US PT Boats of WW2 - Guide 369 

Pinned post for Q&A :)

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

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.

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.

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.

"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!

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

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 🙂

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

PT boats were devastating to Japanese supply barges.

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

My Great Uncle worked at ELCO back then. He was involved in the testing of the early PT's, but I don't know the details. My Grand mother had a Christmas card that showed the boat roaring across the water with a group of guys on the bridge. He added a note "That's me on the left".

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

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.

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.

General MacArthur and family were evacuated from Corregidor Island on board a PT boat. Thanks for this: I always fancied myself a dashing PT boat commander.

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.

Boat Crew on steam is quite a fun little PT boat simulator. At first I thought it was arcade-ey (and it is a little bit for other reasons) for the sheer number and variety of weapons it allows you to cram onto one of these boats, but this video shows that to be absolutely accurate.

My grandfather S1C James R. McCoy served aboard PT-108, an 80-foot Elco for a year and a half before wounds would lead to his retirement from service. When he learned of what befell his boat which had survived the war but like many was beached then burned. my grandmother said this hurt him deeply. I have his uniforms, awards and his Sterling Silver PT badge which was provided to each boat by Elco to be awarded by the boat captain after completion of work-up training in theater. The US Navy never came up with a PT badge like the surface warfare one.

Fun fact about ELCO, the original company was as a subsidiary of the Electric Boat Company, which is still in existence today.

I once heard the Packard V12 engines of a surviving PT boat. Will never forget the sound of them.

Listening to this while hunting cargo subs in Boat Crew 👌

PT boats are one of my favorite vessels and I’m glad to see them getting some recognition !!!

3 V-12 Engines.. You gotta love that ..

I always thought that these things seemed like a better idea than they actually were in reality. Thanks for the info.

Disruption + delays = Dislays. New words by Drach !

The Hollywood film ‘They were Expendable’ gives a somewhat glamorised image of a typical Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron based on actual events starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery who served as commanding officer aboard a PT boat in the Pacific theatre

Well-known to older folks from the TV series "McHales' Navy" (1962, 4 seasons). Thanks.

I can remember seeing one of those pt boats when I was a kid in Miami river just sitting there .That was a good size boat.

I got to see PT-658 running a few years back on the columbia river. The guys did a absolute amazing job restoring that beautiful boat, Yoiu cannot fathom how good those engines sound in it.

Thank you for sharing a great video. PT's have become an interest of mine now that I am affiliated with the Oregon Military Museum of which part of our restoration crew are also the crew that takes care of PT-658 in Portland, Oregon. I was given a private one on one tour of PT-658 a few weeks ago by Jerry who really knows his stuff when it comes to PT's.

Love this. Now Schnell Boot please.

I hope you do a deeper dive on these boats in the future. Awesome video!

Pretty sure there used to be a converted torpedo boat used for trips around Torbay (a tourist area of SW UK) during the 1960s. Can't recall any details - my memory is not what it was. But I do recall that I loved the idea of being on a torpedo boat when I was about 10 or 11 years old - exciting!

Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A. has an excellent exhibit with 2 actual WW2 PT boats preserved indoors. There you can watch a very interesting movie about the development and combat history of the PT boats.

My grandfather was a .50 cal gunner aboard PT-174 in the pacific from late ‘44-‘45 if memory serves me correct. He used to talk exactly about what you said in this video, doing night raids to intercept Japanese barges, and some raids against coastal defenses the Japanese had setup. They also ferried Australian troops and Pacific Islander resistance fighters deep into the islands, and I actually have an Australian Army rising sun badge, and craft made Philippine Moro knife/sheath he traded rations for

Perfect timing since I just finished the game boat crew

The classic case of "Eggshells armed with hammers"!

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. commanded PTs for a variety of interesting commando-type operations in the Med.

I always miss the beginning because I click past the first thirty seconds, but I don't want to fuss about so I just over click. So I step into every Drach video... lost and flailing about for the topic. If I'm lucky, if Drach's lucky, it gels quickly.

