When PT-59 arrived on October 18, it was sent out on patrol with two other PT boats across the New Georgia Sound to the northwestern tip of Choiseul Bay on Choiseul Island, an important Japanese barge base. Their speed was 40 knots, they carried four torpedoes and typically one 40mm gun, one 20mm gun, and two twin-barrel machine guns. They drew over three feet of water. Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Each side tried to attack the other's coastal shipping routes and protect his from the enemy's attacks. $695.00. They could be most effective when lying in wait for other ships (especially supply ships). Type T-15 contained thirty-nine boats, bearing the hull numbers 1001 to 1008, 1101 to 1131. Naval Photographic Center film #1965. PT-37 and PT-40 sank destroyer IJN Teruzuki on the night of 11–12 December, barely three months after the Japanese had put her into service. The PT boats, crewed by between 12 and 14 men, carried four torpedos and were used to attack Japanese ships and naval bases. Type T-15 contained thirty-nine boats, bearing the hull numbers 1001 to 1008, 1101 to 1131. S p o n s o r e d. Vintage 1950s ITO Japan PT Cruiser Boat Battery Operated Wooden Model VG Cond. 77' Elco ... 1943 in Rendova Harbor by bomb dropped by Japanese aircraft PT-119 destroyed March 17, 1943 during refueling accident at Tufi PT-121 "Snafu" sunk by friendly fire March 27, 1944 PT … The S-boat was also a formidable enemy since in addition to two torpedo tubes with four torpedoes (or 6-8 sea mines), it also was armed, initially with two 20mm guns, and later also with a 30mm or 40mm gun, and up to five 20mm guns. A near miss showered the boat with shrapnel that slightly wounded two of the crew. PB-46 (revised 11/11/2017) During the war, a number of former American, British and Dutch vessels that had been scuttled in various captured ports in the Far East were raised and repaired by the Japanese. This boat had wooden hull that design affected from German S-boats. For this, Lt. Kennedy was decorated with the Navy Medal. British Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) - the main British boat types were made by Vosper. Caption: 77' Elco Pt Boat beached behind the former Japanese lines on Guadalcanal, February 16, 1943. Type T-39 contained eight boats, bearing the hull numbers 474 to 481. Japanese boats - the Japanese developed their torpedo boat from a captured British boat. Tactics were developed so that the PT boats would hide among islands where the Japanese ships were passing as a supply route, then ambushing anything that passed with a quick hit. Type T-23 contained twenty-three boats, bearing the hull numbers 201 to 207, 401 to 410, 451 to 456. The PT boats went out almost night after night to raid the enemy's coastal shipping or to protect their side's shipping from the enemy's night raiders. It also almost always demanded courage and initiative, of both commanders and sailors. The Japanese have apparently decided raw power was still the way to go with the Gyoraitei, but that going with the cannon wasn't worth it. During the next seven days, Lt. Kennedy demonstrated "heroism, courage, endurance and excellent leadership" Many were decorated for their combat actions, both in successful missions and in desperate attempts to survive. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/battle-of-surigao-strait.html For this purpose, the Russians also built armored boats armed with tank gun turrets, which acted as floating tanks. They were armed with two torpedoes and with machine guns. During World War I, Britain and Italy made extensive use of torpedo boats with the Italian The British solution was to have many crews of volunteers with previous civilian experience in operating yachts and other small vessels. American PT Boats - there were two similar types of American PT boats, ELCO and Higgins. The South Pacific islands and the Philippines, where American PT boats operated intensively in attacking the Japanese coastal shipping traffic of troops and supplies among the many islands, and also attacked larger Japanese warships and coastal ground targets and directly supported amphibious landings. The boat's powertrain of two diesel and two gas turbine engines had an overall output of 11,000 hp and allowed the boat to reach the impressive speed of 40 knots (over 70 km/h). While his survival story on the PT … Type T-51 contained thirty-six boats, bearing the hull numbers 10 to 27, 5441 to 5458. PT-Boats List of Pacific PT Boats with sinking date, final demise or location today. The Spearhead series is designed to look at the