadrons were supported by either PT boat tenders or PT boat bases which supplied the boat crews with hot meals cooked aboard the larger command's facilities. The PT boat crews were usually located at the end of the supply chain, and as a result, they became proficient at finding "alternative means" of meeting their needs. PT boat crews would often beg, borrow, or barter with nearby ships or military units for supplies. At the front lines, it was not uncommon to see crewmen fish by aiming rifles or tossing grenades into the water near the boat.
PT gunboats
In the Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
in 1943, three 77 feet (23.5 m) 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 John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
was the first commanding officer of PT-59 after its conversion. On November 2, 1943, PT-59 participated in the rescue of 40 to 50 Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
from Choiseul Island
Choiseul Island
Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at .-Description:This island is named after Étienne François, duc de Choiseul....
and a foundering landing craft (LCP(R)) which was under fire from Japanese soldiers on the beach.
In 1944, several Higgins 78 feet (23.8 m) 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 Squadron Training Command (MTBSTC) school in Melville, Rhode Island
Melville, Rhode Island
Melville is a village in the town of Portsmouth in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The village is also the basis of a census-designated place , which extends south along the shore of Narragansett Bay into the town of Middletown to encompass the village of Lawtons and the port...
for use in training in hull repair techniques.
Notable PT boats
- PT-41, commanded by Lieutenant John D. BulkeleyJohn D. BulkeleyJohn Duncan Bulkeley was a Vice Admiral in United States Navy and was one of the most decorated naval officers. Bulkeley received the Medal of Honor for actions in the Pacific Theater during World War II...
, carried General Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthurGeneral of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
in his escape from Corregidor Island, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Bulkeley was awarded the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for his operations in the Philippines before rescuing MacArthur. Bulkeley's story inspired the book They Were Expendable, and the movie of the same nameThey Were ExpendableThey Were Expendable is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford and starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne. The film is based on the book by William L. White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese...
. PT-41 was the flagship of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron ThreeMotor Torpedo Boat Squadron ThreeMotor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942. It was commanded by then-Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: PT 31, PT 32, PT 33, PT 34, PT 35, and PT 41, the last as the...
(RON 3), based in the Philippine Islands 1941–1942 (PT-41, -31, -32, -33, -34, -35). - Life magazineLife (magazine)Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
published an article about the PT boat captains in the battles off GuadalcanalGuadalcanalGuadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
, featuring the exploits of Lieutenants "Stilly" Taylor, Leonard A. Nikoloric, Lester Gamble, and Robert and John Searles; the article mentioned many boats in SquadronSquadron (naval)A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
s Two and Five (in particular, PT-36, PT-37, PT-39, PT-44, PT-46, PT-48, PT-59, PT-109Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...
, PT-115, and PT-123). - Other PT boats gaining fame during the war were PT-363 and PT-489, the boats used by Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant commander (United States)Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
Murray PrestonArthur Murray PrestonArthur Murray Preston was a United States Navy officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II....
to rescue a downed aviator in Wasile Bay, off Halmahera Island, for which Preston was awarded the Medal of Honor. - PT-109Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...
, commanded by future PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, was made famous through the 1961 book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert J. DonovanRobert J. DonovanRobert John Donovan was a Washington correspondent, author and presidential historian. Donovan attended Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York, where he was Captain of the Hockey and Track Teams, won honors as the Champion Orator of Buffalo and was a member of the Alpha Beta Chapter of the...
, and the 1963 filmPT 109 (film)PT 109 is a 1963 biographical film which depicts the actions of John F. Kennedy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 as an officer of the United States Navy during World War II. The movie was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by...
based on it. - PT-59Motor Torpedo Boat PT-59Motor Torpedo Boat PT-59 was a 77-foot Elco PT boat that served with the US Navy in World War II. She is noted for being the second command of then-Lieutenant, junior grade John F...
: Commanded by John F. Kennedy after the loss of PT-109 - PT-105: Commanded by Dick Keresey at the time of the loss of PT-109. Keresey wrote a book by the same name.
