At the same time, Henry R. Sutphen of Electric Launch Company (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. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses. Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine alongside the marine 4M-2500 has long been a source of confusion. Check back soon for further detailed videos about starting up the engines and other operational details. She was reclassified as a harbor patrol boat (YP 110) for the duration of the war. Growing up in Rhode Island at a young age I knew what a PT Boat was; especially famous one's like Kennedy's PT 109. [31], At the end of the war, almost all surviving U.S. PT boats were disposed of shortly after V-J Day. [9], Boats were also evaluated under two conditions of armament loading: loaded and fully equipped with four 21in (53cm) torpedoes and sufficient fuel to operate 500 NM at 20 knots; and fully loaded with two 21in (53cm) torpedoes and ten 300lb (140kg) depth charges with sufficient fuel to operate 500nmi (930km; 580mi) at 20kn (37km/h; 23mph). This is the definitive source on US PT Boats and impact they had on history. [23] They also performed lifesaving and anti-shipping mine destruction missions during the invasion. Of those proposals submitted, Three 54-ft designs and five 70-ft designs were of interest and the designers were asked to submit more detailed plans for both the 54 and 70 foot boats by no later than the 7th of November 1938. Check here for details! In my humble opinion US PT-Boats and crews operating before and during WWII around Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and many other Pacific island groups, did more damage to the Japanese military supply chain than anything else to save Australia from probable invasion and there is almost zero history of those events recorded 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. Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 39.7 knots; maximum speed 44.1 knots with heavy ordnance load. If you find that some photos violates copyright or have unacceptable properties, please inform us about it. PT boats were also armed with numerous automatic weapons. PT boats also commonly carried between two and eight U.S. Navy Mark 6 depth charges in roll-off racks. As mentioned earlier, it was used in the Second World War by the U.S Navy. PT-109 was an 80' Elco PT boat (patrol torpedo boat) last commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II.Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer made him a war hero. Box Dim. Please help support the further restoration and preservation of this historic treasure by visiting the above website and donating. 146 boats, armed with 18in (460mm) torpedoes, were built for Lend Lease, and exported to Allied powers such as Canada, Britain, Norway, and the Soviet Union. [44] After the war ended PT-796 was used in the Key West/Miami area for experimental purposes. PT-305 was looking good, with a lifeboat on her foredeck, jauntily tied fast over one-half of her charthouse. The interior of PT-658 is divided below deck into eight watertight compartments separated by built-up plywood bulkheads (walls). The 103 Class boats were initially armed with two sets of twin .50 caliber machine guns, a 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun, four torpedo tubes or two torpedo tubes and eight (four to a side) roll-off racks for depth charges (the 300 pound charge variety). Current price is $675,000 USD. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and Bell, and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. Conducted on 24 July 1941, this open-water trial, 190nmi (350km; 220mi) at full throttle, would forever after be referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby". FineScale Modeler reviews the 1/72 scale plastic model PT boat kit. 735 X 471 X 103 mm. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of PT-59 after its conversion. Higgins built an additional PT-6 "Prime" redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. We promise fish will be wanting to jump aboard your boat! 03:33. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons. Elco PT Boat: 80 Feet of Wood and Weaponry Weapons & Gear Manual Elco PT Boat: 80 Feet of Wood and Weaponry Of the nearly 400 fast, light and heavily armed patrol boats Elco made for the U.S. Navy during World War II, a few achieved notoriety and one survives today as a museum ship. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Maneuverability unsatisfactory due to inability to reverse outboard engines with a large turning circle of 443 yards (405m). 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. 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. The MK VI patrol boats are designed and built by American boat manufacturer, Safe Boats International (SBI), to serve as the next-generation patrol boats for the US Navy. Now located in a New Jersey boatyard in awaiting restoration.[46]. The squadron acted as a diversionary force in Gulf Juan, and as an anti-E-boat screen in the Nice-Cannes area. Forward of the chart house of some early Elco 77-foot (23m) boats (PT20 through PT44) were twin .30 cal (7.62mm) Lewis machine guns on pedestal mounts. Higgins Industries of New Orleans, Louisiana later famed for developing Initially, only a few boats were issued primitive radar sets. She was acquired by Fleet Obsolete in June 2008 and moved to Kingston, New York, for possible restoration. Maneuverability satisfactory with a turning circle of 336 yards (307m). 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 boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. The boats also used a lot of high octane gasoline for their size, making them too expensive to operate for a peacetime navy. Placed in service too late to take part in World War II, PT-796 saw temporary . RMKECG59 - Interior of JFK Library, Boston, USA. A 59-foot (18m) 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. Structural weaknesses resulting in fracture of bilge stringers. Space available for two 21" torpedo tubes and ten 300-pound (140kg) depth charges. There PT-728 allows up to 49 tourists the chance to ride on a "PT boat". 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."[27]. Acid-resisting black Copperoyd bottom paint Canvas preservative dyes (blue, gray or green) Deck Blue (20-B) Deck Green (20-G) [citation needed], 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. He named the boat Tarbaby VI, and used her through the 1950s. The US military initially developed three designs to fulfill their PT boat need (further divided into a 55-foot and 70-foot class) and a total of eight vessels - numbered "PT-1" through "PT-8" - were ultimately produced. [14] Almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dewandre turrets were replaced on the entire PT boat fleet with open ring twin mounts. by Jon Guttman 5/1/2013 Wood Boats. The 1938 United States Navy PT, which has been restored and adapted to Coast Guard Standards, is a durable boat that was originally used in the US fleet for a period of time. The 80' Elco Patrol Torpedo boat was the last of the wartime PT boat development. [47] All of these boats are now retired from naval use, with two still in civil use today as sightseeing boats on Mar del Plata: the Leonardo da Vinci and the Mar de la Plata. PT-796's specifications are: Length: 78 feet Beam: 20 feet 8 inches Draught: 4 feet Crew: Two officers and nine crewmen Displacement: 43 tons empty, 48 tons fully loaded Max Speed: 41 knots (46mph) Fuel Capacity: 3,000 gallons of 100 octane avgas Range: 358 miles at 35 knots, 1050 miles on one engine, 11 knots These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight 22.5-inch-diameter (570mm) Mark 13 torpedoes, which weighed 2,216 pounds (1,005kg) and contained a 600-pound (270kg) Torpex-filled warhead. She was attached to Squadron 40 in the Philippines but arrived too late to see action. These first generation torpedo boats rode low in the water, displaced up to 300 tons, and had a top speed of 25 to 27kn (46 to 50km/h). PT-459 ("Mahogany Menace") a Higgins 78-foot (24m) boat, was assigned to MTBRON 30 on 15 February 1944. This article is about US Navy patrol torpedo boats in World War II. Courtesy PT BOATS, INC. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engines, generators, shaft horsepower, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the 80ft (24m) Elco boats. Compounding the difficulty with the early torpedoes, attacking at night PT boat crews may have sometimes failed to note a possible torpedo failure. All PTs prior to the 77ft (23m) Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended 70ft (21m) Elco would not be an improvement. After the initial competition, in late 1939, the Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of PT-9. In 1942, the scheme initially applied to the Elco 80 footers utilized Navy Gray (#5) and Dark Gray (5-D) The bottom paint for all of these schemes was Copperoyd. 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. PT-596 was one of the last built, entering service in May 1945. 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