This is fantastic. About 20 years ago I hitched a ride on an in-service LST that supposedly was part of D-Day. I can’t back that up, but I CAN tell you it was WW 2 vintage. It was used to ferry heavy equipment and building materials between Isle of Palms, SC and Dewees Island, SC. It saved my butt one day! I missed the passenger ferry to the island and I was going to miss an important meeting. The construction guys let me on. And I hopped off the ramp like MacArthur, feeling triumphant that I actually made it to the island before the clients (who thought I had gone AWOL or let them down by missing the boat)!
There was a PT boat that had been converted into a dive boat running out of North Myrtle Beach SC. I went out diving on it 3 times. The owner/captain said he had it trucked from California to South Carolina when he bought it. They had pulled the engines before the sell. He researched and replaced the 3 engines as it originally had on it. I remember he said they provided 2,270 hp. One time he opened it up and ran it full throttle for us for a few minutes, she came up running on top of the water faster than I ever thought possible. I was in the cockpit and you could actually see the fuel gauge moving, that is why he didn’t push it that way. It was a beautiful boat, very well done and had about 12 maybe 14 berths down below and for $25 you could stay on the boat and not have to rent a hotel room. Hated that he closed down. His business was called Dolphin Dive Charters. He had pictures of it as a PT boat and as I remember it had a rocket launcher on the foredeck.
Great work assembling all this info into one video. Often I'd read about 'the last known surviving PT boat'. Thank god we have, several examples left of this masterpiece of carpentry skills, to appreciate and commemorate all the brave Americans that served aboard one of these crafts.
Very cool. I actually worked on PT658. It was still on a barge. I was supposed to do the electrical, but my dad passed away, and had to take over his auto electric shop. I was honored to be able to work with these ww2 vets. Some were x pt boat crews. It was amazing to see these old vets. Truth is, they were home again.
My stepdad has been building boats since he was 16. He was in charge of restoring the PT Boat on Lake Erie. Quite an endeavor. Just the price of each engine would blow your mind. Glad some of the ladies are still around.
In the San Francisco bay area, Back in the 60s and 70s there were 3 PT boats owned by the Sea Scouts, one was called the Tiger Shark a rival from Richmond . Our little town of El Sobrante Ship 327 The Dolphin ,she was a 45 foot Picitboat with twin 671 gray Marine engines standard for most of the Scouts boats. The last time I saw her was at a Marina in San Rafel that was in 1998 (sorry to sound like a old guy but I'm). Thanks for the video. It is good to see what was used to fight for our FREEDOM by my Father's generation. They left us with a Great Country . Let's keep it that way. GOD BLESS America and all who live here.
Many of the S.F. Bay Area Sea Scout boats were 63' & 65'AVR/air rescue boats, which were smaller than the 78' & 80' PT boats. One of those, the former Northland has been moved up to the Seatle area and restored to its original configuration.
Nice video! If been a wood boat owner and restorer for most of my life. For me the ultimate wood boat isn't a Chris Craft or Century, it would be owning a PT boat. I thought only Higgins made them and was surprised that Elco and others made them. Every time I watch Mchale's Navy I admire how nice that boat lays out on the water with the wake back toward the middle of the boat when it's on plane, it's beautiful!
Wow that was amazing and informative!! I live outside of Washington DC and work in the city. I have passed that PT boat they showed that was converted to a cruiser more times than I can count!! I had no idea it was a PT boat in its former life!!!! It is docked in the Washington marina, I pass it on M street on my way to work daily.
Pt-305 is docked in New Orleans and can go on actual rides on Lake Pontchartrain. Same lake that Higgins used for testing the PT and landing craft boats. When you hear her start up, its amazing!
We had several here in Bermuda running as tourist tour boats. They used to run tourists out to the reefs, and one or two were fitted out as "glass-bottom" boats for viewing said reefs. They may even still be in service for all I know.
PT 658 restored in Oregon..... previously was LCT 15 when leased by the Air Force for Santa Rosa Island Radar Air Station troop transports out of Port Hueneme, CA. I made many a crossing on her !
Thank you..just came across your video... I live in Kingston NY up the Hudson river a place where alot of pt boats were built. The museum here has list of builds and historical info... there are a few surviving pt boats here...a few are under referb..again thank you
About 50 yrs. ago, there was a PT boat offering sightseeing rides on a lake in the Adorandak [?] mts. in NY state. All I remember that it was fast, wet & very loud!
The first one, PT48, came from here locally and it had a tough life. Including sinking due to deterioration. I believe it was shortened at the rear. Was glad to see it recovered but someone has a real basket case project as you can see.
Forty years ago I lived in Mountainview, CA. I started taking sailing lessons in Redwood City. When you sailed out of the small port area estuary towards the SF Bay there used to be a PT boat tied up near a wall bordering the estuary. I think it was bought and restored some years ago.
Actually, that was a 63' AVR (Air Vessel Rescue), an air rescue boat, which by that tin=me was being used as a Sea Scout boat. She has since been sold or scrapped.
There is one at the Worton Creek Marina in Worton, MD. Originally, Navy earmarked $1M for restoration, but it was since rescinded. The boat has been there for several years (albeit shrinked-wrapped) with no work being done...
I had some relatives who lived right on the water in Groton, Conn. They had a neighbor living 2 door down that had a family cruise boat that had been converted from a PT boat. They had totaly rebuilt the superstructure to make it an R & R cruiser. They also had removed the center engine (I guess they didn't need to go THAT fast!). Otherwise they kept it in immaculate condition. I never had a chance to go out on it or even to go aboard. I have no idea if they still have it. This was back in the '70s, 45ish years ago. My relatives have passed away and I'm on the wrong coast now so I can't even check on it.
