Pt boats in the Pacific an interesting read on hyperwar

If you are interested in PT boats or the naval actions in the Pacific I recommen you take a look at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/CloseQuarters/

Kodiak you in particular might have some comments on:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/CloseQuarters/PT-5.html

 

lwd, truly a great link , thank you. Fine reading and photos. There was a PT boat hull in Mary Ester, Florida, when I was a kid that I loved to explore. No superstructure or engines. Brave men crewed them, one can only imagine what 20 and 40mm guns did to that plywood. But they [pressed on.

Gaines

 

There's a restored Higgens torpedo boat on display in the Natioanal WW2 Museum in New Orleans. Not sure where they got it from, but it's there.

 

PT-305 was used as an oyster boat and operated out of Maryland and worked the Chesapeake Bay area.

 

I read a bit of the Hyperwar entry about the torpedo boats that were involved in the fighting in the Philippines during the 1941-42 campaign, and I plan to read more from time to time about them as well. That was some good reading if you are into that. I have watched the movie "They Were Expendable" countless times and consider it one of my few John Wayne movies that I like a lot (sorry Carl). Although the movie cannot capture all that was done by those six over worked boats and crews, it does try to cover as many of the hightlights in a 90 minute production as they can. I think they did a pretty good job of it too. What I found that was fascinating was that some of the crews from the boats that made the run to Mindinao (when Doug-Out Doug ran out on the boys fighting on Bataan and Corregidor) ended up fighting with "General" Wendall Fertig and the resistance instead of surrendering. I did some more research into the guerilla war on Mindinao and decided to order the book "They Fought Alone" covering their efforts on Amazon.com. Great stuff. Now that would make a great movie, or an HBO 10 part mini-series at least.

 

Have you read William White's 1944 book?

 

No, can't say that I have. It's about torpedo boats I trust?

 

I play WW2 PC games...any1 know if the Knights of the Seas[ PT boat game ] is any good??? I've been to the CloseQuaters site...I thought their record of torp hits was not that good...is this true?...just watched 'They were Expendable' <>very good for that era with the very 'touching' Glory Glory song at the end as the plane flies into the sunset [ or sunrise ]

 

We used to have a gaming forum before this new set-up we have now. Try checking over there for any input. Good luck..

 

Subsim review http://www.subsim.com/2010_02/review_ptboats_feb2010.php
You can trust Neal to give it to you "straight up" as he is the owner of subsim.com

The "Knights of the Sea" sub-section of the subsim forums
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=185
Not a lot of activity these days.

 

Yep, it's the 1941/2 story of Squadron Three that the film's events were extracted from. The book is of course far more informative!

 

thanks for info

 

I'll put it on my reading list after I finish with "They Fought Alone", the story about Wendell Fertig and the resistance on Mindinao after the surrender. Thanks for the heads up. "Cheerio" and all that stuff. Congrats on the new prince too if you are into all that.

 

When did they put display the PT boat at the WWII Museum in New Orleans? It wasn't there when I visited a few years ago.

I'm luck I'm not to far from Battleship Cove in MA. They have a fully restored boat (PT-617) with cut away portions to view the interior.

 

They acquired 305 back in 2007, and it was in temporary storage nearby(Don't know if you could visit it then). It was moved to the John E. Kushner Pavilion on April 6, 2011.

 

WOW it's ground up restore! Found these flickr images of the process.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37935745@N02/8696959086/

 

The PT boat at the WW2 Museum in New Orleans sat up for quite some time awaiting for the pavilion to be built to house it before they started restoring it. It also took some time to scrounge up a lot of loose parts for it as well. I haven't been there in about a year, so another trip is due. I might hop on my motorbike and ride down there for a tour. Perhaps I should get a room too since I probably won't be able to hold my Harley up after visiting Bourbon Street. Anyone interested?

 

Beautiful photographs, aurora, we were discussing what it must have been like to have been in a bomber the other day. Imagine being in a wooden boat with 3000 gallons of avgas on board, plus torpedoes, and someone shooting at you with 20-40 mm cannon !! 40 knots is not fast compared to a 20mm round!

This line just popped up on my type, anyone know how to be rid of it, I have tried but guess a reboot might help.

Gaines

 

Doesn't Alabama play in Baton Rouge in November? Make it a long weekend. Leave the ole lady and the chilluns at the house so there'll be no distractions.