The Powerful Pt Boats: Wwii Engine Secrets Revealed

PT boats, or Patrol Torpedo boats, were used by the US Navy during World War II. They were small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and were valued for their manoeuvrability and speed. PT boats were typically 70-80 feet long and were powered by three Packard V-12 Marine Engines, which generated a total of 4,500 horsepower. This allowed the boats to reach designed speeds of up to 45 knots. PT boats were armed with torpedoes, rockets, mortars, and machine guns, and had a full-load displacement of 56 tons.

PT boats were powered by three aircraft engines

PT boats, or Patrol Torpedo boats, were used by the United States Navy during World War II. They were small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and were valued for their speed and manoeuvrability.

The PT boats' three engines allowed them to advance in both size and speed, with a designed speed of 41 knots. However, the boats were also known for their heavy fuel consumption, using up to 500 US gallons per hour at top speed.

The Packard V12 Marine Engine was not a copy of the British Rolls Royce Merlin engine, as some sources claim. The Packard V12 was introduced in 1924 as an updated Packard Liberty engine, and the licensed Merlin engines were not produced by Packard until later in the war.

PT boats were made of wood

PT boats, or Patrol Torpedo boats, were made of wood. More specifically, their hulls were made of two diagonal layers of 1-inch-thick mahogany planks, with a glue-impregnated or lead-painted layer of canvas in between. Thousands of bronze screws and copper rivets held all of this together. This type of construction made it possible for damage to the wooden hulls of these boats to be easily repaired at forward operating bases by base force personnel.

The wooden boats were also relatively inexpensive to build, and were valued for their manoeuvrability and speed. However, they were also hampered by their fragile construction, which limited some variants to coastal waters.

The Higgins and Elco Boat companies built the majority of PT boats. They were generally 80 feet in length and carried a beam (width) of 20 feet. They were powered by three Packard Marine gasoline engines, which allowed them to reach a top speed of 45 knots.

At the end of World War II, most PT boats were stripped of useful materials and burned, as the expense of returning them to the United States from overseas was considered prohibitive.

PT boats were armed with torpedoes and machine guns

PT boats, or Patrol Torpedo boats, were heavily armed vessels used by the US Navy in World War II. They were small, fast, and inexpensive to build, with a primary role of intercepting and attacking larger enemy ships. They were armed with torpedoes and machine guns, and were also used for scouting, harassing enemy forces, and cutting enemy supply lines.

The standard PT boat was armed with four 21-inch Mark 8 torpedoes, each with a 466-pound TNT warhead and a range of 16,000 yards at 36 knots. For anti-aircraft defence and general fire support, they were also equipped with two twin M2 Browning .50-inch heavy machine guns. Some PT boats carried a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon, and others were fitted with additional weaponry, including twin .30-calibre Lewis machine guns, .30-calibre Browning machine guns, and 37 mm aircraft cannons.

In the later stages of the war, PT boats began to be fitted with rocket launchers, and some boats were even converted into gunboats, with their torpedo armament replaced by two 40 mm guns and four twin .50-calibre machine guns.

PT boats were used in the Pacific and European theatres

PT boats were used in both the Pacific and European theatres of World War II. In the Pacific, PT boats were used to intercept Japanese vessels, including warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans. They were also used to block enemy vessels from shelling US positions and to intercept Japanese vessels transporting troops to islands. In the European theatre, PT boats were used to protect US bases in the Aleutian Islands, to patrol the coasts of southern France and northern Italy, and to disrupt and destroy enemy supply ships. They were also used in the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea, and supported the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.

PT boats were used for anti-ship warfare

PT boats were used to great effect in the Pacific, where they were deployed to intercept Japanese vessels transporting troops and supplies to islands in the New Guinea and Solomon Islands. They were also used to protect US bases in the North Pacific, including the Aleutian Islands. In the European and Mediterranean Theatres, PT boats patrolled the coasts of southern France and northern Italy, disrupting German supply lines. They were also used to support the D-Day invasion, landing partisans behind enemy lines, and rescuing downed pilots.

PT boats were fast, well-armed, and inexpensive to build. They were small, with the Elco PT boats measuring 80 feet in length, Higgins boats 78 feet, and Huckins boats 78 feet. They were also highly manoeuvrable, with a turning circle of 336 yards for the Huckins boats and 368 yards for the Elco boats. They were, however, hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction.

PT boats were powered by three marine-modified derivations of the Packard 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fuelled aircraft engine. These engines were upgraded throughout the war, with the final engine, the 5M-2500, introduced in late 1945, producing 1,850 horsepower. This allowed fully-loaded boats to reach 45 to 50 knots.

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