I can’t recall the exact location because it’s be 15-20 years since I saw them but somewhere in the northern part of the ICW in North Carolina or the Southern part of the ICW in Virginia lays 5-10 pt boats rotting away. No storage, no maintenance they where all just piled together after there wasn’t any use for them anymore. Which is pretty said considering how much those boats when through and for Mother Nature to be the only to finished them off is crazy
I remember seeing a couple of converted PT boats (like 766) at Fellows & Stewart Marina in Wilmington CA. The Marina was between Terminal Island and the Matson terminal. This was about 1955 and I was about 10.
I think the 459 and the 615 are both in Kingston, NY, on the Rondout Creek. All seem to have had their three Packard engines and the center rudder removed. They have two engines and sterns cut off at the rudder posts. It's nice to see some survived un-butchered.
About a month ago, there was a PT boat, manufacturer and type unknown (don't remember) docked at Morro Bay, California. It was destined for a museum for restoration.
Anyone remember or heard of a WWII PT boat named 'Banshee' which was moored at a private residence near Massapequa, NY (Long Island Great South Bay) in the mid 1970s? I remember my father taking me in our boat to go see it. It seemed to have been restored and looked so big and scary to an 11 year old's eyes back then. I've never forgotten it, nor have I forgotten reading 'PT-109' in grade school. Hopefully the 'Banshee' has survived and is in use today somewhere.
I grew up in Massapequa and remember her! However, she was not a PT Boat, rather, she was a US Army Air Force Crash Rescue Boat. I understand that she was towed to a marina in Seaford and scrapped, unfortunately.
@@guypalumbo7892 Thanks so much, Guy, for your comment and for letting me know more about the 'Banshee.' I appreciate knowing what she actually was! Never knew about the Crash Rescue boats. Sorry she was eventually scrapped. Speaking of Massapequa, even though we moved away in 1976 and Dick and Dora's restaurant is long gone, I still miss their pizza! Take care.
Back in the '60s there was a PT boat that was used as a "party or head" fishing boat. It sailed out of Morehead City North Carolina and was named the "Danco". Had some pictures of it but they have been misplaced.
There was one birthed in Indian River Delaware, I believe the owner cut it's midship and added another 20 foot to the length for passenger space..quite an impressive refitting job.
i forget where i saw it....but there used to be a video of how these boats where built.they had a rolling jig,that they would put the frames in,then they start screwing the planks on until the got to the curved section of the hull. the boat at that point would be put into a giant steam oven to "cook" and soften the planks so the would bend.they were screwed in place wet and allowed to dry.
There was a factory in or around Wilmington, De where they made PT boats during WWII. when completed they would sail them up river to the Philadelphia Navy Base
I lived in Deep Creek VA for a long wile, there used to be about 5 PTs at a boat yard under the high rise bridge on RT 64. They had ,from what I was told part of a movie productio and that brought here, they started to rot and were demo and burnded. The last one is now gone. I believe I was told that they had turbines installed for the movie. I was able to get on the yard one time and clearly remember that the keel was a box beam type structure made of about 1" plywood. I now wish that I had a camera. Randy Hiestand
There is a famous one near me - the PT boat that “started” the Vietnam war due to it’s raid on the Gulf of Tonkin. (We snuck in and shot up a lot of stuff. Linden Johnson called it a “dastardly unprovoked attack” when the North Vietnamese navy chased it.) It is located at the now defunct Naval Air Station in Deland, FL. Just standing on it was enough for me. I can’t imagine being on it as it sped away from the enemy at full speed! Last I saw, it was being restored by the Sea Cadets.
@@bigcountryvet5984 The war started after PT-3 and her sister PT boats raided North Vietnam. President Johnson then went on TV and said, “The dastardly North Vietnamese started this war by hitting us back!” “It was during a series of raids from 31 July to 4 August 1964 on Hon Mei Island in North Vietnam that the North Vietnamese counter attacked the PTF Boats with their torpedo boats, chasing the PTF Boats away from the coast and into the path of two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. The ensuing naval battle is known to history as the Tonkin Gulf Incident.”
There was one in Tacoma it was wood planked with caulking hanging out here and there, over the years the props went cut off it was a twin screw, then cut up slowly over time till gone.
There’s one undergoing restoration at the Navy Museum at DeLand, Florida airport (Formerly US Naval Air Station DeLand). If memory serves, she’s an Elco boat.
That is a PTF3 - Vietnam Era Patrol Boat. Very impressive. That museum is a real gem. The airport bar has the best hamburgers. You can eat outside and watch the sky divers.
@@shawnwright2356 The one in DeLand is the first of the US Nasty-class (PTF-3) bought by the US from Norway for operations into North Vietnam from DaNang. The boats were rigged as gunboats and had no torpedoes. The operations were part of OPLAN 34 A run by JSOG (and others) and not very successful. Look up NASTY PTF.
There was one out of the water at Calumet Harbor back in the late 70 and early 80s, by the grain storage silo's. I would say behind the fire station around 129th. street and 90-94. Cc
Most of them never returned to the US after the war. Those not sold/given to foreign navies were all herded to some island and burned. I had an uncle who bought one war surplus for $500. The first time he took it to sea he was stopped by the USCG and ordered back to his dock. The boat was 3 feet too long for a one-man operation. He needed a crew.
