Made from PLYWOOD, these were the original fast-boats, and armed with torpedoes and 50s.
John Wayne so liked them he had one upgraded and fitted for his personal use.
Perhaps the best PT movie I remember is “They Were Expendable.”
According to sources online, they were not plywood as commonly believed but were constructed of mahogany planking with a layer of glue impregnated cloth between inner and outer planks.
Ernest Borgnine is no longer with us, but Tim Conway still is. I think Yoshio Yoda (Fuji) is also.
Expendable is the first flic I ever saw.
John Wayne had a Yard Mine Sweeper (YMS) called :Wild Gooose”and had it totally rebuilt, even removing one deck to raise the headroom....
I had a chance to board it while working on a friends boat tied up on the same pier
I don’t think so never heard he had a pt boat
USS YMS-328 was a US Navy YMS-1-class (YMS-135 subclass) Yard Mine Sweeper (YMS), built in Ballard, Washington at Ballard Marine & Railway in Ballard, Washington (Seattle). She was classified as a Mark II design and her hull is constructed completely out of 3” vertical grain Douglas-fir. Sister ships include Jacques Cousteau’s RV Calypso. After naval service during World War II, she became a private yacht. Later renamed Wild Goose she is most notable for having been owned by actor John Wayne. The yacht was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places on 19 July 2011.[2][3][4]
John Wayne had a converted minesweeper.
“these were the original fast-boat”
Original? The idea of a small fast torpedo boat was over 50 years old at that point.