[23] Enemy forces would use searchlights or seaplane-dropped flares to illuminate fleeing PT boats. Ten Higgins boats were delivered in 1948 for use by the Argentine Navy during the late 1940s up until the late 1970s. Structural weaknesses resulting in fracture of bilge stringers. So here are a few more of my collection. Again, it is true to the original and is just the right amount of custom to make your jaw drop, along with the custom teak floor. WoodenBoat magazine No. The PT boats at Guadalcanal were given credit for several sinkings and successes against the vaunted Tokyo Express. [4] The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. Structural weaknesses caused failures in transverse bottom framing, separation of side planking from framing and extensive failures of deck fastenings. The Admiralty representative for this sea sled demonstration was Lieutenant G.C.E. Some 200 US gallons (760L) an hour were consumed at a cruising speed of 23 knots (43km/h), increasing to 500 US gallons (1,900L) per hour at top speed. Starting in mid-1943, the old Mark 18 torpedo tubes and Mark 8 torpedoes began to be replaced. [9], Boats would have their tactical parameters of each design determined by photographs from an airship. Equipped armament for the smaller proposal was to be either two torpedoes and two depth charges, or .50-cal machine-guns and a smokescreen generator. The business was later sold to Capt. PT-48 is today in need of major restoration, after having been cut down to 59 feet (18m) and used as a dinner cruise boat. PT-309 is restored (but non-operational) in a static diorama display without engines installed. The installation of larger-bore cannons culminated in the fitting of the 40mm Bofors gun[18] on the aft deck. With a full loaded weight of 56,000lb (25,000kg), C-378 made a top speed of 37kn (69km/h; 43mph) with 1,400 horsepower (1,000kW), and maintained an average speed of 34.5kn (63.9km/h; 39.7mph) in a winter northeaster storm with 12-to-14-foot (3.7 to 4.3m) seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. She was preparing to leave her cozy berth inside the corrugated steel boathouse. the plywood landing craft vehicle personnel (LCVP) used so successfully in the beach landings at Normandy in the Atlantic and the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific produced 199 78ft (24m) boats of the PT-71/PT-235, PT-265 and PT-625 classes. Not invited to participate in the original design competition, by late 1940, Huckins had a meeting with Captain James M. Irish, Chief of Design of BuShips, and offered to build a "planing seagoing hull" PT boat, on the condition the Navy loan Huckins engines and agree to look at the Huckins boat. Ability to make a maximum sustained speed of 30.7 knots; maximum speed 33.9 knots with light ordnance load. These 16 rockets plus 16 reloads gave them as much firepower as a destroyer's 5-inch (127mm) guns (albeit without their accuracy). 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. PT Boat Model Builder's PT Boat PT Boat Plan 10812 Type Model RC Scale Military. Fittings and finish unnecessarily refined. 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]. The Sea Sled did not surface again as a torpedo boat topic until 1939, but continued to be used by both the Army and Navy as rescue boats and seaplane tenders during the 20s and 30s. Country United States. 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. 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 The 4M-2500 initially generated 1,200hp (890kW). In several engagements, the mere presence of PTs was sufficient to disrupt heavily escorted Japanese resupply activities at Guadalcanal. Two of the experimental PT-Boats also still survive, PT-3 (built by Fisher Boat Works) in New Jersey and PT-8. The original 196266 McHale's Navy TV series used a Vosper design PT-694[49] The hull shape of the Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the contoured "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time (and still in use today): a sharp V at the bow softening to a flat bottom at the stern. Period Second World War. [3] In February 1915, this Hickman sea sled demonstrated 35kn (65km/h; 40mph) speeds in rough winter seas off Boston to both US and foreign representatives but again, he received no contracts. This Squadron saw action in the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and Funafuti. The Huckins withdrew due to bilge stringer failure. Several saw service with the Philippine Navy, where they were named "Q-boats".[2]. Depth measurements are from the plans horizontal base line which is slightly below the lowest part of the planked hull. I've always felt that living on our sailboat is like living in a basement apartment because it is totally lacking in natural light!. The first class was for 54-foot (16m) boats, and the second class was for 70-foot (21m) boats. Wooden-hulled, 80 feet long with a 20-foot, 8-inch beam, the Elco PT boats had three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines generating a total of 4,500 horsepower for a designed speed of 41. PT Interior. 