I always wanted a PT boat after watching all those WW2 movies. There was a place that had blueprint of one boat that was based on the PT boat in the 70's. I read where many were left in Australia after the war and the were used as fishing boat and dive boats.
Laurence Rockefeller had one in Tarrytown NY that he used to commute to Manhattan. I don't know where it is now but " private storage " wouldn't surprise me.
Would love to see a pack of restored ELCO’s or Higgin Boats! If only I was a billionaire computer Nerd I get the plans and build at least five or six New!
What about the PT boat that was converted to a yacht by John Wayne. I know when I was much younger I went by it in the Newport, CA. area. As it was John Wayne's boat, I'm sure it is still out there. It was named The Wild Goose. I'll bett its still in the Newport area.
I think Wayne’s boat was a mine sweeper, although I don’t know the difference. Also in Newport, there was the immaculate PT Joe....when those engines fired up, you could hear them across the bay. Thank you for the post, and the memories.... TJ
@@tigertelecom1It was a converted minesweeper named Wild Goose. I remember PT Joe as a kid. Its slip was at the end of Bay Island - I think it was Roy Rogers home at the time. They only ran the center engine in the bay, but you could feel the noise. They had to constantly take it out of gear to not speed. Buddy Epson (Jed Clampit) also had his 36 foot cat and we would always follow and ask "Where's Elie May"
@@billm3451 wow, Bill! You were definitely a local. Were you ever in the BIYC over at the Beek’s/Epson’s pier? My first sailboat was a snowbird, #509, on a mooring off Collins Street.... Great memories!
My dad served on PT 147 in the South Pacific during the war. He loved those boats as they saved his bacon several times just because of how fast and manuverable they were. RIP Dad and your PTs. 😢
@@hulkhoganstights6596 the "plywood derby" was the competition for all the boats around Nantucket Island if I remember correctly. Not necessarily the materials used for the boats
The PT boat training center, Melville (Portsmouth) RI is now an industrial series of boat yards / marinas. Closed in the late 50's early 60's, as we were not visionary enough to see its use in what would become the brown water navy of Viet Nam. Narragansett Bay
Jeb Sails: Oh, but they were. The Navy purchased about 12 to 14 Norwegian "Nasty" class PT boats and designated them PTF's. We trained in San Diego and deployed to DaNang. Google Nasty class PTF. They had two Napier deltic engines, each 3000HP. 44 knots . They were set up to support special ops. No torpedoes. A single 40mm Bofors anti aircraft cannon aft, a 20 mm port and stbd. and a 50 cal.BMG with 81mm mortar piggy back mount forward.
Better that than have them fall to the breaker. Can't blame the guys that saw the bargain that they were after they were stricken and snatched them up. Serving in civilian life kept them alive long enough to eventually be recognized and in many cases, restored to what they were previously.
The Honduran Navy had American PT Boats during the 80s patrolling the Pacific coast near San Lorenzo. I was able to board one and look around. It was in pristine condition down to original engine...unfortunately I was only 24 years old not to interested in historical aspect of the boats.
I have been to Battleship Cove Mass. Everyone should visit; when you leave you will have a much bigger respect for what our young men endured! and now our young women! You'll NEVER see me or my friends take a knee!!
yes...battleship MA...sub lionfish.....great collection of builder's models...be sure to go into the city for some great Portuguese food. the historical society has the ax that lizzie borden used too. BTW thanks veterans who fought for our great country.
The New Zealand boats are iether HDML's or Failmiles, someof the HDML's where built on the west coast of Canada & Oregan, the Fairmiles where a british built boat.
There are at least three PT boats in Kingston, NY. From watching this video there could very well be a fourth as the three I see regularly are under tarp and none look as good as the one underway in the video. The guy who owns them has been talking about restoring them seemingly forever... He's got another proposal on the table with the city for a building to restore and display the boats. Someday...!!
If I’m not mistaken and I may have missed it in the video I’m thinking back in my wayward youth in the Marine Corps there was one at Little Creek Virginia am I mistaken or is it in this video I seem to remember sometime around the millennium it was undergoing some kind of restoration I left active duty in 2011 so it’s been a long time over 20 years ago I think I remember seeing it there Pre 911
My Father served in the canadian naval version in canada..CAN ANYONE tell me how i can get his service recordes.Unit# anything.The number of the boat was i believe was ?? 273 or q273 Pt73. The photos that i was able to see on the internet..they looked like they were just hand painted by brushed on sea trials..My dad did not tell me much about the war and what he did or saw but he did tell me he was a motorman...
What happened to PT 809 ? All aluminum hull, 4 screws, 98' escort for the presidential yachts? I served aboard USS Sequoia '71 - 74 under Nixon/Ford. What happened to her?
Sorry for a late reply. It is presumed that PT-809 was broken up in the 1990's by the US Navy. USS Sequoia meanwhile is under restoration after being purchased by the FE Partners a few years ago. Also thank you for your service, I'm sure our nation greatly appreciates it.
The PT boat was phenomenally successful. They were fast, nimble, lowish cost, low radar visibility. Having a wood hull would mean relatively safe from mines. I can't help thinking that the concept should be revived. I think the Ukrainians would like a few, with torpedoes and rockets......
In 1963 on the day that President Kennedy was shot. We were all going to see PTPt-109 at the Navy base in Imperial Beach California , For a 8 year old boy it was the most exciting thing ever to happen, but the bad news closed the base and it was 10 years after I was able to see it on TV. It is funny that one sad day in my life is remembered some 60 years later. GOD BLESS AMERICAN HEROES like PRESIDENT JOHN FRANCIS KENNEDY. KEEP AMERICA GREAT.
