Where were PT boats stationed?
During World War II, the Navy established many motor torpedo boat (MTB) bases throughout the South Pacific as the course of the war moved through the Solomon Islands chain. Some were small, temporary advanced bases out of which the patrol torpedo (PT) boats operated; larger facilities were set up as maintenance bases.
How many PT boats are left in the world?
Today there are just two fully restored and operational Patrol Torpedo boats, or PT boats, left in the world, and only one of them saw service in World War II.
Were PT boats lost in ww2?
Losses. According to the book "At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy," 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II were lost to various causes.
Were PT boats used in Europe?
Built in New Orleans by Higgins Industries, the patrol-torpedo (PT) boat PT-305 was a critical asset for the US Navy during World War II, serving in European waters from 1944 to the end ofthe war.
Do any PT boats still exist?
Today, just four combat-veteran PT boats still exist in the United States; of those, only PT-305 is fully restored and operational, complete with original-model engines.
Did a PT boat ever sink a submarine?
How many ships did PT boats sink in WW2? PT-59 (more on her later) is credited with sinking Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarine I-3 on December 9, 1942 near Guadalcanal. PT-37 and PT-40 sank destroyer IJN Teruzuki on the night of 11–12 December, barely three months after the Japanese had put her into service.
Was the PT 73 a real PT boat?
The real PT-73 was a 78-foot Higgins boat assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 13, which saw service in the Aleutians and in the Southwest Pacific theater. On 15 January, 1945 it ran aground, and was destroyed to prevent it falling into enemy hands.
What is the most famous PT boat?
Lieutenant John F. Kennedy's encounter with a Japanese destroyer on the night of August 1, 1943, may be the most famous small-craft engagement in naval history, and it was an unmitigated disaster.
Did PT boats sink any Japanese ships?
Though few PTs sank major Japanese ships, they enjoyed more success in other operations, including reconnaissance and search and rescue. The boats often harassed and broke up Japanese barge traffic, earning the nickname “devil boats” among the enemy.
Could a PT boat sink a battleship?
No capital ship was sunk in WW2 by a motor torpedo boat/PT boat but one Dreadnought Battleship was sunk by an Italian motor torpedo boat in WW1. SMS Svent Istavan of the Austro Hungarian Navy a Dreadnought of 21000 tons was torpedoed and sunk by the 30 ton torpedo boat MAS-15 the sinking was filmed.
Can you buy a PT boat?
Specialized yacht brokers, dealers, and brokerages on YachtWorld have a diverse selection of PT models for sale, with listings spanning from 1979 year models to 1985.
Did the Germans have PT boats?
The German torpedo boats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They were not small schnellboote (known to the Allies as E-boats) but small seagoing vessels, the larger of which were comparable to destroyers.
How big is a PT boat crew?
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 knots. With accommodations for 3 officers and 14 men, the crew varied from 12 to 14.
What is the top speed of a PT boat?
Engines. PT-109 was powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) Packard 4M-2500 marinized aero gasoline engines (one per propeller shaft), with a designed top speed of 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph).
Did PT boats have a galley?
Galley. -Here is where the "cook" heats up the cans. A PT galley is much more than that. It can and has turned out American, Italian, French, Chinese, and even Japanese cuisine.
Did they use PT boats in Vietnam?
PTFs were the Vietnam War's version of the famous PT boats used in World War II. They were heavily armed, near-coastal gunboats, used mostly by special forces. PTF-26 is the last of only four Osprey-class PTFs, which were bigger and had aluminum hulls. PTF-26 is the final PTF and the last U.S. PT boat ever built.
How many PT boats did U.S. build?
A total of 690 PT boats were built between 7 December 1941, and 1 October 1945. WW II PT Boat Manuals available at the Historic Naval Ships Association Web Site: Know Your PT Boat, 1945. This is an introduction to PT Boats for crews' in training.
Did PT boats have radar?
The PT Boats during World War II were equipped with radar which helped in locating and destroying enemy ships. "One thing that was exciting about our boats, we all had radar," said Czekanski.
Was the PT-109 ever found?
The wreck of PT-109 was found by Robert Ballard in 2002 in 1,300 feet of water in Blackett Strait between Gizo and Kolombongara Islands in the Solomons, not far from where it was rammed by the Japanese destroyer IJN Amagiri at about 02:27 on August 2, 1943.
Is the story of PT-109 true?
On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt.
What happens if a sailor dies on a submarine?
