PT Boat 658 - A Functional, Restored PT Boat

[Racerbvd]

This was built right down the street from where I grew up, "The Huckin's Fairform Flyer" the hull designed by them. Huckin's is still in business today at the same location..

PT Boat 658 - A Functional, Restored PT Boat

[Seahawk]

Very moving...

My wife's step father was a PT boat crewman...left Yale, flunked out of flight school and spent the next three years in the South Pacific.

Great Dude.

[VincentVega]

Amazing stuff

Some off PT boat info

3000 gallons of 100-octane aviation gasoline (AVGAS) is enough to last 12 hours or 520 miles with engine speed limited to 2000 rpm. This works out to about 66 gallons of gasoline per hour, per engine at cruising speed of 35 knots. At maximum rpm, achieving 42+ knots, each engine consumes 166 gallons (or 500 gallons for all 3 engines) per hour. (3000 gallons lasts about 6 hours at top speed!) The gasoline is held in four 750 gallon self sealing rubber-lined gas tanks. PT658 had her 2 after gasoline tanks removed, so capacity is cut in half down to only 1500 gallons of gas

Propulsion

3 5M-2500 Packard-Marine V12 Engines.

These engines are 4 stroke, water cooled, 60 degree, V- type with a 6-3/8" bore and 6-1/2" stroke, for a total of 2490 cubic inches of displacement. Each engine has 48 valves, 2 inlet/2 outlet per cylinder. They have a compression ratio of 6.4:1, and are fitted with a gear-driven centrifugal supercharger and intercooler. The engines are installed with a Holley 1685F aircraft-type carburetor, and use aircraft- type dual magneto sparks, with 2 spark plugs per cylinder. The engines develop 1500 Hp at 2500 rpm.Max revolutions is 3000 rpm. Engine weight is 3100 pounds. These engines were designed to burn 100 octane aviation gasoline to achieve nominal power output.

[Superman]

Didn't those things have twin diesel engines in a plywood hull? If so, they should have seat belts and high-back chairs.

[kach22i]

Very cool, some guys are trying to restore PT-305.

Link:
Pt 305 - Boat Design Forums

[Racerbvd]

A bit about the company that built the PT.. The marina where my family's boat when I was a kid was right next door.

Huckins Yacht :: Yachting leadership for three generations.

Huckins Yacht Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Huckins Yacht CorporationFrom

Huckins Yacht Corporation is one of the oldest boat builders in the United States and is currently run by the third-generation owners Cindy and Buddy Purcell.

The company manufactures custom yachts ranging from 40 to 90 feet and has earned a reputation for combining classic style and workmanship with modern technology and amenities. Crafting vessels one at a time, Huckins has built a total of 457 yachts during its 80 years of service.

Huckins Yacht Corporation hosts an annual Rendezvous, which provides an opportunity for Huckins owners to gather together and share their boating experiences.

The company is located on the Ortega River in Jacksonville, Florida.

[edit] HistoryIn 1928, Frank Pembroke Huckins formed Huckins Yacht Corporation.

The Fairform Flyer 42’ Express Cruiser was launched in July 1928, with its maiden voyage from Fernandina, Florida to New York City. It was sold in the fall to David M. Goodrich of the B.F. Goodrich Rubber Company for $15,000.

In 1943 the U.S. Navy commissioned Huckins Yacht Corporation to build two squadrons of PT boats, a total of 18 boats for service during WWII.

John F. Kennedy was involved in the Huckins PT program, delivering boats from Melville to Jacksonville and then to the break-in center in Miami.

In 1969, Huckins built the largest sportfishing yacht in the United States, measuring 80 feet.

In 1976, Huckins Yacht Corporation constructed the largest motor yacht in the United States, built with an Airex-cored fiberglass hull.

In 1986, Huckins built a specialty 78-foot Sport Cruising yacht, which included wide doors and an elevator, designed for an owner confined to a wheel chair.

Huckins Yacht’s oldest existing boat, the 1931 Offshore 48’ Avocette III, was honored in July, 2008 by the Museum of Yachting.

[edit] References

[ODDJOB UNO]

my dad was in a army air corp eng battalion during wwII. he was in new guinea,biak,luzon. they would literally come in off the LST(landing ship troops) while under fire and start bulldozing /blasting roads and runways or rebuild existing runways etc.

well one of things they all loved was supplementing their food supplies and that entailed fishing. and that entailed boats. and usually since everywhere they went was an island there was always a contingent of PT boats there. and since they(army dudes) knew that PT boats had refrigerators on board, they made fast friends with the navy dudes and traded with them fishing trips for booze that was shipped in re-canned fruit containers from back home sent over as care packages.


navy dudes got their booze and the army dudes got high speed fishing trips and refrigerator space!


that is a NO POO STORY!


one of my dads most upsetting experiences of wwII was they had built a number of av gas fuel storage tanks and fuel lines down to the PT boat docks. this was on new guinea. and since manpower was short, they enlisted the natives as dockworkers. all the natives used to chain smoke camel cigarettes constantly. one day this native was smoking while they were refueling a PT boat and the av gas vapors ignited causing a explosion and fire and my dad lost quite a few real close friends that day along with a number of PT boats going up in flames.



we LOVE PT BOATS!