My dad and some friends actually bought one of these in the early 1950’s (stripped of weapons). I remember him saying how enormous these boats were for a boat considered small by the Navy. They didn’t have the money to restore it back to its wartime appearance and sold it a few years later. He said it was very loud too.

Great timing on this video's release! I was just watching a video from The Operations Room about the Battle of the Surigao Strait, in which PT boats played a part. Nice to get a sense of the type's broader use during the war in such short order.😊

what a timely video considering the popularity of the early access game Boat crew

About time you got around to these valiant craft and the brave men who crewed them.

I learned everything about PT Boats from McHale's Navy. (1962-1966)

Good mentioning of the ride roughness. Boats of this type are all semi planing vee hulls with one or more steps. The Swedish Navy did a test to find out if it's better to have more than one step. They built two boats that were virtually identical with the main difference that one of them had one step and the other three steps. In calm sea the one with three steps was a little faster, but in rough sea it was better with only one step. So from then on they only procured torpedo boats with one step hulls.

The national World War II Museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana has PT305. They have fully restored the boat and you are able to purchase an actual ride on Lake Pontchartrain for several hundred dollars. Lake Pontchartrain of course also is famous for where the Higgins boats(LCP) were tested.

Been playing a ton of “Boat Crew” lately, this video couldn’t come at a better time.

My dad was stationed in the Pacific theater as was his brother who was stationed on a PT boat. He got to visit his brother and stated that his visit was the best time. They fished with C4 and then returned to the island and had a luau with the fish and the alcohol that they drained from the torpedoes. He said it was the best part of his tour of duty during WW2. Both him and his brother made it home safely. His other brother was wounded landing at Normandy but made it home

Good to see the mosquito fleets getting some coverage. Although the PTs were indeed faster than the RN's big Type D MGBs in the Mediterranean, the only S-boats deployed in that specific theatre were in fact the smaller and significantly slower-than-normal 'S-30' type. These were originally eight boats on order for China, which were requisitioned by the KM at the outbreak of war in 1939. Completed for in mid-1940 for service with the new (and soon to be S-boat hallmark) raised forecastle arrangement, as seen on the four larger contemporary boats of the 'S-26' type, the S-30s were far less powerfully-engined and capable of a maximum speed of 36 knots - even without the added weight of a 2cm cannon mount in the bow as new. Their larger cousins could reliably make about 39kts, flat out. Being slightly narrower and shorter than the S-26 & S-38 types, the slower S-30s could thus be stripped of armament and transferred through canals all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. There, they formed the 3rd Schnellbootflotille and, joined by eight new sisters, would receive various armament upgrades as they performed admirable service. Ultimately, the S-30s type boats of 3SF were joined by the *even smaller and slower still* eight boats of the 'S-151' type (which lacked a bow gun throughout their careers), forming the '1st Schnellboot Division'. These were the boats seen in the photos surrendering at Ancona and interned post-war in Malta, prior to their scuttling at sea. Up-armed early on with the classic 2cm bow gun, later with the addition of twin or triple 15mm machine-gun mounts behind the bridge and, by war's end, sporting either a twin 2cm flak or a 3.7cm M43 flak in place of the original single aft 2cm cannon - as well as field-modified armoured wheelhouses - these were definitely good gun combatants, if you ever happened to see them at least. But, at just 36 knots (and 35 for the smaller Type 151), they were no match, speed-wise, for a Higgins PT. - On the other hand, the S-boats serving in the Channel and North Sea were of the 38-39 knot 'S38' type, or the even more impressive 100-ton and 42 knot 'S100' class boats. And the short-ranged, smaller-hulled RN motor gunboats developed to fight *these* craft closer to home were the incredible British Power Boat Co 71.5-feet type; fully capable of 40 knots at just 40 tons, while still toting a power-operated 2-pdr pom-pom and twin Oerlikons. *These* boats were absolutely incredible *and we have one restored to running condition* (although not with the original 3600hp engines) - the beautiful MGB 81.

There are two PT boats across the river from where I live at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA. PT-617 and PT-796.

