Building the PT Boats

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PT boat model boat plans. This is the first sheet with hull templates and GA. PT boat model boat plans - sheet 2, with deck house layout and templates. Here is a list of entries so far: The two plan sets are available in a single zip file. PT Plans 1: The plan is intended for balsa construction and should not pose too big a task for someone with a couple of simpler boats under their belt. Balsa is inexpensive, light and require a minimal set of tools to build.

Millions and millions of balsa models have been built on kitchen tables around the globe in the last years. Finished, the RC PT boat will measure about 30 inches long and eight inches wide by mm and weigh about three pounds 1. I see no reason a brushless motor could not be used if you'd want to. I don't perceive the larger boat to be much harder than the smaller to build, but will cost a little more in materials.

It will handle better, but require more water to maneuver and thrive. For this plan, I'd recommend using any mix of materials: All navies, big and small were looking for ways to upset the stalemate. The submarine and the Motor Torpedo Boats were developed as powerful weapons to challenge even a vastly superior battle fleet. Follow the link above to learn more about them. Follow this link for more info about the 1: Here is a list of static model kits.

The list include plastic, resin, wood and paper card kits.

PT Boat Plans for Model Boat Building

Most of these kits are still in production, while some are not. Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins ever chose to use it on their boats. Most probably due to the lateness in joining the PT boat program and unlike Elco and Higgins, the Huckins yard was never provided any government support to construct a larger facility prior to the war.

The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at a speed of one per month. The success and ruggedness of the Huckins' foot seagoing design is demonstrated by Squadron 26's constant ready-boat operations and Fleet torpedo boat training in the oceans around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war. These boats were never used by the U.

Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy ; most were passed to other countries. With accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men, the crew varied from 12 to 17, depending upon the number and type of weapons installed. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons. The hull shape of the Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the warped "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time and still in use today: A common characteristic of this type of warped hull is the "rooster tail" in the wake.

Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds PT 71 and PT classes at around 27 knots, and the PT and classes at around 23 knots. The Elco, Higgins and Huckins companies used varying lightweight techniques of hull construction which included two layers of double diagonal mahogany planking utilizing a glue-impregnated cloth layer between inner and outer planks. These planks were held together by thousands of copper rivets and bronze screws.

The overall result was an extremely light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at the front lines when battle damage was sustained. As a testament to the strength of this type of construction, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat.

PT 109 Plans

For example, the forward half of future President John F. Kennedy 's PT Elco stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. PT Elco was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on 10 December off Leyte , yet remained floating for several hours. PT Higgins had her stern sheared off by a collision with PT during a night mission in the Mediterranean on 9 March and yet returned to base for repairs. PT Elco was holed through the bow off Bougainville on 5 November , by a torpedo which failed to detonate; the boat remained in action and was repaired the next day.

In , an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. This resulted in the November Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before the end of the war. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs "ElcoPlane" which achieved significant increase in top speed. Higgins developed the small and fast 70' Higgins Hellcat , which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production due to increased fuel consumption and other considerations.

After the war, Lindsay Lord, who was stationed in Hawaii during the war, recorded the Navy's planing hull research and findings in the book Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls. This covers PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs. These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid by four lightweight These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks.

PT boats were also well armed with numerous automatic weapons. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and Bell , and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. On early series of boats, this cannon was mounted on the stern. Beginning in mid, some boats were fitted with one or two. Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ad hoc up-fits at forward bases, where they mounted such weapons as 37mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars.

When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's PT , which was equipped with a single-shot Army M3 37mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost.

The larger punch of the 37mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.

After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats, the M4 and later M9 cannon was installed at the factory. These features made it highly desirable due to the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese Daihatsu -class barges , which were largely immune to torpedoes due to their shallow draft. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons.

The installation of larger-bore cannons culminated in the fitting of the 40mm Bofors gun [16] on the aft deck. Starting in mid, the installation of this gun had an immediate positive effect on the firepower available from a PT boat. This gun was served by a crew of 4 men, and was used against aircraft targets, as well as shore bombardment or enemy surface craft. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of PT after its conversion. By war's end, the PT boat had more "firepower-per-ton" than any other vessel in the U. PT boats also commonly carried between two and eight U.

Navy Mark 6 depth charges in roll-off racks. Sometimes they were used as a last-ditch weapon to deter pursuing destroyers. Additionally, a few PT boats were equipped to carry naval mines launched from mine racks, but these were not commonly used. With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all U.