[jluetjen]

I did chuckle though when they mentioned "the sound of a radial engine on a vintage bomber" while showing a picture of Avro Lancaster with it's 4 Rolls Royce (Water Cooled, V configuration) Merlin engines.

The rest of the video is very cool!

[gwood]

It may be "restored", but it's not "functional" unless it has real torpedos.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

I did chuckle though when they mentioned "the sound of a radial engine on a vintage bomber" while showing a picture of Avro Lancaster with it's 4 Rolls Royce (Water Cooled, V configuration) Merlin engines.

The rest of the video is very cool!

Ditto, same thought; "Talking Heads" that write their own material without verifying...

The Packard engines in the PT were developed from the V-8 or V-12 'Liberty' engine used in WWI aircraft. Modular engine - used as a V-8, V-12 and straight 6. (Packard later -and concurrently- built the V-12 'Merlin' V12 that was in the P-51 Mustang.)

I was waiting for a pic of Jack Kennedy... and there it was near the end...


Thank you, thank you Byron...

[strupgolf]

It's moving to see all those veterans restoring that boat. Like they said, only 1/2 of the men are still alive today. Those boats sure did do some havic on the Japs for a long time. I would love to ride on one today, but not pay for the fuel bill.

[azasadny]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this!

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Superman

Didn't those things have twin diesel engines in a plywood hull? If so, they should have seat belts and high-back chairs.

Plywood Hull..Rolls Royce Merlins...

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Very moving...

My wife's step father was a PT boat crewman...left Yale, flunked out of flight school and spent the next three years in the South Pacific.

Great Dude.

Ask him if he remembers John Lupa...from Detroit...John was my Daddys 1St cozin.

John passed away in 1995 at 84 years...John was in the same PT Boat squadron as JFK and knew him very well as they lived in the same Quonset Hut in the Solomons...Johns oldest son has a Machete signed by all the members of that Squadron including JFK.

After the war John was involved with the PT Boat vets org...after John passed away his wife gave me a PT Boat Patch...I believe if memory serves me well it is from a PT Boat Squadron based in the Philiphines and will get a pic as soon as my camera battery recharges..

I asked John about JFK the only thing he said was that he was quite an indivdual as he had already had a best seling book. He also mentioned that all the guys would brag about the woman they were with except for JFK.

[Seahawk]

I shall. His name is Reiff Landes. Solid gold, still rising to meet the next challenge.

Originally Posted by tabs

Ask him if he remembers John Lupa...from Detroit...John was my Daddys 1St cozin.

John passed away in 1995 at 84 years...John was in the same PT Boat squadron as JFK and knew him very well as they lived in the same Quonset Hut in the Solomons...Johns oldest son has a Machete signed by all the members of that Squadron including JFK.

After the war John was involved with the PT Boat vets org...after John passed away his wife gave me a PT Boat Patch...

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Superman

Didn't those things have twin diesel engines in a plywood hull? If so, they should have seat belts and high-back chairs.

LOL.

The Brits made several versions (called MTBs) - most had 3 V12 motors, made more than 4,000 HP and did about 40 knots.

I'm not really into boats, but I think that's not too frickin' shabby for a 70ft boat weighing 50 tons. I thought these things were pretty awesome when I was a kid. I'd have one restored if I won the lottery,

A lot were stripped and sold as houseboats after the war.... Kind of an ignoble end.

[A930Rocket]

Very cool!

Didn't John Wayne have a PT boat?

[GLASEM]

Great video
We need to restore more of those WWII ships
My Dad served on an LSM. Their LSM association got the last one in existance from Greece and brought home to the USA.

Things have fallen through and the USMC museum in North Carolina wants to sink it

Check out this link

USS LSM-45 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[fred cook]

I believe that the hulls were made of laminated mahogany, quite a step up from "plywood". It (mahogany) was lighter, stronger and more durable than most any other wood when used in a "wet" environment. If I ever win one of the big lottos, I'm going to buy one of those suckers! I might even pay the transfer taxes so that I can mount some 50 cals on it and go pirate hunting!

[pwd72s]

Well, anybody wanting to see this one should sniff around Portland, Oregon..
Footage was taken on the Columbia..