- "PT-373" Commanded by Lt. Belton A. Copp was the first boat, of a two boat squadron, to enter Manila Harbor in order to "test defenses" since the U.S. retreat in 1942. General McArthur honored Lt. Copp and the crew of PT-373 by using it to carry him back into Manilla Harbor on March 2, 1945.
Remaining WWII PT boats
At the end of the war, almost all surviving U.S. PT boats were disposed of shortly after V-J Day. 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 gasoline for their size, making them too expensive to operate for a peacetime navy. Much of this destruction occurred at PT Base 17, on SamarSamar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
, Philippines, near Bobon Point.
A total of 11 PT boats, and 2 experimental PT boat hulls in various states of repair, survive today in the U.S.:
- PT-48
PT-48 is possibly the last surviving 77 feet (23.5 m) Elco PT boat. During the war, PT-48 (nicknamed "Prep Tom" and "Deuce") was assigned to MTB RON 3 under command of LCDR Alan R. Montgomery on 27 July 1942. 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 200 yards (182.9 m). 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 59 feet (18 m) 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, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
, acquired and transported it to Rondout Creek in Kingston (on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
) in 2008 for eventual repair. The boat is now covered and in a custom built cradle while she awaits repairs.
- PT-305
PT-305 ("Half Hitch","Barfly", "USS Sudden Jerk") is a Higgins 78 feet (23.8 m) boat, assigned during the war to RON22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. Squadron 22 was operating with the British Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest cost 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. The PT-305 was cut down to 65 feet (19.8 m) for use as an oyster seed boat in Crisfield, Maryland
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 2,723 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. 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
National World War II Museum
The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Magazine Street. It focuses on the contribution made by the United States to victory by the...
in New Orleans. PT-305 was restored to become a permanent display in the new expansion of the museum. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/nov/08/pt-305/. (video and website of PT 305 restoration http://www.nationalww2museum.org/exhibitions/the-national-world-war-ii.html)
- PT-309
A 78 feet (23.8 m) Higgins, PT-309 ("Oh Frankie!") was assigned during the war to RON22, 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 cost 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. Coincicidentally, the PT-309 ("Oh Frankie!"), was named in honor of Frank Sinatra, with whom the boats' Commanding Officer met at a nightclub shortly before MTBRON22 left New York for the Mediterranean Theatre. PT-309 is located at the National Museum of the Pacific War / Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
, which 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. Further restoration is slated to be finished in May 2010.
- PT-459
PT-459 ("MAHOGANY MENACE") a Higgins 78 feet (23.8 m) boat, was assigned to MTBRON 30 on 15 February 1944 under the command of LCDR Robert L. Searles. 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 65 feet (19.8 m) 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 80 feet (24.4 m) Elco boat, was place in service on December 2, 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 January 16, 1946. Along with PT-557, the vessel was purchased from BFM Industries (Brooklyn, NY) by Capt. George C. Sinn of Wildwood Crest, NJ on October 9, 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 is currently restoring the vessel to recreate the World War II appearance of PT-109, for which the PT-486 was renamed. The vessel will be used as an operating exhibit.
- PT-615
PT-615, an 80 feet (24.4 m) Elco originally assigned to RON 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
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. 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 in the 1990s was offered for sale as Gable's Dreamboat. PT-615 was eventually acquired by Rob Ianucci and moved to Kingston for possible restoration.
- PT-617
PT-617 is an 80 feet (24.4 m) Elco boat located in Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. 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, Tennessee
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee. The population was 38,844 at the 2010 census.Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east. Germantown's economy is dominated by the retail and commercial service sectors; there is no heavy industry in Germantown...
.
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 78 feet (23.8 m) boat, has been converted into a charter fishing boat. She is located in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
and is now named Malahini.
- PT-658
Perhaps the best example of a surviving Higgins 78 feet (23.8 m) boat is PT658
Motor Torpedo Boat PT-658
Motor Torpedo Boat PT-658 is a Higgins design PT boat, similar in function but slightly different in design and layout from the more common Elco boats....