Its amazing how personalized these little boats got as time went on.

I always loved the PTs All of that add-hoc and in the field upgrading, official and unofficial makes me smile. If the sailors needed it they got it by hook or crook. Had a book that showed one PT Skipper had a 60 mortar on the roof of his command position for shooting illumination rounds in night actions.

7:10 Giving the Japanese their own dose of "do you see torpedo boats?"

My uncle, who was an Army Air Corps intelligence officer, had a harrowing experience on a PT boat while trying to relocate to a forward base along the coast of New Guinea during WW2. The boat was caught in an extreme storm and spent more than a day just trying to survive. My uncle said he spent almost all of that time strapped into a bunk to avoid getting tossed around the cabin like a rag doll as the boat was pitching so violently.

I get a certain satisfaction in hearing that the Japanese were panicked by the possibility of torpedo boats in their area. What does around comes around, eh?

You should do a special on three systems that kept America in the war: PBY Catalina, Submarines and PT Boats. Normally it is just all about pointy war fighting things. Logisitcal support and special systems can make the difference in winning or losing the fight and the war.

I'm lucky to have one of only two fully restored and functional PT Boat near my home. They run it once or twice a year, nothing sounds like it, it's an amazing machine to see running.

My first exposure to PT boats was in the SNES game Super Battleship where you swarm a battlecruiser with a squadron of them

Another thing that we kind of keep having cyclical nature in our thing and well. This is outside the scope of the channel wind up recreating something similar to the PT vote whenever we needed to. Work The rivers and coastline in vietnam. The US navy still has designs and even has modern versions of the P. T specifically for working in harbor and river environments.

There is just something cool about these small boats.

Before I watch this, just like lightweight cars are my favorite type of vehicle to drive the Mosquito Fleet would've been where I would've wanted to serve in WWII. But I have to admit Hollywood helped romantisize them for me with PT-109 and McHale's Navy. A great book I found on Audible is PT-105 by Dick Keresey. It covers this man's tod in the Solomons as skipper of PT-105 in the same area as John Kennedy during the same time. Was out on patrol with the 109 when it was cut in two by the japanese destroyer. A great read and first hand account of the sea battle for Guadalcanal. Thank you Drac. The old pics of the original PT-1, 2.... were great to see.

Pt-658, pictured at the end of your video, is floating on the north bank of the Willamette River, housed in a custom-built boathouse in Portland, Oregon at the PT-658 Heritage Museum located at the Swan Island Industrial Park. The boat is in superb condition and is cared for by a great group of guys. YOU MUST CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM MUSEUM HOURS AND ARRANGE FOR A TOUR.

I never got to go to sea in a PT boat, or one of our hydrofoil boats that were last stationed at Key West. But I was honored to have had the chance to drive a PBR, and in fact road with what must have been the last operational squadron of PBR'S out of Roosy Roads NAVSTA in Puerto Rico. My last two ships were a LPH (LPH-7, USS Guadalcanal) and a CV, (CV-62 USS Independence)- so you know how old I must be. Our mission was to deliver special forces to various islands, such as SEALS and EOD teams, and Marine Raiders. What a bunch of highly trained those men were! I was lucky just to have been associated with them even for a brief period. My proudest service was as an officer aboard a PBR.

Been waiting for coverage of these! Original McHale’s Navy fan! No mention of the excellent Packard engines though.

Higgin's Boat Company was very busy building landing craft. They were so busy that someone built some of these craft were built in the streets around the plant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

A relative sailed one of these and the ramshackle nature of just bolting on random other guns is very true. He captained an elco but it had completely different and offset forward and stern mounted guns by the end of the whole ordeal.

Neat, I by chance started building a model kit of a PT boat last night.

My dad was on the 356. A historical vessel according to Smithsonian Naval records the 1 st Allied vessel to return to the Philippines Sea during the Invasion. The Honeysuckle Rose.

