I originally posted this on my old website on June 22, 2009.
PT-658 in Portland, Oregon on June 7, 2009
PT-658 is a 78-foot Patrol Torpedo Boat, commonly called a PT-Boat. PT-boats were used in World War II against larger ships. With the ability to fire torpedoes, PT boats were capable of sinking the largest of the enemy's ships. Their small size and high speed made them difficult for large enemy ships to defend against; they often attacked at night, approaching the enemy without being detected, then quickly escaping after attacking. PT-boats were powered by three 1500 horsepower Packard V12 engines. A PT-Boat's 3,000 gallon fuel supply is enough to power the boat for 12 hours at a cruising speed of 35 knots, for a range of about 520 miles, or for six hours at the full speed of over 42 knots. (PT-658 is missing two of its tanks, cutting its fuel capacity in half.) Their wooden hulls allowed them to be built in large numbers without diverting steel from other critical uses, though it gave them little resistance to enemy fire. John F. Kennedy famously commanded PT-109 and later PT-59 during the war. After the war, most PT-boats were beached, stripped of equipment and burned, though some were sold as war surplus and found other uses, including conversation to pleasure boats.
PT-658 in Portland, Oregon on June 7, 2009
PT-658 was built by Higgins Industries Boatworks of New Orleans, Louisiana. The keel was laid down on February 24, 1945, it was launched on April 11, 1945 and completed on July 30, 1945. As World War II was nearly over by that time, it was never put into the service it was built for, and was used as a rescue boat and later as a floating target until being sold as war surplus to a private owner on June 30, 1958. Save the PT Boat, Inc., a non-profit organization formed by a group of former PT-boat crewmen, acquired it in 1993 and has been restoring it since 1994. In the summer of 2004, PT-658 returned to the open water under her own power. It is the only authentic fully-restored US PT-boat in operational condition in the world.
PT-658 in Portland, Oregon on June 7, 2009
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