Giant Killers - PT Boat Construction

Interesting video. Worth the time.

The WWII Museum in NOLA has a fully restored PT and you can go for a ride on it on Lake Pontchartrain.

Very cool video, thanks for posting. I always had a thing for the PT boats, especially the ELCO boats. The lines of the boat, just seemed to fit perfect for what you think they should be. Seemed so much cooler than the bigger vessels.

I still wish I could have one.

Love the factory shop images, especially all the hand tools used.

Pretty cool. Thanks for posting it!

Made famous when I was a youngster by PT-109.
I wasn’t a big Kennedy fan but liked the boats and the history.

Thanks for the video. Good stuff. Have always found PT Boats to be very interesting. The woodwork that went into making one is impressive. I still have the model of PT109 that I built when I was a kid.

Thanks for posting. Very interesting.

Silent

If you're interested in PT Boats, I highly recommend checking out the 1945 John Wayne film "They Were Expendable". It's about a squadron of early PT boats fighting during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines (December 1941-May 1942).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038160/

One of the favorite "classic" WW2 films.

I've seen - and heard - PT685, a Higgins boat based in Portland OR. A wonderful job of restoration was carried out, in the original camouflage scheme. Lots of movies on Youtube to delight you all.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
The WWII Museum in NOLA has a fully restored PT and you can go for a ride on it on Lake Pontchartrain.

There is also one at the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX. No rides though.

Well that was a productivity killer. LOL Thanks!

"At full speed, the engines make a noise that discourages conversation."

I did not realize PT boats were wooden? Holy cow.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
I've seen - and heard - PT685, a Higgins boat based in Portland OR. A wonderful job of restoration was carried out, in the original camouflage scheme.

The annual Rose Festival Fleet Week visit was cancelled the last two years due to covid, but is back on this year. Haven't heard yet what ships will be here, but PT685 is always popular and I imagine will make its return too.

quote:

Originally posted by redstone:
I did not realize PT boats were wooden? Holy cow.

Harken back to the olden days, when "ships were made of wood, and men of iron!"

My Uncle John served on a Higgins PT; he thought it was a pretty special boat too.

Great video ... thanks for sharing ! Enjoyed watching with my morning coffee, a great way to start the day.

Great video - a well used half hour. I grew up about 5 miles from there and appreciate this slice of history.

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by redstone:
I did not realize PT boats were wooden? Holy cow.

Harken back to the olden days, when "ships were made of wood, and men of iron!"

And, in the war, metal was scarce....

Tanks, Planes, boats, ships, boolits, armor, helmets etc etc etc...

This article is titled “Higgins PT Boat,” but you’ll see that it’s really about the PTs in WWII. My uncle served in “The Med” and the squadron (referred to as a “Ron,” e.g. Ron 15, his squadron) was based at various times during the War at Tripoli, Libya; Bizerte, Tunisia; Palermo, Sicily; and Bastia, Corsica.

PT Boats

I too was surprised to find the PT boats were of almost all wooden construction. As an interesting aside, the Iranians, of all people, seem to have figured out that small, fast, heavily armed attack boats can be formidable under the right circumstances.