The PT-109 was one of the ELCO boats, 80 ft long had three Packard engines and could move up to 50 knots, i built many models of the 109 boat, the last was a 1/8 scale, even then it was big, and electric powered.
Cindy, thank you have been a great help with your information about PT 109s history. You are truly a (if I may) salty babe in my book! My Dad would have loved to set and talked to you.
A certain AF base had several, maybe still does, to tow targets in the gulf for training, at least into the 80’s. Won’t say what base cause no need to let the world know, if you get my drift. Yes they may already but if they don’t I’m not gonna be the one to put it out there.
There was one at north bay ont canada it was in great shape it sadly it has been convered to a teak pleasure craft was bummed out as a kid when I heard I was going on a pt boat only to see a boat I was hopping to sink something it would move but $5cnd to the mile flat out!
There was in Toronto at the Leslie street spit, back in the 80's, an MTB. It had sort of been converted. All the windows and access points had been covered over to prevent vandalism. I recall seeing it a few times from the spit, but I don't know what became of it.
God bless the remaining S.C.'s and God Bless America. From an old fart who spent time on one in the black gang in 1959 as a 15 year old kid. I don't know her original designation but when I was aboard her she was known as the "Tropical Queen". We swapped out the 16 cylinder pancakes (oil sieves that they were) for 671 grey marines. They weren't as fast or close to the Horse power, but were far more efficient. But that reduced the boat to 10 knots. Not a good speed in a fight. I won't get into what we were up to in those days.
Those 58ft PT Boats @ 4:30 Look Like They Were Based on a British Design. Either; British Power Boat Company - Owner & Designer; Hubert Scott-Paine or The Fairey Boat Company ( I Own a 26ft Saling Boat by Fairey ) BOTH of These Companies Were Close to One Another in Southampton, England UK.
Sure wished the country had saved one of the 172 foot wooden hulled ocean minesweepers built around 1954. 101 were built for the US and other allied countries. One left stateside in Stockton, CA, under restoration after having been stripped to the hull in an attempt to turn it into a B&B. Original cost in 1954 dollars was $9M that's million. All non-magnetic materials for obvious reasons.
Sadly, PT109 is somewhere in the South Pacific, UNDERWATER. But her memory lives on. I have had the priveledge of serving on the PT boat Pres Kennedy used while he was in office. It was converted to a sea going aerial target recovery vessel apply named "Retriever" and she was a superb example of that type boat. I wish I knew what happened to her.
PT8 is for sale as of December 2022see this channeling interested
I love to see someone trying to keep history alive, thanks for the video God bless our troops.
This is fantastic. About 20 years ago I hitched a ride on an in-service LST that supposedly was part of D-Day. I can’t back that up, but I CAN tell you it was WW 2 vintage. It was used to ferry heavy equipment and building materials between Isle of Palms, SC and Dewees Island, SC. It saved my butt one day! I missed the passenger ferry to the island and I was going to miss an important meeting. The construction guys let me on. And I hopped off the ramp like MacArthur, feeling triumphant that I actually made it to the island before the clients (who thought I had gone AWOL or let them down by missing the boat)!
No man left behind
There was a PT boat that had been converted into a dive boat running out of North Myrtle Beach SC. I went out diving on it 3 times. The owner/captain said he had it trucked from California to South Carolina when he bought it. They had pulled the engines before the sell. He researched and replaced the 3 engines as it originally had on it. I remember he said they provided 2,270 hp. One time he opened it up and ran it full throttle for us for a few minutes, she came up running on top of the water faster than I ever thought possible. I was in the cockpit and you could actually see the fuel gauge moving, that is why he didn’t push it that way. It was a beautiful boat, very well done and had about 12 maybe 14 berths down below and for $25 you could stay on the boat and not have to rent a hotel room. Hated that he closed down. His business was called Dolphin Dive Charters. He had pictures of it as a PT boat and as I remember it had a rocket launcher on the foredeck.
Great work assembling all this info into one video. Often I'd read about 'the last known surviving PT boat'. Thank god we have, several examples left of this masterpiece of carpentry skills, to appreciate and commemorate all the brave Americans that served aboard one of these crafts.
Very cool. I actually worked on PT658. It was still on a barge. I was supposed to do the electrical, but my dad passed away, and had to take over his auto electric shop. I was honored to be able to work with these ww2 vets. Some were x pt boat crews. It was amazing to see these old vets. Truth is, they were home again.
Amen brother.
I had the honor of piloting PT-658 from the Union Pacific Railway bridge back to the Vigor dock.
@@everettrhay4855 how cool is that
My stepdad has been building boats since he was 16. He was in charge of restoring the PT Boat on Lake Erie. Quite an endeavor. Just the price of each engine would blow your mind. Glad some of the ladies are still around.
In the San Francisco bay area, Back in the 60s and 70s there were 3 PT boats owned by the Sea Scouts, one was called the Tiger Shark a rival from Richmond .
Our little town of El Sobrante
Ship 327 The Dolphin ,she was a 45 foot Picitboat with twin 671 gray Marine engines standard for most of the Scouts boats. The last time I saw her was at a Marina in San Rafel that was in 1998 (sorry to sound like a old guy but I'm).
Thanks for the video.
It is good to see what was used to fight for our FREEDOM by my Father's generation.
They left us with a Great Country . Let's keep it that way. GOD BLESS America and all who live here.
Many of the S.F. Bay Area Sea Scout boats were 63' & 65'AVR/air rescue boats, which were smaller than the 78' & 80' PT boats. One of those, the former Northland has been moved up to the Seatle area and restored to its original configuration.