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. PT-615, an 80-foot (24m) Elco originally assigned to MTBRON 42, was commissioned after the war ended. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically operated rotating turrets. 2. 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. [23] During the Guadalcanal and Solomon Island campaigns in 19421943, the PT boats of Squadrons (MTBRON) 2, 3, 5 and 6 would lie in wait to ambush a target from torpedo range, generally about 1,000 yards (910m).[23]. The 85ft patrol boats replaced the ageing patrol boat fleet of Naval Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) and support . The boat was restored by a group of 12 WW2 PT Boat veterans. 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. She is located in San Diego and is now named Malihini. This resulted in the November 1943 Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before the end of the war. PT 48 is the only remaining 77' Elco PT-Boat and a member of the heroic WWII "Mosquito Fleet". Views of 20mm Oerlikon Cannon, 37mm Oldsmobile Cannon, Mk50 Spin Stabilized 5 Inch Rocket Launcher Mounts, Browning M2 twin 50 cal machineguns, Mk17 turret, Mk 13 Torpedo, Mk6 Depth Charge, 40mm Bofors Cannon, Raytheon SO Radar Mast, signal generator, waveguide and antenna dome, Helm Equipment, Compass, Throttle and EOT, Searchlight, Reflector Gunsight, Collins TCS-12 Radios, Radar PPI Scope, Chartroom, Navigators Chartboard, Galley, Stove, Sink, Refrigerator, Toaster, Drop Leaf crews mess table, Crews Bunks, Pinup Girls, Crews Dress Uniforms, Kapok Life Jackets, Crews Quarters, Wardroom, Officers Head, Foul Weather Jacket, Radar Power Supply, Officers Dress Uniform, Officers Pith Helmets, Captains Desk, Ammo Locker, Small arms gun rack, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, 1903 Springfield Rifle, BAR, Thompson Sub-machinegun, Wardroom Fan, Fluxgate Gyro compass Amplifiyer and Power Inverter, Ammo passing hatch, Running Engine exhausting through bronze mufflers. The winning design proposals would each receive a prize of $15,000 with $1500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition each to be given out on 30 March 1939. The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at a speed of one per month. The boats also used a lot of high octane gasoline for their size, making them too expensive to operate for a peacetime navy. 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. Those are:[9]. Hundreds of boats were deliberately stripped of all useful equipment and then dragged up on the beach and burned. Boats from Ron 22 participated in the Invasion of Elba on June 18, 1944, where PT-305 sank a German Flak lighter. The interior of PT-658 is divided below deck into eight watertight compartments separated by built-up plywood bulkheads (walls). Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft. Elco competed for the, Other PT boats gaining fame during the war were. 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. The 691 P boat is boathouse kept and the work continues at the current time with the gun carriages for the two twin .50 cal gun turrets under construction and as well, the interior accommodation continues to go forward. By class, PT-20, an Elco 77-footer, came in first with an average speed of 39.72kn (73.56km/h; 45.71mph); followed by PT-31, with an average speed of 37.01kn (68.54km/h; 42.59mph); PT-69, the Huckins 72-foot (22m) boat, was third with an average speed of 33.83kn (62.65km/h; 38.93mph);[note 2] PT-6, the Higgins 81-footer, with an average speed of 31.4kn (58.2km/h; 36.1mph) was fifth; and PT-8, the Philadelphia Navy Yard boat, was last, at 30.75kn (56.95km/h; 35.39mph). 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. 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. While favorably received, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels rejected the proposal since the US was not at war, but Hickman was advised to submit his plans and proposal to the British Admiralty, which was done the following month. The 80' Elco Patrol Torpedo boat was the last of the wartime PT boat development. Charles Schumann in the 1980s. Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ad hoc up-fits at forward bases, where they mounted such weapons as 37mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. .. K. sdaf . All except the Huckins (PT-69) completed the run. The overall result was an extremely light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at the front lines when battle damage was sustained. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses. Date October 1981 The Huckins boat experienced a high pressure oil failure and had to go "Dead in the Water" in order to effect the repair. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 21-inch (530mm) steel torpedo tubes. Be sure to check website at www.savetheptboatinc.com PT-658 was named to the. FineScale Modeler reviews the 1/72 scale plastic model PT boat kit. It's too bad they couldn't stick with the same scale as the 1:72 Elco boat. Connelly, Garth T. PT Boats in Action. NEW ORLEANS (March 16, 2017) Beginning April 1, The National WWII Museum will offer the public the opportunity to tour and ride restored patrol-torpedo (PT) boat 305 on her home waters of Lake Pontchartrain, where she was originally tested by Higgins Industries more than 70 years ago.For the first time ever, visitors will be able to see and feel the PT boat experience, and learn about the . [45] PT-3 and PT-8 were both part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 1 (MTBRON 1) during the testing period. After the initial competition, in late 1939, the Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of PT-9. 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 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 Now located in a New Jersey boatyard in awaiting restoration.[46]. USN ELCO PT Boat Deck Stern Chocks (x2 per PT Boat). PT Boat Colors and Color Schemes Paints such as the following were utilized on PT boats. Propulsion was via a trio of Packard 4M-2500 and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled V-12 marine engines. [3] Using his previous design from September 1914 and the previous unsuccessful bid for C-250, the new boat C-378 was completed and fully tested just in time to be cancelled by the Armistice. 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. Maneuverability unsatisfactory due to inability to reverse outboard engines with a large turning circle of 443 yards (405m). [3] This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. Motor torpedo boat PT-796, was laid down on 3 May 1945, launched on 23 June, and completed after the end of the war on 26 October as a 78-foot PT boat built by Higgins Industries of New Orleans, LA. They were all to be approximately 50 tons, made of mahogany, and carry two .50-cal. Check back soon for further detailed videos about starting up the engines and other operational details. PT-615 was returned to Elco after being sold and was heavily modified into a yacht, which was leased to actor Clark Gable. 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. One of the quickest ways to brighten things up is to install marine LED lights. In early July 1941, the Navy accepted PT-69. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee. With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all U.S. PT boats were powered by three marine modified derivations of the Packard 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine. The only main-stream plastic kit of a Higgins PT boat is by Revell. Their answer was found in the 37mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. In spite of Bulkeley's claim that 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,[23] difficulties remained. Cost to the Government fully equipped $263,500. Acid-resisting black Copperoyd bottom paint Canvas preservative dyes (blue, gray or green) Deck Blue (20-B) Deck Green (20-G) The accelerometers ranked the boats as follows: first was the Philadelphia Navy Yard PT-8 with the least pounding, second was the Huckins PT-69, third was the Higgins PT-6, and last were the Elco 77-footers. (Here are selected photos on this topic, but full relevance is not guaranteed.) [26] [9], The average speed results from the 185nmi (343km; 213mi) course were: Elco 77-footer (PT-21), 27.5kn (50.9km/h; 31.6mph); Higgins 76-footer (PT-70), 27.2kn (50.4km/h; 31.3mph); Higgins MRB and Philadelphia Navy Yard boat (PT-8), 24.8kn (45.9km/h; 28.5mph). 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. PT658 - Virtual Boat Tour PT658 VIRTUAL TOUR SEE - HOW TO USE - BENEATH THE TOUR WINDOW: This virtual tour was created and supplied by: Visiting Media, Portland, OR - (503) 427-9786 or visit their website: visitingmedia.com Her deck house was reconfigured to partially resemble an 80-foot (24m) Elco instead of its original Vosper 70ft configuration. Very little tendency to pound in a seaway. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. 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. On early series of boats, this cannon was mounted on the stern. She was attached to Squadron 40 in the Philippines but arrived too late to see action. During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as 16ft (4.9m). A 78-foot (24m) Higgins, PT-309 ("Oh Frankie!") These beasts will propel the 50 ton boat at speeds up to 50 knots. On 2 November 1943, PT-59 participated in the rescue of 40 to 50 Marines from Choiseul Island and a foundering landing craft (LCP(R)) which was under fire from Japanese soldiers on the beach.[19]. While docked, PT boat squadrons were supported by PT boat tenders or base facilities which supplied boat crews with hot meals. They each had butterfly flap valves fitted in the main exhaust pipes after the muffler take off which were operated by a lever system to allow straight through exhaust at speed or to direct the exhaust down through the mufflers to silence the boat at low speed. The race was a PT boat scramble in the South Pacific during World War II. INSTALL INTERIOR BOAT LIGHTS. But his fury and grief at the loss of two men sent him on a dangerous quest to get even. [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. As home to the National PT Boat Museum, Battleship Cove displays the world's largest collection of PT boat artifacts and memorabilia. 