pt boats in wwii

The effectiveness of PT boats in the Solomon Islands campaign, where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships, as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The Tokyo Express" operating in New Georgia Sound (called "the Slot" by the Americans), was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. Shortly after her retirement from service, the PT-796 was used as a float during President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade to represent PT-109, with the PT-109 hull number painted on the bow, and several of PT-109's surviving crew members manning the boat. In 1961 she participated in John F. Kennedy's inauguration repainted as PT-109 (the discerning PT boat enthusiast may have been confused at seeing a smaller Higgins Boat portrayed as the original longer Elco built 109). All except the Huckins (PT-69) completed the run. 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. Fittings (Navy standard for combatant ships) entirely too heavy and cumbersome for this type of craft. 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. PT-21 suffered minor cracks in the deck in the same location, but not to the same extent, as previously observed in PT-26, PT-30, and PT-33. PT-766 is an 80-foot (24 m) Elco boat that is a private yacht ("Finished Business") located in Washington D.C. She represents the final class of Elco's with significant updates to the superstructure and radar and was intended for MTBRON 44, but was cancelled due to the end of the war. PT boats were also well armed with numerous automatic weapons. Further, many of those taken were beyond the normal range of the instruments and were considered inaccurate. PT-724, a surviving Vosper built at the Annapolis Boat yard in Maryland, has been used as a yacht, and has since been acquired by the Liberty Aviation Museum to be restored back to original Vosper configuration. PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on 10 December 1944 off Leyte, yet remained floating for several hours. Maneuverability satisfactory, turning circle not determined photographically, estimated 300 yards. Along with Elco, Higgins Industries made a strong impression with its PT boats in the “plywood derbies”. She is available for public viewing, and has portions of her hull cut away to display the cramped interior of the crew's quarters. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. $14.95. She was transferred back to the United States in April 1945. Even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, three of which have been restored to their World War II configuration) than the more numerous Elco boats. Four boats - PT-8, PT-69, PT-70, and MRB - returned and Elco sent two new boats, PT-21 and PT-29. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of PT-59 after its conversion. PT-486, an 80-foot (24 m) Elco boat, was placed in service on 2 December 1943. Charles Schumann in the 1980s. They were used to support the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. On 1 June 1944, 8 boats were operational in Constanța: S-28, S-40, S-47, S-49, S-72, S-131, S-148 and S-149. [30], One of two fully restored and operational PT boats and the only combat veteran of the two, PT-305 ("Half Hitch", "Barfly", "USS Sudden Jerk") is a Higgins 78-foot (24 m) boat, assigned during the war to MTBRON-22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. Fuel consumption of any version of these engines was exceptionally heavy. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs ("ElcoPlane") which achieved significant increase in top speed. Introduction of the Mark 13 torpedo to PT boats in mid-1943 all but eliminated the early problems that PT boats had with their obsolete Mark 8s.[22]. Today, PT-796 is located at the Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts in a Quonset hut-style building, protected from the weather, and up on blocks. On 8 June 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 "Crash Boats",[5] and to the Fisher Boat Works, Detroit, Michigan, for PT-3 and -4. Three more boats were shipped down the Danube and were being reconstructed at Constanța. All PTs prior to the 77 ft (23 m) Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended 70 ft (21 m) Elco would not be an improvement. The design was enlarged and modified to meet the new requirements. U.S. Navy PTs were eventually fitted with Raytheon SO radar, which had about a 17 nmi (20 mi; 31 km) range. $3.85 shipping. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons. With a full loaded weight of 56,000 pounds, C-378 made a top speed of 37 kn (69 km/h; 43 mph) with 1,400 horsepower (1,000 kW), and maintained an average speed of 34.5 kn (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph) in a winter northeaster storm with 12-to-14-foot (3.7 to 4.3 m) seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. World War II PT boats continued to exploit some of the advances in planing hull design borrowed from offshore powerboat racing and by using multiple lightweight but more powerful marinized aircraft-derived V-12 engines were able to grow in both size and speed. Squadron 22 was operating with the British Royal Navy Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. By war's end, more of the Elco 80 ft (24 m) boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. These planks were held together by thousands of copper rivets and bronze screws. "PT boats filled an important need in World War II in shallow waters, complementing the achievements of greater ships in greater seass. In the later years of the war the U.S. Navy standardized the design and construction of the PT boat. P T Boats, Inc. was founded by Jimmy "Boats" Newberry, a prominent business man in Memphis, Tennessee, who was also a WW II PT boat veteran. It could push fully loaded boats at 45 to 50 knots (83 to 93 km/h). Then, three additional boats were built by Andrew Higgins of Higgins Industries in New Orleans. "), was named in honor of Frank Sinatra, with whom the boats' Commanding Officer met at a nightclub shortly before MTBRON 22 left New York for the Mediterranean Theatre. Built in 1945 by Higgins in New Orleans. Maintained by an all volunteer group, it is powered by the three Packard V12 5M-2500 gas engines[39] and includes all weapons, electronics, equipment and accessories restored to appear as they did the day the US Navy accepted the boat, 31 July 1945. She was mostly used to motivate morale on the home front with a Victory Loan Bond Drive. Photo from NPS Maritime Heritage Program collection. During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as 16 ft (4.9 m). See more ideas about pt boat, boat, e