The Northland was one of the nicer boats on the bay, good the hear she has a good home, I will have to look for her when I get up that way.
@@lennyk.2161, search AVR Society (I believe). They used to have a ewb page that gave pretty good coverage of those boats.
Nice video! If been a wood boat owner and restorer for most of my life. For me the ultimate wood boat isn't a Chris Craft or Century, it would be owning a PT boat. I thought only Higgins made them and was surprised that Elco and others made them. Every time I watch Mchale's Navy I admire how nice that boat lays out on the water with the wake back toward the middle of the boat when it's on plane, it's beautiful!
And that was a Vosper boat.
Wow that was amazing and informative!! I live outside of Washington DC and work in the city. I have passed that PT boat they showed that was converted to a cruiser more times than I can count!! I had no idea it was a PT boat in its former life!!!! It is docked in the Washington marina, I pass it on M street on my way to work daily.
I recognized it too
I must have seen that ship 10,000 times
Next time I’ll snap her a salute
Pt-305 is docked in New Orleans and can go on actual rides on Lake Pontchartrain. Same lake that Higgins used for testing the PT and landing craft boats. When you hear her start up, its amazing!
We had several here in Bermuda running as tourist tour boats. They used to run tourists out to the reefs, and one or two were fitted out as "glass-bottom" boats for viewing said reefs. They may even still be in service for all I know.
PT 658 restored in Oregon..... previously was LCT 15 when leased by the Air Force for Santa Rosa Island Radar Air Station troop transports out of Port Hueneme, CA. I made many a crossing on her !
Great Video, a ride in one of those must be a thrill.
Reminds me of watching McHale's Navy when I was a kid.
Thank you..just came across your video... I live in Kingston NY up the Hudson river a place where alot of pt boats were built. The museum here has list of builds and historical info... there are a few surviving pt boats here...a few are under referb..again thank you
Saw two types in Fall River Mass.Bigger than I expected.
Loved it!! Bless all who are saving history!!
About 50 yrs. ago, there was a PT boat offering sightseeing rides on a lake in the Adorandak [?] mts. in NY state. All I remember that it was fast, wet & very loud!
The first one, PT48, came from here locally and it had a tough life. Including sinking due to deterioration. I believe it was shortened at the rear. Was glad to see it recovered but someone has a real basket case project as you can see.
Forty years ago I lived in Mountainview, CA. I started taking sailing lessons in Redwood City. When you sailed out of the small port area estuary towards the SF Bay there used to be a PT boat tied up near a wall bordering the estuary. I think it was bought and restored some years ago.
Actually, that was a 63' AVR (Air Vessel Rescue), an air rescue boat, which by that tin=me was being used as a Sea Scout boat. She has since been sold or scrapped.
There is one at the Worton Creek Marina in Worton, MD. Originally, Navy earmarked $1M for restoration, but it was since rescinded. The boat has been there for several years (albeit shrinked-wrapped) with no work being done...
I had some relatives who lived right on the water in Groton, Conn. They had a neighbor living 2 door down that had a family cruise boat that had been converted from a PT boat. They had totaly rebuilt the superstructure to make it an R & R cruiser. They also had removed the center engine (I guess they didn't need to go THAT fast!). Otherwise they kept it in immaculate condition.
I never had a chance to go out on it or even to go aboard. I have no idea if they still have it. This was back in the '70s, 45ish years ago. My relatives have passed away and I'm on the wrong coast now so I can't even check on it.
I can’t recall the exact location because it’s be 15-20 years since I saw them but somewhere in the northern part of the ICW in North Carolina or the Southern part of the ICW in Virginia lays 5-10 pt boats rotting away. No storage, no maintenance they where all just piled together after there wasn’t any use for them anymore. Which is pretty said considering how much those boats when through and for Mother Nature to be the only to finished them off is crazy
I remember seeing a couple of converted PT boats (like 766) at Fellows & Stewart Marina in Wilmington CA. The Marina was between Terminal Island and the Matson terminal. This was about 1955 and I was about 10.
I think the 459 and the 615 are both in Kingston, NY, on the Rondout Creek. All seem to have had their three Packard engines and the center rudder removed. They have two engines and sterns cut off at the rudder posts. It's nice to see some survived un-butchered.
The Louisville Naval Museum has just acquired the PT 520 and will be moving it from CA to IN.
Looks like a few variations. maybe camera angles but some seem to have a really deep entry and some are fairly flat on the deadrise at the bow.
About a month ago, there was a PT boat, manufacturer and type unknown (don't remember) docked at Morro Bay, California. It was destined for a museum for restoration.
Anyone remember or heard of a WWII PT boat named 'Banshee' which was moored at a private residence near Massapequa, NY (Long Island Great South Bay) in the mid 1970s? I remember my father taking me in our boat to go see it. It seemed to have been restored and looked so big and scary to an 11 year old's eyes back then. I've never forgotten it, nor have I forgotten reading 'PT-109' in grade school. Hopefully the 'Banshee' has survived and is in use today somewhere.
I grew up in Massapequa and remember her! However, she was not a PT Boat, rather, she was a US Army Air Force Crash Rescue Boat. I understand that she was towed to a marina in Seaford and scrapped, unfortunately.
@@guypalumbo7892 Thanks so much, Guy, for your comment and for letting me know more about the 'Banshee.' I appreciate knowing what she actually was! Never knew about the Crash Rescue boats. Sorry she was eventually scrapped. Speaking of Massapequa, even though we moved away in 1976 and Dick and Dora's restaurant is long gone, I still miss their pizza! Take care.