My fav battle boat

Somewhere on the intercoastal waterway in Virginia there was a handful of PT boat hulls just sitting there. It was about 20 years ago I saw them. Fantastic craft and forefathers of the brown water Navy

I'd love to learn more about these boats. I'm fascinated by these things

Cool! Nice to see you working down into some of the less well known, and dusty corners of nautical military crafts. I can't wait to see which obscure corner of design you'll go to next!

I remember asking about this in a livestream some time back. I’m glad it finally happened! I played Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, when I was just a kid. The first mission of getting blasted off the California during Pearl Harbor, and getting picked up by a PT boat

Dzang! When I first saw this I was hoping it was going to be one those hour long rum rations!! I'd love to hear of some of there biggest victories, actions & accomplishments! But I guess for a "five minute guide" running 9 minutes is enough for now. Thanks Drach. I always think of JFK & PT 109 when I hear about these crafts.

Great video Drach...They were expendable after all ;)

Nice coverage on these small craft

Oh goody! I’ve been waiting for you to cover these smaller vessels

John Wayne was one of those who converted a PT boat to a sport fishing boat after the war. I was regularly moored off they Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver BC Canada for many years

In the Mediterranean in, IIRC, '43 the book 'Dog Boats At War' mentioned that the British MGB/MTB patrols liked to operate in company with newer US PT boats, as they'd begun having PPI equipped radar sets installed as standard equipment. The British boats, many of which were a bit older, either lacked radar or had a set equipped with the older, harder to use, A-scope. When operating in company with a PPI equipped boat gave the group better situational awareness; while the more heavily armed MGBs gave them the firepower to take on some of the the tougher smaller opponent in those waters.

My grandad served on MTB476. My hero.

Thanks Drach.

I have waited soooo long for this. Thank you, Drach!

The PT Boats went under crucial evaluation and testing during the early years of WW II in Narragansett Bay. They had their HQ right here in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, which happens to be my home state...☺

I think one of the cooler points of information regarding the WW2-era PT boat is the materials used in its construction. To wit: laminated plywood was useful for many applications, not merely Mosquito aircraft!

As a child in the 1970s, I recall a small paperback "Men at War?" with a set of short WW2 stories. In one story, the Japanese were sending battleships to bombard Guadalcanal and it looked like only PT boats would be able to try and stop the Japanese task force. The PT crews knew it was a suicide mission as darkness was falling. As they set out on this "Birkenhead Drill", Admiral "China" Lee came over the radio to tell them to stand down. The crews then relaxed on their plywood decks as if at a night baseball game and watched battleship shells arc across the sky as Lee and USS Washington dismembered the Japanese task force. I miss that book. Another story from it was called "Nine Men on a Four Man Raft."

How the MT/MG/PT boats were developed from Hubert Scott-Paine’s, British Power Boat Company’s, ‘Miss Britain’ entries for the Harmsworth Trophy would make a great story. Though the idiom of there being ‘no replacement for displacement’ was taken to the limit in the 30s by Gar Wood’s trophy winning Miss America’s, it was Scott-Paine’s focus on hull form that became the driver of power boat performance going forward.

Drach, ELCO was started as a division of the Electric Boat Company in 1893. The purpose of the division was to build electric launches for the Chicago Colombian World’s exposition that year.

LCS(L)(3) Gunboats! Major roles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, quintessential American answer to the question of how many guns do you need (yes), and simply a relatively unknown and novel subject that your viewers would really enjoy.

Rode one in Ocean City,Md. back in 70. Up on plane was sweet,

You can't help feeling for the PT crews. Not only did they have to worry about the enemy, but they never knew when the Enterprise would loom over the horizon coming for their Oerlikons.

Wooden boat magazine did a feature on Higgins boats and the” Plywood Derby”,years ago,well worth a look for accurate and more in-depth information.the one I worked on in the 90’s was powered by two Corsair engines,from memory it originally had 4. the 4 fuel tanks were huge,removed a couple to make a state room…loved the triple dia 1.5” teak armoured bulkhead that protected them.

Surprised Pt-109 wasn't mentioned. As it helped propel JFK to the presidency, it surely was the most impactful of all of them as well as the best known.

Thank you for the high quality content. 👍