, which was completely restored to her original 1945 configuration from 1995 to 2005. PT-658 is now fully functional and afloat, using the three original Packard V12 5M-2500 gas engines. It is the only 100% authentically restored U.S. Navy PT boat actually operational today. PT-658 is located in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
at Navy Operational Support Center Portland's Swan Island Pier. The group wishes to maintain the boat as a living, breathing artifact dedicated to the history of the PT force of the Second World War. PT 658 under way video
- PT-728
PT-728, a surviving Vosper boat built under license at the Annapolis Boat Yard in Maryland, was restored by in Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
. Her deck house was reconfigured to partially resemble an 80 feet (24.4 m) Elco instead of its original Vosper 70 feet (21.3 m) 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.PT658 Video
- PT-796
PT-796 ("Tail Ender") is a 78 feet (23.8 m) 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 Naval Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts in a Quonset hut
Quonset hut
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semicircular cross section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed 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, Tennessee
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee. The population was 38,844 at the 2010 census.Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east. Germantown's economy is dominated by the retail and commercial service sectors; there is no heavy industry in Germantown...
.
Experimental boats
- PT-3
Two of the experimental PT-Boats also still survive, PT-3 (built by Fisher Boat Works) in Pennsylvania and PT-8. PT-3 was a 59 feet (18 m) barrel-back boat that was rejected by the Navy during trials in 1941 after being deemed too short to carry 4 torpedoes. PT-3 and PT-8 were both part of Squadron 1 (RON 1) during the testing period. After testing was completed in 1941, PT-3 was reclassified into a Small Boat and transferred to Harbor Patrol duties for the duration of the war.
- 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 for the duration of the war.
- UK Vosper
The two Vosper boats in England were built by Vosper itself, and the first is in fairly good condition at Portsmouth. 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.
Recently destroyed hulls
- PT-308
PT-308 ("La Dee Da"), an unaltered 78 feet (23.8 m) boat still in 1946 stripped condition, was found beached on the bank at Franklin Timmons boatyard in Dagsboro, Delaware
Dagsboro, Delaware
As of the census of 2000, there were 519 people, 226 households, and 141 families residing in the town. The population density was 409.5 people per square mile . There were 248 housing units at an average density of 195.7 per square mile . The racial makeup of the town was 92.29% White, 6.36%...
. The PT-308 Restoration Group was formed and began to restore the boat. But the property owner, who was building a new condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
project nearby, deemed it an eyesore and had it destroyed. The Restoration Group was only 3–4 weeks away from moving the boat to a new location. The cabin of PT-308 was removed and transported to Texas to be used as a template/pattern for PT-309s cabin. More info on PT309 is listed in the above section on PT309.
- PT-659
PT-659, a 78 feet (23.8 m) Higgins formerly located in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
, had been scrapped by May 30, 2008. Parts of her, including the aft 20 feet (6.1 m) from the stern, were used by the National World War II Museum to restore PT-305. The boat and her cradle were cut up into smaller chunks and transported by truck to a warehouse in New Orleans.,
- PT-694
PT-694, a U.S.-built Vosper & Co. 73 feet (22.3 m) boat, was used in the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...
, which featured the comic exploits of a fictional PT boat crew on "PT-73". Until the mid-1990s, the boat was in private hands in Wilmington, California. The owner kept it seaworthy and ran it around from time to time. Unfortunately, while awaiting transit to San Francisco, the boat broke loose of its mooring in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, washed up on the beach, and was destroyed.
- PT-695
PT-695 ("PT Joe"), a U.S. built Vosper & Co. 73-footer (73 feet (22.3 m)) had existed virtually intact in her as-built configuration in lower San Diego Bay until late 1986. In 1991 the boat was sailed under her own power up the California coast to the Bay Area and existed in an inlet off the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
in Rio Vista, California
Rio Vista, California
Rio Vista is a city located in the eastern end of Solano County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento River Delta region. The population was 7,360 at the 2010 census....
but then sank at her moorings in 2003. In 2007 the wreck was cut up and hauled away in pieces.
