PT boat
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A PT boat is a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. These vessels were small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and were valued for their maneuverability and speed. However
PT-105, an 80' Elco boat, under way
PT-9 in June 1940
Second place PT-31 crossing the finish line during the "Plywood Derby".
Elco and Higgins PT boats, as published in a 1945 training manual
Patrol torpedo boat PT-109
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PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's a
PT boat
…several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example, the forward half of future President John F. Kennedy's PT-109 (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on…
PT-109 on board SS Joseph Stanton
PT tankroom below deck, looking forward, shows partially exposed fuel tank through open door in bulkhead on left.
PT-109 armament in August 1943; a forward 37 mm antitank gun, aft 20 mm autocannon, two twin .50 caliber machine gun turrets and four torpedo tubes
PT-109 entering Tulagi carrying 94 survivors from the sunken heavy cruiser USS Northampton