boat. Beam: 19'11". The much larger destroyer hit the 109 broadside at full speed nearly splitting the much smaller wooden boat in half. PT-309 is located at the National Museum of the Pacific War / Admiral Nimitz Museum[36] in Fredericksburg, Texas, and was restored by the (now defunct) Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM). Many PT boats became famous during and after World War II: According to the book "At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy"[27] 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II were lost to various causes. This article is about US Navy patrol torpedo boats in World War II. The M4/M9 37mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large magazine (30 rounds). They produced, on average, one PT boat every 60 hours. And, in early 1941, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships (BuShips) lent Packard engines to both Huckins and Higgins, which wanted to build competitive boats at their own expense. Earlier when Sea Sleds were specifically excluded, Crouch had informed the Bureau of Ships that the Sea Sled was the best type of vessel for the job. PT Boats, Inc., a nonprofit organization of World War II PT boat veterans, bought the boat in 1979 and began restoration work. Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 31.4 knots; maximum speed 34.3 knots with heavy ordnance load. The  PT-796 was added by the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks and the National Register of Historic Places on January 14, 1986. Structural weaknesses resulting in transverse fractures of deck planking. 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. Her external restoration was completed by the Texas group in 2002, and is to a high standard. Packard liquid-cooled engines (3); 1,200 hp. Dec 13, 2020 - Explore Peter Ruggiero's board "PT Boats" on Pinterest. PT 48 was one of the first 4 boats to arrive at Tulagi, on 12 October 1942. The little boats would distinguish themselves over and over again, even though there were only 29 in the Navy at the start of the war. Accelerometers were again installed in the pilot house of each boat, but the readings were incomplete because the violent motion of the boats made observations extremely difficult and in some cases necessitated abandonment of the observing stations. These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight 22.5-inch-diameter (570 mm) Mark 13 torpedoes, which weighed 2,216 pounds (1,005 kg) and contained a 600-pound (270 kg) Torpex-filled warhead. Displacement: 35 tons. Bulkeley's story inspired the book They Were Expendable, and the movie of the same name. These boats were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy; most were passed to other countries. George C. Sinn of Wildwood Crest, NJ on 9 October 1951 for $1,015.00. Perhaps the best known PT was skippered by Lieutenant and later U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The stern of the Vosper boat is visible in the footage of that event. By war's end, the PT boat had more "firepower-per-ton" than any other vessel in the U.S. Navy. Speed: 39 knots. Dubbed PT-9, America’s first PT boat was subjected to numerous sea trials, alone and against other PTs in prototype stages. During some of these nighttime attacks, PT boat positions may have been given away by a flash of light caused by grease inside the black powder-actuated Mark 8 torpedo tubes catching fire during the launching sequence. In the Solomon Islands in 1943, three 77-foot (23 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. [citation needed] 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. [23] To accomplish the task, PTs in the Mediterranean and the Pacific (and RN and RCN motor torpedo boats in the Mediterranean) installed more and heavier guns which were able to sink the barges. The Philadelphia Navy Yard simultaneously began construction of two other boats (PT-7 and PT-8), created by designers at the Navy Yard and the Navy Bureau of Ships. The veteran’s group PT Boats, Inc. bought and restored her in 1975. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses. As PT boats were usually located near the end of the supply chain, their crews proved resourceful in bartering with nearby ships or military units for supplies and using munitions to harvest their own fish. The Board is of the opinion that certain changes in design are required to enable PT-69 and boats of the PT-20 Class to carry safely their military loads in rough weather. [citation needed] 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. The design was based on the 1925 Liberty … The Elco boats were the largest in size of the three types of PT boats built immediately before and during WW2, totaling 385 boats. mg. Complement: 17. 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. Later in the war, several more of these 20 mm cannons were added amidships and on the forward deck. The first Higgins PT boats were used against the Imperial Japanese forces in the Battle for the Aleutian Islands and in the Mediterranean against Nazi Germany and her allies. PT-658 was added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2012. This covers PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs.[13]. Coincidentally, the PT-309 ("Oh Frankie! Of those, 326 were 80 feet long—the largest in their class. PT-375 and the U.S. Navy’s more than 500 motor torpedo boats had served their country well during a time of immense danger and difficulty, and men like Hank made sure the boats were used to their full potential, thereby making an important contribution to the victory over tyranny and fascism during World War II. $7.50 shipping. PT-41, commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley, carried General Douglas MacArthur in his escape from Corregidor Island, Philippines. This conference, including representatives from BuShips, BuOrd, MTBRONs, Interior Control Board, and CNO, recommended a series of comparative tests to evaluate what turned out to be five new designs of motor torpedo boats. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins ever chose to use it on their boats. As more PTs were fitted with dependable radar, they developed superior night-fighting tactics and used them to locate and destroy many enemy targets. Boats ” the M4 ( and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled marine. At the Factory was operating under the British Coastal forces, and the squadrons suffered extremely! Packard V-12 marine engine ( 4M-2500 ) in New Orleans, Higgins Industries was a sister boat. With Elco, PT- 617 was assigned as a result, the old Mark 18 21-inch ( 530 ). 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