Back in the '60s there was a PT boat that was used as a "party or head" fishing boat. It sailed out of Morehead City North Carolina and was named the "Danco". Had some pictures of it but they have been misplaced.
There are 2 in Los Alamitos Bay in Long Beach Ca. owned by a Marina boat yard. One is restored and running, the other has been converted to a yacht.
There was one birthed in Indian River Delaware, I believe the owner cut it's midship and added another 20 foot to the length for passenger space..quite an impressive refitting job.
i forget where i saw it....but there used to be a video of how these boats where built.they had a rolling jig,that they would put the frames in,then they start screwing the planks on until the got to the curved section of the hull. the boat at that point would be put into a giant steam oven to "cook" and soften the planks so the would bend.they were screwed in place wet and allowed to dry.
There was a factory in or around Wilmington, De where they made PT boats during WWII. when completed they would sail them up river to the Philadelphia Navy Base
The World War II Museum has a fully functional PT boat in New Orleans. You can book a tour or pay for a ride on the boat.
That's the 305 "Sudden Jerk" that we saw footage of, early in the vid. Looks much different now.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THOSE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT ON THOSE BOATS GOD BLESS🙏P. S. THEY KEPT AMERICA FREE 👍🇺🇸 .
I lived in Deep Creek VA for a long wile, there used to be about 5 PTs at a boat yard under the high rise bridge on RT 64. They had ,from what I was told part of a movie productio and that brought here, they started to rot and were demo and burnded. The last one is now gone. I believe I was told that they had turbines installed for the movie. I was able to get on the yard one time and clearly remember that the keel was a box beam type structure made of about 1" plywood. I now wish that I had a camera.
Randy Hiestand
Those were not pt boats, they were nasty boats from the Vietnam war
I see Malihini somewhat regularly, she travels up to my local harbor in Newport Beach to use one of our shipyards.
There is a famous one near me - the PT boat that “started” the Vietnam war due to it’s raid on the Gulf of Tonkin. (We snuck in and shot up a lot of stuff. Linden Johnson called it a “dastardly unprovoked attack” when the North Vietnamese navy chased it.) It is located at the now defunct Naval Air Station in Deland, FL. Just standing on it was enough for me. I can’t imagine being on it as it sped away from the enemy at full speed! Last I saw, it was being restored by the Sea Cadets.
The war in Vietnam started when the USS Maddox DD 731 was fired on by North Vietnam. I was on the Maddox.
You are incorrect. It was a nasty boat, not a pt
@@bigcountryvet5984 The war started after PT-3 and her sister PT boats raided North Vietnam. President Johnson then went on TV and said, “The dastardly North Vietnamese started this war by hitting us back!”
“It was during a series of raids from 31 July to 4 August 1964 on Hon Mei Island in North Vietnam that the North Vietnamese counter attacked the PTF Boats with their torpedo boats, chasing the PTF Boats away from the coast and into the path of two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. The ensuing naval battle is known to history as the Tonkin Gulf Incident.”
@@hulkhoganstights6596 Yes.
@@rdleahey Those were Nasty boats not PT boats.
I was expecting to see the PT73 with LCDR McHale, Ens Parker, PO Virgil along with the rest of the crew at any moment during this video.
PT-694 I believe. Pretty sure she wrecked in a storm, in the early 90s.
@@jreese46 This isn't Gilligan's Island
@@oveidasinclair982
McHales Navy
There was one in Tacoma it was wood planked with caulking hanging out here and there, over the years the props went cut off it was a twin screw, then cut up slowly over time till gone.
There’s one undergoing restoration at the Navy Museum at DeLand, Florida airport (Formerly US Naval Air Station DeLand). If memory serves, she’s an Elco boat.
That is a PTF3 - Vietnam Era Patrol Boat. Very impressive. That museum is a real gem. The airport bar has the best hamburgers. You can eat outside and watch the sky divers.
@@shawnwright2356 The one in DeLand is the first of the US Nasty-class (PTF-3) bought by the US from Norway for operations into North Vietnam from DaNang. The boats were rigged as gunboats and had no torpedoes. The operations were part of OPLAN 34 A run by JSOG (and others) and not very successful. Look up NASTY PTF.
Kearny Bennet. I knew it wasn’t a WWII PT Boat. I was there last in 2018. I did not know they were bought from Norway.
Love it. Good stuff. Thank you!
One in Clearwater Beach. Used as a sight seeing vessel. Very fast .
72' sea screamer. Us or British. Maybe Canadians
Back in 85' I thought I had seen one at the Great Lakes Navy base marina area. It was being restored and worked on by a Sea Explorer troop
There was one out of the water at Calumet Harbor back in the late 70 and early 80s, by the grain storage silo's. I would say behind the fire station around 129th. street and 90-94.
Cc
Most of them never returned to the US after the war. Those not sold/given to foreign navies were all herded to some island and burned. I had an uncle who bought one war surplus for $500. The first time he took it to sea he was stopped by the USCG and ordered back to his dock. The boat was 3 feet too long for a one-man operation. He needed a crew.
I always wanted a PT boat after watching all those WW2 movies. There was a place that had blueprint of one boat that was based on the PT boat in the 70's. I read where many were left in Australia after the war and the were used as fishing boat and dive boats.
Laurence Rockefeller had one in Tarrytown NY that he used to commute to Manhattan. I don't know where it is now but " private storage " wouldn't surprise me.
Would love to see a pack of restored ELCO’s or Higgin Boats!
