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Launch PT-305!
National WWII Museum blog ^ | March 7, 2016 | National WWII Museum

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 ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: kickstarter; launch; pt305; restoration
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To: central_va

They burned high-octane gas, not oil. And with all three engines running you could only go 6 hours. Typically only one engine would be run to preserve fuel and decrease the racket of the 3 V-12 engines. The night of the sinking they were idling one engine and in position with at least two other boats spread over several miles.


41 posted on 03/10/2016 12:37:43 PM PST by stormer
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To: TalonDJ
This one's from 1889.


42 posted on 03/10/2016 12:45:31 PM PST by stormer
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To: ro_dreaming

Based only on the dollar cost, you could build ten or eleven PT boats for that money, back when the Bureau of Ships signed contracts with Higgins and Elco. Looks like the original per-unit cost was between $250K and $300K.


43 posted on 03/10/2016 12:48:00 PM PST by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: central_va

One possibility for the oil fire is that PT boats had smoke generators on many of the hulls to provide a screen for quick withdrawal. A boat could be out of fuel and still have oil in the drums.


44 posted on 03/10/2016 4:49:58 PM PST by tarawa
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To: tarawa
Apparently the 109 boat didn't run out of fuel. It was loitering in the straight on purpose.

PT-109, PT-162, and PT-169 were ordered to continue patrolling the area in case the enemy ships returned.[11] Around 2:00 a.m. on 2 August 1943, on a moonless night, Kennedy's boat was idling on one engine to avoid detection of her wake by Japanese aircraft when[12] the crew realized they were in the path of the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, which was returning to Rabaul from Vila, Kolombangara, after offloading supplies and 900 soldiers.[13] Amagiri was traveling at a relatively high speed of between 23 and 40 knots (43 and 74 km/h; 26 and 46 mph) in order to reach harbor by dawn, when Allied air patrols were likely to appear.

45 posted on 03/10/2016 5:08:45 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Charles Martel

That’s a nice little flotilla then, isn’t it?


46 posted on 03/11/2016 12:22:22 PM PST by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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