US PT Boats of WW2 - Guide 369

The PT Boats, fast attack craft of the United States Navy, is today's subject.

Read more about the ship here:

[mcpuff]

Love getting coverage of the smaller vessels of WW2. Something on how Britain fought the E-boats in the channel would also be great

[lsdzheeusi]

"The PT's distinguished themselves that day at Cavite by shooting down at least three dive bombers. After that, the incoming planes gave the PT's a wide berth, concentrating on less nimble, less ferocious targets. The chief of staff later sent Lt. Bulkley a message in which he said: "the latest report is that three dive bombers were seen being chased over Marivales Mountain by an MTB. Don't you think this is carrying the war a little too far?"

"The Black Coast: the story of the PT Boat by Basil Heater", p. 17

My favorite PT boat anecdote!

[zlboyle]

The crews did not steal anything, the strategically transferred equipment to alternate locations. The locations tended to be the pt boats. Not a strange coincidence, totally accidental.

[Frank-in-NY]

My father owned a Marine Electronics Company to which I worked for him full time and part time for 25 years. Also working for my father was a retired Nassau County Policeman who had worked in the Marine Division while an officer of the law. He was also a WWII Veteran, US Navy and was stationed on PT Boats during the war. I wish I had gotten more information from him. He fought in the Solomon Islands. He installed the Radar on his PT Boat, he was Sparky. He told me some war stories which were very entertaining, but in reality, this was a horror show. He lived into his 90's, he was a true hero, a member of the greatest generation.

[chrisschmalhofer]

My grandfather hand-built a pop-up camper trailer out of materials salvaged from a WWII PT boat. Passed it down to my dad and I remember camping in it until I graduated from college in 2000.

[kevinhaywood]

At 6:29, the PT boat shown is PT-59, shown rifht after her conversion to a gunboat. She has extra 50 cals where her torpedo tubes were and a 40mm on the stern. If you look at the cockpit, one of those men is LTJG John F. Kennedy, who took over this boat and saw its conversation done. Of course, this is after his previous boat, PT-109 had been sunk. Instead of going home like he rated, he choose to stay and take command of the 59. He was in command for just a few months before having to finally go home because of a back injury caused during 109s sinking. One thing that happened before he left was the 59 was sent on a mission to cover and eventually rescue some Marines who were being evacuated from a small landing party. During the trip back, a badly wounded Marine died in Kennedys bunk and the boat ran out of fuel since she was sent out not fully fueled. But they did save over 50 Marines that night.

[hrbeta]

In the early '60s, my father purchased an 80-foot PT in my native Venezuela (of all places 😂). It had been converted into a rudimentary yacht. It now boosted living space on top with a kitchen, dining area, a lew, and two sleeping rooms with berths. The gas engines were replaced with two in-line six Detroit Diesel motors, so it wasn't fast anymore but reliable and simple to operate. My old man also had the whole of the hull covered in fiberglass. Down below there was accommodation for a crew of three and two huge freshwater tanks. The “Sportsman” was our family’s destination on most holidays of the year, I grew up under the sun, fishing, swimming and visiting interesting beaches and coast shores in Eastern Venezuela. Happy memories 🙂

[swampyankee]

Rebuilt one of the PT Boats that is now at Battleship Cove. Quite an experience, worked with many PT veterans. This was around 1984ish.

[timenginemannd]

They also often carried a 60mm mortar that was mainly used to launch parachute flares to illuminate Japanese Landing Barges (i.e. Landing Craft) ...

[VosperCDN]

PT Boats and MTBs are a big favourite of naval history for me. Reading about coastal forces was something I generally found more interesting than the majority of fleet actions.

[Eulemunin]

Love the 5 minute guides that regularly run to twice the time, never change Drac.

[tracyjones]

One of the only surviving Higgins version was restored and part of the exhibits at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. For a brief time, they actually had it in the water and you could get rides on it. Link to the museum source below. Nice to hear other boats exist.

[petermgruhn]

Watching Jingles and Drach I've learned one thing "ship classification is a farce."

[SuperCrazf]

PT boat crews, unsung heroes of you ask me, often overlooked and very under appreciated maybe even by their own colleagues in ships like destroyers upwards

[gregorywright]

One of my favorite movies, They Were Expendable, featured PT boats in the Philippines in early 1942. Robert Montgomery spent time in PT boats during the war, and he directed some uncredited scenes in the movie when John Ford broke his leg. You get a sense of the desperation and hopelessness of the campaign. Southern Florida stands in for Bataan and the central Philippines. MTB 3 had 6 Elcos, but they used 2 newer Elcos and 4 Huckins.

[mikearmstrong]

About 20+ years ago, one of these Elco boats was shown in a high-end dept store catalog, available for mail order, with all guns, torpedoes, and depth charges included (deactivated of course).

[Zephcas]

PT-658 is a museum in Portland, Oregon now. They did a great job with the restoration and you can occasionally see it on the Willamette River.

[dncarac]

My wife's father served as a torpedo man on submarines Ronquil and Drum. I know she'd love information on either or both boats. Thanks for all your videos.

[larryseaquist]

As the cycle continued, the USN commissioned the Asheville class PGs, Patrol Gunboats. I had the pleasure of being the commissioning CO of USS Beacon PG-99. They were wonderfully well designed and very useful. Of special note was the CODOG propulsion combination of one LM-1500 Gas Turbine (also used in the F4 fighter) and two diesels interfaced with an excellent SSS clutch system resulting in both high speed and long range endurance. A few small combatants, with their small, high skills crews, will always be useful in a big navy.

[iamthebatmanxiii]

There is just something I love about torpedo boats. No idea why.