- PT-761
PT-761, an Elco 80 feet (24.4 m) boat, originally scheduled for restoration by DOANM, sadly, was destroyed at the storage facility in February 2006.
Exported PT boats
Ten Higgins boats were delivered in 1948 for use by the Argentine NavyArgentine Navy
The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
("Armada Argentina") during the late 1940s up until the late 1970s. All of these boats are now retired from naval use, with two still in service today as sightseeing boats on Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
: the Leonardo da Vinci #8 and the Mar de la Plata #9. The other six boats are in various states of disrepair or 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
Air-sea rescue is the coordinated search and rescue of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people who have survived the loss of their sea-going vessel. ASR can involve a wide variety of resources including seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships...
launch for use by the South African Navy
South African Navy
The South African Navy is the navy of the Republic of South Africa.-Formation:The South African Navy can trace its official origins back to the SA Naval Service, which was established on 1 April 1922....
.
Cinema stand-ins for PT boats
The 1963 movie PT-109 used what appears to be five Elco 80 feet (24.4 m) boats. The engine telegraph shows the Elco name, and the boats resemble Elcos. The boats were converted from Air Force Crash Rescue BoatsCrash rescue boat
Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the USA 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...
, due to the unavailability of operational survivors. The 85 feet (25.9 m) boats were built with only two Packard engines.
In the 1997 movie McHale's Navy, 63 feet (19.2 m) Air Sea Rescue boats were used.
Occasionally Vietnam-era PTF boats (Patrol Torpedo Fast) (built at John Trumpy, Annapolis or Nasty class from Norway) are incorrectly identified as World War II PT boats. Several PTF boats can still be found around the country, including PTF-3 in Florida, PTF-19 in Chesapeake Bay and PTF-23 in California. These should not to be confused with PT boats, as they differ in many key features.
See also
- British Power Boat CompanyBritish Power Boat CompanyThe British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats.It was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass...
Producer of the PT boat prototype - E-boatE-boatE-boats was the designation for Motor Torpedo Boats of the German Navy during World War II. It is commonly held that the E stood for Enemy....
German Schnellboote - Fairmile D motor torpedo boatFairmile D motor torpedo boatThe Fairmile D motor torpedo boat was a type of British Motor Torpedo Boat designed by Bill Holt and conceived by Fairmile Marine for the Royal Navy....
British "Dog Boats" - Fast Attack CraftFast Attack CraftFast Attack Craft are small, fast, agile and offensive warships, that are armed with anti-ship missiles, guns or torpedoes. These are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the sea-keeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water. The size of the vessel...
modern classification
- German torpedoboats of World War IIGerman torpedoboats of World War IIThe German torpedoboats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They should not be confused with the larger destroyers, nor with the smaller, torpedo-armed Schnellboote .-Raubvogel and Raubtier :The six Raubvogel class torpedo boats were...
- Motor Torpedo BoatMotor Torpedo BoatMotor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
British MTBs - Steam Gun BoatSteam Gun BoatThe Steam Gun Boat was a Royal Navy term for a class of small naval vessels used during the Second World War. The class consisted of nine gun boats, powered by steam, and built from 1940 to 1942 for the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy....
- Torpedo boatTorpedo boatA torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
general history
External links
- original Elco movie Giant Killers
- www.pt728.com Home of PT 728, a fully restored 72 feet (21.9 m) Vospor
- An example of daily life aboard a PT boat, recorded in the deck logs
- PT Boat Museum website
- Save the PT Boat USS PT-658 website
- Project video
- PT-617 Photos of the Elco PT boat PT-617 in Fall River, MA
- PT-796 Photos of the Higgins PT Boat PT-796 in Fall River, MA
- PT-235 Photos of life on board a PT boat in the Pacific in World War II by PT Boat Veteran Milt Donadt of PT-235
- Electric Launch Corp records
- Website dedicated to PT Boats
- PC game about PT Boats
- HNSA Ship Page: PT Boats to visit as museums and memorials
- With The Mosquito Fleet, April 1941 one of the earliest large article on PT Boats in the US