Warbird Information Exchange

Not a warbird but a great video about PT Boat 658 and the vets who restored her. http://videos2view.net/PT658.htm

A great restoraion along with living history. I enjoyed the video.

While PT Boats would have been commiting suicide to go against capitol ships they certainly played a great (and oft under appreciated) role in the island hopping campaigns. Tough little guys for sure!

Pat Carry wrote:Not a warbird...

Yes, but basically powered by 3 warbird engines (V-12 gasoline-fed Packard 5M-2500s)

And quite popular around here, if the "thread drift" seen earlier is any indication ... http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39797

I'd say it's about time the PTs got their own subject heading!

Warboat Information Exchange ?

there is or was an elco pt boat docked at sawmill creek resort marina on lake erie in sandusky ohio, privately owned, pimped out to luxury yacht status. i live a 1/2 hour from their & have never took the time to see her which i regret.

tom d. friedman wrote:there is or was an elco pt boat docked at sawmill creek resort marina on lake erie in sandusky ohio, privately owned, pimped out to luxury yacht status. i live a 1/2 hour from their & have never took the time to see her which i regret.

I never heard that!

Is it still there?

When I was in Coast Guard basics, There was a PT at Cape May NJ. they would take out on weekends. I think it was privately owned. It would cruse up and down the beach.

Steve

oscardeuce wrote:

tom d. friedman wrote:there is or was an elco pt boat docked at sawmill creek resort marina on lake erie in sandusky ohio, privately owned, pimped out to luxury yacht status. i live a 1/2 hour from their & have never took the time to see her which i regret.

I never heard that!

Is it still there?

tom, as of 10 years ago i would say yes. otherwise call the marina. with spring coming i'll take a cruise up there with you if it is.

tom d. friedman wrote:there is or was an elco pt boat docked at sawmill creek resort marina on lake erie in sandusky ohio, privately owned, pimped out to luxury yacht status.

Yep, I'd like to see that too, Tom. An expert told me they all rotted away by 1980. But on that note, I wouldn't have given a dollar for the remains of PT-658 before her resto...truly sad sack.
Sound on the video link didn't work for me, but more stuff as well as thorough resto history here...
http://www.savetheptboatinc.com

There's another in storage at th guard base in Clackamas, OR. Thought there
was one running in FL.

PT Boats In Museums and Survivors
Of the nearly four hundred PT boats which were built just prior to and during the Second World War, only a handful survive to this day. They are:

PT-3 - Privately owned in Pennsylvania as of the late 1990s.
PT-8 - Privately owned in Texas.
PT-48 - Acquired by Fleet Obsolete in Kingston, NY, awaiting restoration.
PT-305 - Acquired by the National World War II in New Orleans, LA, undergoing restoration.
PT-309 - Acquired by the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX, on static display.
PT-459 - Acquired by Fleet Obsolete in Kingston, NY, awaiting restoration.
PT-486 - Privately owned in New Jersey, restored to look like PT-109.
PT-615 - Acquired by Fleet Obsolete in Kingston, NY, awaiting restoration.\
PT-617 - Owned by PT Boats, Inc., and is on display at Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA.
PT-658 - Owned by Save The PT in Portland, OR.
PT-728* - Owned and operated by Fleet Obsolete in Kingston, NY. Restored by a previous owner in Florida to resemble an eighty-foot Elco PT boat. Available for charter.
PT-796 - Owned by PT Boats, Inc., and is on display at Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA.

I believe that this story does have a place on this site. How many of our airman were saved by the stout hearted crews of those plywood wonders.

Several years ago I was sitting with Jeff Ethell and aviation photographer Dan Patterson discussing the merits of doing a photo essay on PT Boats.
Dan didn't think there would be a market for it.
Jeff brought him up short saying, "Dan, PT Boats are the P-51's of the Navy!"

tom d. friedman wrote:

oscardeuce wrote:

tom d. friedman wrote:there is or was an elco pt boat docked at sawmill creek resort marina on lake erie in sandusky ohio, privately owned, pimped out to luxury yacht status. i live a 1/2 hour from their & have never took the time to see her which i regret.

I never heard that!

Is it still there?

tom, as of 10 years ago i would say yes. otherwise call the marina. with spring coming i'll take a cruise up there with you if it is.

A DUKW looking for a PT? That would turn heads!

From the other side,and a lot rarer..
http://www.s130.co.uk/