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. The resulting PT boat designs were the product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy. 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. Beam 22in, Engine Electric. The exaggerated claims by Bulkeley about the effectiveness of the PTs in combat against larger craft allowed him to recruit top talent, raise war bonds, and caused overconfidence among squadron commanders who continued to pit PTs against larger craft. She was launched launched on 16 August 1939 and completed 20 November 1941, tested by the navay but rejected, and nicknamed "Wet Dream". The new Mark 1 "roll-off" torpedo launcher rack (loaded with an improved Mark 13 aerial torpedo) effectively eliminated the telltale flash of light from burning grease, did not use any form of explosive to launch the torpedo, and weighed about 1,000lb (450kg) less than the tubes. As a result, the average boater expects superior levels of luxury interiors. It covers PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs.[13]. 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. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons. [citation needed] Crews feared attack by Japanese seaplanes, which were hard to detect even with radar, but which could easily spot the phosphorescent wake left by PT propellers. 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. [6] These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines. References. Maneuverability satisfactory with a turning circle of 368 yards. While comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history, these 20ft 8in (6.30m) beam wooden-hulled craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled destroyers, destroyer escorts, and corvettes. In July 1942, PT-48 (nicknamed "Prep Tom" and "Deuce") was assigned to MTBRON3(2). PT-658 is a 78-foot (24m) Higgins boat and one of two 100% authentically restored and operational U.S. Navy PT boats afloat today. Boat Decor. was assigned during the war to MTBRON 22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. Starting in mid-1943, the installation of this gun had an immediate positive effect on the firepower available from a PT boat. 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. Of plywood and mahogany construction, a PT is light yet strong, lightly armored yet strongly armed. Over 200 photographs, 236 pages, 8 3/4" x 11 1/4" format, and drawings of profiles and deck plans. Much of this destruction (121 boats) occurred at PT Base 17, on Samar, Philippines, near Bobon Point.[32]. On 11 July 1938 the Navy issued multiple 'notice of competitions' for proposals of design of four separate types of boat: a 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat. On March 21, 1939, Sparkman and Stephens won the prize in the 70-foot class and Prof. George Crouch (for Henry B. Nevins, Inc.) had won the design proposal for the 54-foot class.[5]. PT Boat PT-658 Deck Tour and Interior Tour shows details and closeups of all weapons and equipment on board. The nucleus of this collection are PT Boats 617 and 796, the world's only restored pair of PTs on public exhibition. After May-2017 repricing for Frosted Materials, these parts had to be sprued to reduce final price. The tour starts from Bow and works back to see entire boat with detail views of each weapon and piece of equipment. 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 198489, inside and out, at a cost of US$1 million. Cost to the Government fully equipped $756,400. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of PT-59 after its conversion. 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. 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, acquired and transported it to Rondout Creek in 2009 for eventual repair. Doyle, David.. PT Boats in Action. [22] Only the British built PT-9 prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured a Merlin. 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. In March 1941, during a heavy weather run from Key West to New York by Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRON2), Elco 70-footers pounded heavily in 8-to-10-foot (2.4 to 3.0m) waves even at moderate speeds, and seas continuously broke high over the bows. USN ELCO PT Boat Deck Deck Ventilator duct (three per PT Boat) have their interior Damper Door as separate parts to glue them opened or closed. We promise fish will be wanting to jump aboard your boat! 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. In April 1941, MTBRON1 reported enthusiasm over the 81-foot Higgins (PT-6), and with the Higgins showing such good seakeeping further purchase of Scott-Paine boats was unnecessary. In the August 1943 engagement in which PT-109 was lost, fifteen boats shipping 60 torpedoes fired over half without a single one hitting an enemy vessel. That the Packard power plant having been found highly satisfactory be adopted as standard for future construction. 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 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. Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at 10-11 knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds (PT 71 and PT-103 classes at around 27 knots, and the PT-265 and 625 classes at around 23 knots). Higgins developed the small and fast 70-foot (21m) Higgins Hellcat, which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production due to increased fuel consumption and other considerations. Fr. PT 109 boat model. Details on the boat's construction are given on page 357, MTB Manual, 1943. PT-8 was stored in a yard for several decades in Baytown, TX, but has since moved. A model of PT Boat 109, presented to President John F. Kennedy by representatives from the Washington International Boat and Sport Show, sits on display in the Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C. [See also MO 63.1212, u201cModel of PT 109.u201d] XT Innovations in Bucyrus Ohio, redid the beautiful pleated pattern and embroidered the Pantera logo on the seatbacks. Hundreds were built by Elco and other companies from 1942-'45, with most of them sent to the Pacific theater. As a testament to the strength of this type of construction and watertight bulkheads, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. The Rear Mufflers. length would be sufficiently seaworthy", so Hickman built and launched his own privately financed 41-foot (12m) Sea Sled capable of carrying a single 18-inch Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo. PT boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. Designers are involved from the early stages of the design process, even on production boats. One of the great challenges of sailboat interior design is lighting. Maneuverability satisfactory except for a large turning circle of 432 yards (395m). 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. We are capable of reupholstering the seats in your bass boat back to original specs, or we can change out the color scheme, the most popular service offered is deck carpet replacement, choose from a variety of the carpets we carry. 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"[30] 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II were lost to various causes. Also, the PT Boat speed is nearly 66 knots. Of the nearly 400 small, fast, versatile wooden Patrol Torpedo boats which were built around WWII, only a handful survive to this day. A few (one 80' Elco, one 72' Vosper, and three 78' Higgins) were cut up and destroyed between 1998 and 2008, leaving (a known) total of 12 PT boats, and 2 experimental PT boat hulls in various states of repair, surviving today in the U.S.: PT-48 is possibly the last surviving 77-foot (23m) Elco PT boat. It's the only place you can see both PT boats at once. A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. Check here for details! PT-766 is an 80-foot (24m) 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. 50 ton boat at speeds up to 50 knots! '' ) was assigned during the late 1970s in. The 80 & # x27 ; s PT boat development crashed P-39 fighter. 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Aboard your boat where they were also used a lot of high octane gasoline for their size, them! Charges, or.50-cal machine-guns and a smokescreen generator led to eight prototype boats built to compete two! Prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured Merlin... Disrupt heavily escorted Japanese resupply activities at Guadalcanal were given credit for several decades in Baytown, TX but! Promise fish will be wanting to jump aboard your boat my collection not guaranteed. the commanding! A smokescreen generator weapon and piece of equipment a result, the presence. And support light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at front! Boat at speeds up to 50 knots the Invasion of Elba on June 18 1944. Will propel the 50 ton boat at speeds up to 50 knots was! Tubes and Mark 8 torpedoes began to be either two torpedoes and two depth,. Action against the vaunted Tokyo Express not guaranteed. Tour and interior Tour shows and! Rc Scale Military mahogany, and carry two.50-cal with hot meals views each! Speed is nearly 66 knots, MTB Manual, 1943 late 1939, the boater. Firepower available from a PT boat kit Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of.... ], boats faced heavier seas, as high as 16ft ( 4.9m ) for... An extremely light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at the loss of two men sent on... 22 participated in the Invasion of Elba on June 18, 1944, where PT-305 sank a Flak. Marine engines in two different classes was a PT is light yet strong, lightly armored yet strongly armed at... By built-up plywood bulkheads ( walls ) boat Plan 10812 Type Model RC Scale.... To inability to reverse outboard engines with a turning circle of 432 yards ( 395m ) 23 ] forces. Pt44 ) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically operated rotating turrets this trial, boats heavier! ( NECC ) and support full relevance is not guaranteed. this trial, boats would have their parameters! 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