If only I was a billionaire computer Nerd I get the plans and build at least five or six New!
What about the PT boat that was converted to a yacht by John Wayne. I know when I was much younger I went by it in the Newport, CA. area. As it was John Wayne's boat, I'm sure it is still out there. It was named The Wild Goose. I'll bett its still in the Newport area.
I think Wayne’s boat was a mine sweeper, although I don’t know the difference. Also in Newport, there was the immaculate PT Joe....when those engines fired up, you could hear them across the bay. Thank you for the post, and the memories.... TJ
@@tigertelecom1 It was a coastal minesweeper.
@@tigertelecom1It was a converted minesweeper named Wild Goose. I remember PT Joe as a kid. Its slip was at the end of Bay Island - I think it was Roy Rogers home at the time. They only ran the center engine in the bay, but you could feel the noise. They had to constantly take it out of gear to not speed. Buddy Epson (Jed Clampit) also had his 36 foot cat and we would always follow and ask "Where's Elie May"
@@billm3451 wow, Bill! You were definitely a local. Were you ever in the BIYC over at the Beek’s/Epson’s pier? My first sailboat was a snowbird, #509, on a mooring off Collins Street.... Great memories!
My dad served on PT 147 in the South Pacific during the war. He loved those boats as they saved his bacon several times just because of how fast and manuverable they were. RIP Dad and your PTs. 😢
Wow, I didn't realize that there were that many survivors, much less a couple of the "plywood derby " hulls
They were make from mahogany
@@hulkhoganstights6596 the "plywood derby" was the competition for all the boats around Nantucket Island if I remember correctly.
Not necessarily the materials used for the boats
Thank you; very interesting. Whenever I see "They were expendable" I wonder how many PT boats still existed.
The PT boat training center, Melville (Portsmouth) RI is now an industrial series of boat yards / marinas. Closed in the late 50's early 60's, as we were not visionary enough to see its use in what would become the brown water navy of Viet Nam. Narragansett Bay
Jeb Sails: Oh, but they were. The Navy purchased about 12 to 14 Norwegian "Nasty" class PT boats and designated them PTF's. We trained in San Diego and deployed to DaNang. Google Nasty class PTF. They had two Napier deltic engines, each 3000HP. 44 knots . They were set up to support special ops. No torpedoes. A single 40mm Bofors anti aircraft cannon aft, a 20 mm port and stbd. and a 50 cal.BMG with 81mm mortar piggy back mount forward.
@1:56 that picture was reminiscent of the Sightseer lines and colors that roamed the Wildwood NJ shore line in the 70’s/80’s
That was the original Sightseer boat. Both she and the original Big Flamingo were PTs
my stepfather was the prior owner of one of the surplus pt's. It had decomissioned guns still on deck.
That’s incorrect. The navy had removed everything
Does anyone know what happened to the PT boats they used for the movie "PT-109"?
I am a retired grunt but it almost broke my heart to see these boats turned into playthings for puddle pirates, weekend weinnes.
Better that than have them fall to the breaker. Can't blame the guys that saw the bargain that they were after they were stricken and snatched them up. Serving in civilian life kept them alive long enough to eventually be recognized and in many cases, restored to what they were previously.
There was one under the bridge in Memphis years back ?saw it on vacation and dad had to stop being ex - navy.
I think it would be cool to have a pt boat just as a personal craft.
There's a PT Boat in the Buffalo Navel Park in Buffalo, NY. Don't know much more about it.
A park for belly buttons?
The Honduran Navy had American PT Boats during the 80s patrolling the Pacific coast near San Lorenzo. I was able to board one and look around. It was in pristine condition down to original engine...unfortunately I was only 24 years old not to interested in historical aspect of the boats.
Those boats were from vietnam war, not world war 2 and they were not pts
I wonder what point the restorations have gotten to? I remember the Nasty boats beached in Virginia and left to rot, that was a shame.
The Malihini in San Diego has been running 3/4 day fishing trips for the last 70+ years.
I have been to Battleship Cove Mass. Everyone should visit; when you leave you will have a much bigger respect for what our young men endured! and now our young women! You'll NEVER see me or my friends take a knee!!
yes...battleship MA...sub lionfish.....great collection of builder's models...be sure to go into the city for some great Portuguese food. the historical society has the ax that lizzie borden used too. BTW thanks veterans who fought for our great country.
Great background music
Thanks for sharing a friend from canada Rob ✌
I believe there was a WW2 PT Boat converted to a tourist boat (renamed The Vagabond) , that operated out of Harbour Town, on Hilton Head Island,
There are several old PT boats in New Zealand , unsure where they are now .
The New Zealand boats are iether HDML's or Failmiles, someof the HDML's where built on the west coast of Canada & Oregan, the Fairmiles where a british built boat.
Saw a PT boat on blocks in a boat yard in Lantana Florida back in the 60's. Wonder if one of these is it!? Or what happened to it?
There is one that has been converted go a beam trawler for shrimp by my house.. i see it pulling nets regularly
I think there is at least 1 in Auckland harbour New Zealand near Herald Island I think people are living on it
There are at least three PT boats in Kingston, NY. From watching this video there could very well be a fourth as the three I see regularly are under tarp and none look as good as the one underway in the video. The guy who owns them has been talking about restoring them seemingly forever... He's got another proposal on the table with the city for a building to restore and display the boats. Someday...!!