Three Packard Marine gasoline engines powered the boats to a top speed of 45 knots. At the end of World War II, the expense of returning PT boats to the United States from overseas was considered prohibitive, so most boat were stripped of useful materials and burned.
How fast was a WWII PT boat?
One of the most notable types of wooden crafts was the PT or Motor Torpedo Boat. This small, fast craft would race at the enemy to launch torpedoes before making a hasty retreat. The complex curves of the boat's hull would have been very difficult to manufacture from steel.
Were PT boats wooden?
In the later years of the war the U.S. Navy standardized the design and construction of the PT boat. Two basic and distinctly different types of PT Boats were built for combat with the predominant PT, the 80-foot long "Elco" boat, and the slightly smaller 78-foot long "Higgins” boat.
How big were PT boats in WWII?
One such type of boat are the PT boats of WWII. Nicknamed “Devil Boats” by the Japanese, these small torpedo boats helped the U.S. Navy in its war in the Pacific. In 1938, the U.S. Navy realized its need for a mobile attack boat. PT's or Patrol Torpedo Boats were small, fast vessels that could be used for scouting.
What was the PT boat nickname?
In the early hours on August 2, 1943, PT-109 was patrolling Blackett Strait, on the southern side of Kolombangara Island, when her starboard side was rammed, cut, and severely disabled by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.
Why did PT-109 sink?
Two crew members were never seen again, but 11 who survived, all wearing life vests, managed to board what was left of PT-109. One had been badly burned and couldn't swim. Lieutenant Kennedy, who had suffered a ruptured spinal disk in the collision, had swum and towed him to the boat.
Did all of the crew of PT-109 survive?
PT boat action during World War II is well documented in history books and popularized in movies. Serving in multiple theaters, PT boats effectively and consistently challenged their adversaries. These fast ships, manned by courageous sailors, fought magnificently against long odds.
Where are PT boats any good?
Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft.
What replaced PT boats?
There was variety to the colors; PT-109 originally shipped out to the South Pacific on pre-war gray (I have photos here) but was later repainted in a tropical green that I believe was a mixture of zinc chromate and black paint.
What color was PT-109?
During the night of August 1 into the second in 1943, the 80-foot boat was struck in the South Pacific by a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri. The PT boat itself was destroyed. MATT PORTER: And on that night, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, commander of the PT-109, led his crew members to a nearby set of islands.
What happened to JFK's PT boat?
It took four and a half days to sink the U.S.S. Nevada. The 575-foot-long battleship, painted bright orange from its earlier role as a nuclear test target, was towed out of Pearl Harbor to sea, where a classified explosive was detonated in its hull.
What is the hardest ship to sink?
Gerald Zinser, 82, last surviving crewman aboard President John F. Kennedy's doomed PT 109 in the South Pacific in World War II, died Aug. 21 in Orange Park, Fla., of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Who was the last survivor of the PT-109?
A few (one 80' Elco, one 72' Vosper, and three 78' Higgins) were cut up and destroyed between 1998 and 2008, leaving (a known) total of 12 PT boats, and 2 experimental PT boat hulls in various states of repair, surviving today in the U.S.: PT-48. PT-48 is possibly the last surviving 77-foot (23 m) Elco PT boat.
How many PT boats still exist?
By the last patrol on the night of April 28, 1945, American PT boats had been fighting in the coastal waters of North Africa, Italy, and France for two years. During that period, they fired 354 torpedoes, claiming 38 vessels totaling 23,700 tons sunk.
Were there PT boats in Europe?
Built in New Orleans by Higgins Industries, the patrol-torpedo (PT) boat PT-305 was a critical asset for the US Navy during World War II, serving in European waters from 1944 to the end ofthe war.
Were PT boats used in Europe?
Today, just four combat-veteran PT boats still exist in the United States; of those, only PT-305 is fully restored and operational, complete with original-model engines. An operational PT-305 promises to become one of The National WWII Museum's most exciting artifacts and teaching tools.
Are there any ww2 PT boats still around?
The crew size of the typical PT boat in the Pacific during World War II was between 10 and 17 men depending on the size and configuration of the boat, whether it was Elco or Higgins boat.
How many men were on a PT boat?
Even after the tide turned in the Pacific theater, PT boats were run hard and getting spares remained difficult. At the end of the war, with little need for all of them the determination was made that they were beyond economical repair. Those irreparable boats were destroyed as the best method of demilitarizing them.