PT boats were powered by three marine modified derivations of the Packard 3A V liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine. Their superchargers , intercoolers , dual magnetos , and two spark plugs per cylinder reflected their aircraft origins. Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine for the P Mustang alongside the marine 4M has long been a source of confusion. However, subsequent additions of weaponry offset this potential increase in top speed.

Fuel consumption of any version of these engines was exceptionally heavy. Hull fouling and engine wear could both decrease top speed and increase fuel consumption materially. PT boats operated in the southern, western, and northern Pacific, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel.

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Originally conceived as anti-ship weapons, PT boats were publicly credited with sinking several Japanese warships during the period between December and the fall of the Philippines in May Although the American Mark 8 torpedo did have problems with porpoising and circular runs, it could and did have success against common classes of targets.

Introduction of the Mark 13 torpedo to PT boats in mid all but eliminated the early problems that PT boats had with their obsolete Mark 8s. PTs would usually attack at night. The cockpits of PT boats were protected against small arms fire and splinters by armor plate.

PT Boats of World War II: From Home Front to Battle

Direct hits from Japanese guns could and did result in catastrophic gasoline explosions with near-total crew loss. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses.

Several PT boats were lost due to friendly fire from both Allied aircraft and destroyers. Initially, only a few boats were issued primitive radar sets. Having radar gave Navy PTs a distinct advantage in intercepting enemy supply barges and ships at night. As more PTs were fitted with dependable radar, they developed superior night-fighting tactics and used them to locate and destroy many enemy targets. During some of these nighttime attacks, PT boat positions may have been given away by a flash of light caused by grease inside the black powder-actuated Mark 8 torpedo tubes catching fire during the launching sequence.

In order to evade return fire from the enemy ships, the PT boat could deploy a smoke screen using stern-mounted generators. Starting in mid, the old Mark 18 torpedo tubes and Mark 8 torpedoes were replaced.

The effectiveness of PT boats in the Solomon Islands campaign , where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships, as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The Tokyo Express " operating in New Georgia Sound called "the Slot" by the Americans , was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. The Japanese were initially cautious when operating their capital ships in areas known to have PT boats, knowing how dangerous their own Type 93 torpedoes were, and assumed the Americans had equally lethal weapons.

The PT boats at Guadalcanal were given credit for several sinkings and successes against the vaunted Tokyo Express. In several engagements, the mere presence of PTs was sufficient to disrupt heavily escorted Japanese resupply activities at Guadalcanal. Some served during the Battle of Normandy.

Perhaps the most effective use of PTs was as "barge busters". Since both the Japanese in the New Guinea area and the Germans in the Mediterranean had lost numerous resupply vessels to Allied air power during daylight hours, each attempted to resupply their troop concentrations by using shallow draft barges at night in very shallow waters. The shallow depth meant Allied destroyers were unable to follow them due to the risk of running aground and the barges could be protected by an umbrella of shore batteries.

The efficiency of the PT boats at sinking the Japanese supply barges was considered a key reason that the Japanese had severe food, ammunition, and replacement problems during the New Guinea and Solomon Island campaigns, and made the PT boats prime targets for enemy aircraft. The use of PT boat torpedoes was ineffective against these sometimes heavily armed barges, since the minimum depth setting of the torpedo was about 10 feet 3 m and the barges drew only 5 feet 1. One captured Japanese soldier's diary described their fear of PT boats by describing them as "the monster that roars, flaps its wings, and shoots torpedoes in all directions.

Though their primary mission continued to be attack on surface ships and craft, PT boats were also used effectively to lay mines and smoke screens, coordinate in air-sea rescue operations, rescue shipwreck survivors, destroy Japanese suicide boats, destroy floating mines, and carry out intelligence or raider operations. After the war, American military interviews with captured veterans of the Imperial Japanese Navy, supplemented by the available partial Japanese war records, were unable to verify that all the PT boat sinking claims were valid.

PT boats lacked a large capacity refrigerator to store sufficient quantities of perishable foods. While docked, PT boat squadrons were supported by PT boat tenders or base facilities which supplied boat crews with hot meals. As PT boats were usually located near the end of the supply chain, their crews proved resourceful in bartering with nearby ships or military units for supplies and using munitions to harvest their own fish.

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