If I’m not mistaken and I may have missed it in the video I’m thinking back in my wayward youth in the Marine Corps there was one at Little Creek Virginia am I mistaken or is it in this video I seem to remember sometime around the millennium it was undergoing some kind of restoration I left active duty in 2011 so it’s been a long time over 20 years ago I think I remember seeing it there Pre 911
PT 615 is in Kingston, NY
My Father served in the canadian naval version in canada..CAN ANYONE tell me how i can get his service recordes.Unit# anything.The number of the boat was i believe was ?? 273 or q273 Pt73. The photos that i was able to see on the internet..they looked like they were just hand painted by brushed on sea trials..My dad did not tell me much about the war and what he did or saw but he did tell me he was a motorman...
I think there is one in port Townsend wa.
Slot more survived than I thought I've seen one in Massachusetts I think
617 and 768 are both inside, in Fall River/Battleship Cove.
What happened to PT 809 ? All aluminum hull, 4 screws, 98' escort for the presidential yachts?
I served aboard USS Sequoia '71 - 74 under Nixon/Ford. What happened to her?
Sorry for a late reply.
It is presumed that PT-809 was broken up in the 1990's by the US Navy.
USS Sequoia meanwhile is under restoration after being purchased by the FE Partners a few years ago.
Also thank you for your service, I'm sure our nation greatly appreciates it.
How were the PT boats delivered to their remote work locations during WW2? Loaded on cargo ships or simply driven to their destination.
liberty ships......with only a 500 mile range you could imagine how much fuel that would be
i didn't think they were that big, i was thinking of the boat from Apocalypse Now
What about LTC Quinton Mchale's PT 73.
The PT boat was phenomenally successful. They were fast, nimble, lowish cost, low radar visibility. Having a wood hull would mean relatively safe from mines. I can't help thinking that the concept should be revived. I think the Ukrainians would like a few, with torpedoes and rockets......
Almost all of the PT boats were burned after WWII. It was cheaper to destroy them then ship them back .
than
2 HULLS WERE IN kINGSTON NY RECENTLY LISTED 4 SALE
Just watched the movie PT-109 great movie 🍿.
In 1963 on the day that President Kennedy was shot. We were all going to see PTPt-109 at the Navy base in Imperial Beach California , For a 8 year old boy it was the most exciting thing ever to happen, but the bad news closed the base and it was 10 years after I was able to see it on TV. It is funny that one sad day in my life is remembered some 60 years later. GOD BLESS AMERICAN HEROES like PRESIDENT JOHN FRANCIS KENNEDY. KEEP AMERICA GREAT.
@@lennyk.2161 It was Fitzgerald. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
The PT-109 was one of the ELCO boats, 80 ft long had three Packard engines and could move up to 50 knots, i built many models of the 109 boat, the last was a 1/8 scale, even then it was big, and electric powered.
Cindy, thank you have been a great help with your information about PT 109s history. You are truly a (if I may) salty babe in my book! My Dad would have loved to set and talked to you.
A certain AF base had several, maybe still does, to tow targets in the gulf for training, at least into the 80’s. Won’t say what base cause no need to let the world know, if you get my drift. Yes they may already but if they don’t I’m not gonna be the one to put it out there.
Very interesting
Very Good!!!
I am in the industry if there is one available for restoration or I can help
There was one at north bay ont canada it was in great shape it sadly it has been convered to a teak pleasure craft was bummed out as a kid when I heard I was going on a pt boat only to see a boat I was hopping to sink something it would move but $5cnd to the mile flat out!
There was in Toronto at the Leslie street spit, back in the 80's, an MTB. It had sort of been converted. All the windows and access points had been covered over to prevent vandalism. I recall seeing it a few times from the spit, but I don't know what became of it.
God bless the remaining S.C.'s and God Bless America. From an old fart who spent time on one in the black gang in 1959 as a 15 year old kid. I don't know her original designation but when I was aboard her she was known as the "Tropical Queen". We swapped out the 16 cylinder pancakes (oil sieves that they were) for 671 grey marines. They weren't as fast or close to the Horse power, but were far more efficient. But that reduced the boat to 10 knots. Not a good speed in a fight. I won't get into what we were up to in those days.
Those 58ft PT Boats @ 4:30 Look Like They Were Based on a British Design.
Either; British Power Boat Company - Owner & Designer; Hubert Scott-Paine or
The Fairey Boat Company ( I Own a 26ft Saling Boat by Fairey )
BOTH of These Companies Were Close to One Another in Southampton, England UK.
If there is a picture of it how can the location be unknown?
My source didn't give most of them reliable locations, hence their "unknown" tag.
@@SurvivingHistory I think 459, 486, and 615 all ended up at Kingston. Navsource has the first two, Pacific wrecks has 615 as of 2020.
PTF-3, under restoration at Deland Naval Air Station Museum, Deland, FL
Sure wished the country had saved one of the 172 foot wooden hulled ocean minesweepers built around 1954.
101 were built for the US and other allied countries.
One left stateside in Stockton, CA, under restoration after having been stripped to the hull in an attempt to turn it into a B&B.
Original cost in 1954 dollars was $9M that's million. All non-magnetic materials for obvious reasons.
@Cindy Klenk I am not sure but I don't think so.
I googled it and it was built from a Royal Navy minesweeper.
Different style and lines for US sweeps.
Where is pt109 pres Kennedy boat?
Sadly, PT109 is somewhere in the South Pacific, UNDERWATER. But her memory lives on. I have had the priveledge of serving on the PT boat Pres Kennedy used while he was in office. It was converted to a sea going aerial target recovery vessel apply named "Retriever" and she was a superb example of that type boat. I wish I knew what happened to her.
Love for the PTs
PT-59 salvage location-207th Street Bridge, Harlem River