cutting edge of war, dealing with units capable of operating completely independently in the forefront of battle. They could also operate very close to the beach in shallow waters (which both larger surface vessels and submarines could not) and used this ability to ambush or hide, perform intelligence missions, commando team landings, rescue missions (mostly of downed airmen), and even attack targets ashore with gunfire, including daring penetrations into protected enemy harbors. PT 109 was one of the hundreds of motor torpedo boats (PT) of the PT 103 class completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco Naval Division of Electric Boat Company at Bayonne, New Jersey. First boat, "No.10 Torpedo Boat"(第十号魚雷艇) laid down in September 20, 1942 and completed November 20,1943. Second, in daylight, attack aircraft and torpedo bombers could do a better job in attacking enemy shipping and with less risk, and the PT boats themselves were in danger of being detected and attacked in daytime. Of the Type T-51 boats, only nine were completed before the war's end, and another two hulls were left unfinished at war's end. PT boats were a unique class of fighting ships, designed to counter ships of larger classes through firepower and speed. John Kennedy served as a junior grade lieutenant in the Navy during World War Two, commanding the torpedo boat PT-109. This could then be followed up by cannon, rocket, mortar or machine gun attacks if needed. PT boat gunners had to be very fast and accurate in operating their weapons in those fierce and brief battles, I have been told these boats were assembled by individual families. The original Italian engines were replaced in 1941 with American engines. For greater firepower against the German S-boats, the British often used combinations of torpedo boats and gun boats, in which the torpedoes were replaced with heavier guns. Devil Boats tells the history of the PT Boats throughout the war, mostly in … $199.95. Several hundred torpedo boats of each of the following types were constructed: The most famous of the PT boats of World War 2 is PT boat 109, which became famous because its commander, LTJG John F. Kennedy, later became the 35th American president (1961-63). In February 1934, Tomozuru joined the 21st Torpedo Flotilla at Sasebo. Three PT boats began closing on the target to make their attack. The Type T-51boats were deemed to be unsuccessful and relegated to being used as what the Japanese referred to as "Guard Boats" and had two of their four engines removed. They weighed in at some eighty-four tons with their war-loads and were powered by four engines of nine hundred twenty horse-power each. The PT-15 has good navigability thanks to its effective body lines around the midship frame, which became a characteristic of Japanese post-war vessels. The boats were armed with three 25mm cannons and two 45.7cm torpedoes. According to Harold Foch's Fast Fighting Boats, there were eighty-one of this type built and they carried the hull numbers of 538 to 555 and 838 to 900. Some boats were fitted with more guns instead of the torpedoes. The little boats would distinguish themselves over and over again, even though there were only 29 in the Navy at the start of the war. During the war they operated mainly along the North African coast and against the British in Malta and against British convoys in the central Mediterranean. The Type T-14 boats were approximately fifty feet in length with a beam of approximately eleven feet. Type T-38 contained eighty boats, bearing the hull numbers 241 to 286, 457 to 467, 506 to 528. Type 25 contained six boats, bearing the hull numbers 468, 484 to 488. They often used stealth to silently search for and ambush the enemy along its shipping routes, and then used their powerful engines only once they were detected, to attack a much larger enemy and then escape at top speed. For example, the engineer of PT boat 191 that was badly hit by Japanese aircraft, received the Navy Cross for fixing the damaged engine, preventing fire, and saving the lives of injured crew members, all while still under Japanese fire. Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft. They had a range of three hundred forty miles at a top speed of twenty-eight knots or one thousand miles, cruising at sixteen knots. The German S-boats had a formidable image in the Royal Navy, especially in the first years of the war, and for several good reasons. The PT boats were ordered to block the western and southern approaches to Choiseul Bay and intercept barges. Their maximum weight was twenty-five tons and they were powered by one nine hundred twenty horse power engine and one eighty horse power cruising engine. This page will also cover the activities of nine such ex-Allied vessels that were later in the service of the Imperial Navy as patrol boats. The drawings presented here were supplied by Dave Gregory, owner of the PT Dockyard - maker of small scale models. Their unique structural design, with the torpedo tubes just below deck, was a perfect combination of very low profile, and a higher ability to maintain very high speed in rough sea. In an pure ASW Role, additional depth charges could be carried in lieu of the two torpedoes. First, in a warship with a crew of about a dozen sailors (depending on the type), each man is very important to the ship's success and survival. Also this boat using 4 Kanhon-type Mark 71 Model 5 gasoline engines. PT Boats Torpedo boats can be traced back to the turn of the 20th Century when various European powers began experimenting with placing torpedoes on small motor boats. After Pearl Harbor the US surface fleet was neutered and the only Naval vessels capable of sustained operations against the Japanese were the submarines and a very small handful of PT boats. A modified Form of Japanese WW2 PT boat (Gyoraitei) with an 88mm gun instead of a 75mm. This is probably USS PT-43, which was damaged in action with Japanese ships on January 11, 1943, beached and destroyed by Naval gunfire to prevent possible use by the enemy. Later, floatplane bombs bracketed another PT boat and sent the 109 skittering away in frantic evasive maneuvers. wwSizedImg(897,400,"elco-pt-boat","ELCO PT boat"); PT Boats, or Patrol Torpedo Boats, were a secondary element in World War 2 navies, but an essential one. Many engineers were decorated for their performance in such conditions. I believe that ITO stands for International Trade Organization. Add to that a German force-preserving operating strategy which dictated avoiding unnecessary combat with allied torpedo boats, and the sum result is an elusive, stealthy, hard to catch and hard to sink enemy which British sailors could only vaguely and briefly see during short night encounters. Italian MAS Boats - the Italian boats were designed to operate in the quieter water of the Mediterranean. Type T-1 contained six boats, bearing the hull numbers 1 to 6 Type T-14 contained eighty-one boats, bearing the hull numbers 538 to 555 and 838 to 900. Never mind the fact that those PT boats were backed by six older battleships, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 28 destroyers, the sheer number of PT boats had an effect against a force of two Japanese battleships, one heavy cruiser, and two light cruisers. During World War II, Japan built two hundred forty eight MTBs in fifteen different classes. Type T-36 contained forty-four boats, bearing the hull numbers 411 to 450, 470 to 473. PT Boats, or Patrol Torpedo Boats, were a secondary element in World War 2 navies, but an essential one. which helped his crew survive, avoid being captured by the Japanese, and eventually succeed in making contact with American forces in order to be rescued. The 1944 Vosper type carried four torpedoes, a twin 20mm gun, and 3 machine guns. Eventually the S-boats were outnumbered and defeated by the increasing numbers of allied boats, but it was a long battle, and until the end the S-boats were a capable enemy. About T-51a (No.10 class torpedo boat, 第十号型魚雷艇) This class was Japanese large MTB. Type T-32 contained eight boats, bearing the hull numbers 301 to 308. or Best Offer +$10.80 shipping. Watch. And PT-137 scored a crippling torpedo hit on the light cruiser Abukuma. At the beginning of the Second World War, the Japanese Navy (or, in the Japanese language, Nihon Kaigun, or even Teikoku Kaigun, the Imperial Navy) was arguably the most powerful navy in the world.Its naval aviation corps, consisting of 10 aircraft carriers and 1500 topnotch aviators, was the most highly trained and proficient force of its kind. The boats often harassed and broke up Japanese barge traffic, earning the nickname “devil boats” among the enemy. When a Japanese destroyer rammed the PT … Gen. The PT Boats were faster and smaller than all other vessels. They dominated a specific part of naval warfare, that of night warfare in coastal waters, but in that part they were essential because neither other vessels nor aircraft could perform as they did. These boats weighed in at fifteen tons. Type T-23 contained twenty-three boats, bearing the hull numbers 201 to 207, 401 to 410, 451 to 456. They dominated a specific part of naval