What happened to all the PT boats after ww2?
Though few PTs sank major Japanese ships, they enjoyed more success in other operations, including reconnaissance and search and rescue. The boats often harassed and broke up Japanese barge traffic, earning the nickname “devil boats” among the enemy.
Did PT boats sink any Japanese ships?
They were used extensively in both the Pacific and Mediterranean Theaters in World War Two. The closest modern equivalent are Fast Missile Attack Craft. That are armed with Anti-ship Missiles, Cannons and sometimes light Anti-Aircraft Missiles.
What engines were used in PT boats?
Specialized yacht brokers, dealers, and brokerages on YachtWorld have a diverse selection of PT models for sale, with listings spanning from 1979 year models to 1985.
What is the modern equivalent of a PT boat?
Pound-for-pound they were some of the most heavily armed vessels in the fleet, though saddled at first with the old Mk8 and later the defective Mk13 torpedoes. As far as I know, they accounted for only one Destroyer sunk in all of their action, but that's not a good marker of their actual effectiveness.
Can you buy a PT boat?
Yes, they did. Below is a diagram of a typical PT boat. The right hand diagram shows the action stations of most of the crew while the left diagram is the interior of the boat showing the action stations of the radio operator and engineer. Note the rest beds for 4 crew and one for the skipper.
How effective were PT boats in ww2?
There is a comfortable, open air, relatively private, small space between the torpedo and the depth charges located on either side of the boat at the rear of the boat that is used as the bathroom.
Did crew sleep on PT boats?
The German torpedo boats of World War II were armed principally, if not exclusively, with torpedoes and varied widely in size. They were not small schnellboote (known to the Allies as E-boats) but small seagoing vessels, the larger of which were comparable to destroyers.
Did PT boats have bathroom?
After serving in a training squadron in Rhode Island, PT-59 was reassigned to the protection of the Panama Canal before being transported by oceangoing ship to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. It arrived at its home base of Tulagi and served successfully, sinking a Japanese submarine by torpedo.
Did the Germans have PT boats?
During World War II, the Navy established many motor torpedo boat (MTB) bases throughout the South Pacific as the course of the war moved through the Solomon Islands chain. Some were small, temporary advanced bases out of which the patrol torpedo (PT) boats operated; larger facilities were set up as maintenance bases.
Did PT boats sink submarines?
The real PT-73 was a 78-foot Higgins boat assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 13, which saw service in the Aleutians and in the Southwest Pacific theater. On 15 January, 1945 it ran aground, and was destroyed to prevent it falling into enemy hands.
Where were PT boats stationed?
The wreck of PT-109 was found by Robert Ballard in 2002 in 1,300 feet of water in Blackett Strait between Gizo and Kolombongara Islands in the Solomons, not far from where it was rammed by the Japanese destroyer IJN Amagiri at about 02:27 on August 2, 1943.
Was the PT 73 a real PT boat?
In this profound darkness, PT-109 stood at her station in Blackett Strait, south of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands, one of the remnants of an operation born into futility, the heir to bad planning and worse communication.
Was the PT-109 ever found?
John Kennedy's PT boat was cut in two by a Japanese warship. More than 1,000 people were part of the overflow crowd at the PT Boat Museum in Fall River's Battleship Cove to honor the two men who died during the PT-109 incident and all other crewmen of PT boats who didn't survive the war.
Where was PT-109 stationed?
On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt.
How many died on PT-109?
How long were the men on PT-109 stranded?
How many of the PT-109 crew survived the war?
Eventually Elco (Elco Motor Yachts) with a factory located in Bayonne, New Jersey and Higgins Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana were the dominant two builders with Elco producing the largest number. In the later years of the war the U.S. Navy standardized the design and construction of the PT boat.
Where were PT boats built in ww2?
This is the inside story of Operation 34A and the Nasty Class PT Boats – and the crews that manned them during the Vietnam War. Most Americans consider that our involvement in the Vietnamese War began with the Tonkin Gulf incident.
Were PT boats used in Vietnam?
PT-59 (more on her later) is credited with sinking Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarine I-3 on December 9, 1942 near Guadalcanal. PT-37 and PT-40 sank destroyer IJN Teruzuki on the night of 11–12 December, barely three months after the Japanese had put her into service.
Did U.S. PT boats sink any Japanese ships?
At the end of World War II, the expense of returning PT boats to the United States from overseas was considered prohibitive, so most boat were stripped of useful materials and burned.