Posted on 03/10/2016 7:35:16 AM PST by Charles Martel
WWII patrol-torpedo (PT) boats were a perfect naval expression of the American Spirit at war. Today, just four of these combat-veteran PT boats still exist in the United States. PT-305 is the only one that is fully restored.
Now, after a $3.3 million restoration effort and more than 100,000 hours of work by a dedicated corps of over 200 volunteers, PT-305 is ready to hit the water.
(Excerpt) Read more at pt305.org ...
I vacationed on the Wild Goose with family in late 60’s - back and forth to Catalina. Great ship - all wood hull as one would imagine for a minesweeper.
The restoration pavilion is right next door to the museum's main building. You can walk the length of the boat outside on the sidewalk, looking right in through the glass.
Check with the museum in advance to see when the tours inside the restoration building are offered (it can be sporadic, depending on what work is going on in there).
A few years ago, my wife and I were back there visiting family and went down to the museum. I stood outside, sipping coffee, watching the workers tearing down one of the Packard engines. My wife observed that if we still lived there, I'd be down there volunteering every weekend. She was right.
When I was a child in the ‘50s my father used to rent a small boat with an outboard and we’d go fishing in the in the waterways behind Atlantic City. Every now and then a surplus PT boat bought by a civilian would cruse by and raise a huge wake. We think of PT boats as being small because they are when compared to other warships, but they are by no means small when one goes by you in a 10’ skiff.
Not so sure. Whatever he might have been, JFK was a genuine war hero.
His brother asked him on public is the Navy was going to court martial him for running out of fuel in a hot war zone.
Great film...suggest you also read the book...
Not sure how they qualified the “fully” restored but PT658 in Portland is a restored and operating PT boat.
John Wayne had a converted minesweeper.
Kennedy did not run out of fuel; he got run over by a Japanese destroyer. Should have been court marshaled
I have a Flickr Album all about this boat...and PT Boats in General. See:
Lots of nice shots there. Here are a few:
Restoration:
During World War II:
I have a good write up on PT-Boats in general and on the history of PT-305.
We built over 530 PT Boats during World War II. We lost 99 of them to all causes...40 of which were directly related to enemy action.
Always made sense to me, but then his father was the disgraced ambassador to Britain. He was with Lindbergh in his view of the chances of Britain against Germany.
Here a couple links about another restored PT boat. That one is only about 2.5 hour away, but I am to involved in vet affairs in Eugene to be a volunteer.
Higgins PT 658 is shown dockside at its berth at the Navy and Marine Reserve Center in Portland, Oreg
http://warboats.org/pt_658.htm
A Brief History of the Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat PT658
http://savetheptboatinc.com/history.htm
They didn’t run out of fuel, they were at idle at night in an attack area...in position. Every time JFK is mentioned people always start that BS.
Anyone who has been at sea at night knows how fast and silently a ship can appear.
This Jap destroyer wasn’t exactly running light either.
Every shot down aircraft or PT or Sub lost in normal action isn’t a courts martial offense. Until of course, its JFK who would be the most far right candidate in the race today.
Look, the movie they made about PT-109 might be a problem. I don’t know if the story is true or not. In the movie the 109 is afloat drifting with out power I think it is even stated that they have no fuel. I could be wrong. To even confuse things further the boat catches on fire and their is oil fire all around the 109. How do you have an oil fire if there is no fuel on board?
He managed to get a much faster boat run over and cut in half by a slower destroyer. Not good!
“these were the original fast-boat”
Original? The idea of a small fast torpedo boat was over 50 years old at that point.
a $3.3 million restoration effort and more than 100,000 hours of work by a dedicated corps of over 200 volunteers,
I wonder how many that much money and man hours would have bought, originally.
At night by blacked-out a ship possibly doing 40 knots, about the top speed of an Elco 80’ PT boat.
It’s called “combat”.
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