warfare, that of night warfare in coastal waters, but in that part they were essential because neither other vessels nor aircraft could perform as they did. 16 watchers. When the four members of the Japanese surrender delegation climbed aboard the deck of PT-375 on September 8, 1945, the boat’s skipper, Lieutenant Henry “Hank” Blake, directed the men to an open area on the forward deck where the Japanese could be closely watched for any signs of treachery. They also suffered a severe shortage of good engines, and therefore were not able to deploy a large number of boats, although they needed them to counter the American boats. It was also nicknamed E-boat by the western Allies during the war (E for Enemy). These were: Type T-1 contained six boats, bearing the hull numbers 1 to 6 Type 31 contained thirty-three boats, bearing the hull numbers of 208 to 240. In 1940 they were the smallest and fastest (45 knots) torpedo boats, thanks to their excellent gasoline engines, but were not capable of sailing in rough sea. Eight depth charges and two depth charge projectors were carried. Eleven of the crew survived the ramming, and were able to swim to a small island a few miles away. The North Sea, between Britain and German-occupied Western Europe, where British, and later also American PT boats, clashed intensively with their elusive and faster German counterparts, the German S-boats (S for speed, in both German and English). For example, the ELCO PT boat type had a speed of 40 knots, displacement of 38 tons, and length of 24m/80ft, a midget warship. The PT boats’ first contact with the Japanese Imperial Navy in the unfolding Battle of the Leyte Gulf was an encounter with a group of battleships. PT boats were not made of plywood; they were made of mahogany. They had a speed of 40 knots, produced by three gasoline engines. Two gunners on a PT boat at Pearl Harbor were credited with the first Japanese kill by the U.S. in World War II when they downed an enemy plane. Type T-35 contained fifty-five boats, bearing the hull numbers 469, 482 to 483, 494 to 499, 529-537, 801 to 837. PT-59 (more on her later) is credited with sinking Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarine I-3 on December 9, 1942 near Guadalcanal. They drew just over two feet of water and were powered by one engine of nine hundred twenty horsepower and had a maximum speed of thirty-three knots. PT boats operated mainly at night for two reasons: First, with their small size, low profile, and high speed, they could use the night to get very close to the enemy without being detected (which larger surface vessels could not), and could quickly maneuver and escape once detected (which submarines could not). Later the Italians built larger torpedo boats, armed with larger torpedoes, 20mm guns, and depth charges, but they were much slower, with a top speed of just 34 knots. They carried two torpedoes and 4 machine guns, but later, following night battles with the German S-boats, two machine guns were replaced with a 20mm gun and later even with a heavier gun. All data in this piece was gleamed from Harold Foch's 1974 book, Fast Fighting Boats, 1870 - 1945 and all drawings included herein were supplied by David Gregory of The PT Dockyard. Incidentally, only one Japanese destroyer survived that battle. The color drawing on the top of the page is the Type T-14. They were armed with torpedoes, mines, and depth charges against targets much larger than themselves, and with rapid fire guns and machine guns against their counterparts and other small targets. Type T-33 contained six boats, bearing the hull numbers 500 to 505. Possibly some toys have an identifying number which may relate The PT boats operated during the entire war in three main areas: Since before World War 2 the military development of torpedo boats was quite neglected by the western naval powers, the basic technologies of civilian fast motor boat construction were openly shared internationally by export contracts, and as a result, when the war started both sides generally had a similar technological starting point, with some advantage to The Axis thanks to more powerful engines and the military emphasis of development. The Type T-51 was based on the German Schnellboot type. They were armed with one 25mm cannon and two 45.7cm torpedoes and provisions for depth charges. In operational service, PT boats were put through some very heavy paces, operating in rough waters and under intense danger and stresses. The boats shown are believed to be ITO boats from post war Japan. 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