My late uncle by marriage was a really soft spoken guy. He was a radio operator on a PT in the Pacific. He never wanted to talk about it much. I guess he just wanted to do his time and come home. During one furlough he met my aunt on a train from NY. Thanks for the glimpse into his past world.
Only caught a couple of glimpses of the ventilation ductwork. Darn. I installed the working ductwork throughout that boat. It had been stripped out by its previous owner. It was a huge challenge and one of the high points of my career. It was a great honor to have worked with all of the veterans who were on this project.
My Uncle George Kempfe, was a Motor Mac on PT 363 in the South Pacific from '43 till then end. We lost him this year just short of 101. One of my biggest thrills was taking him to the PT Boat museum in Mass. when he was about 97. His photo was on the wall as he was in the second boat that brought McArthur back to Subic Bay! God Bless you and all of the other "Iron Men" that crewed these boats. CW-2 John Vansworth. 119th AHC Viet Nam '69-'70.(My Huey number was 362!)
I’m assembling a couple of models of PT boats & this video has added to the knowledge of these awesome craft & several items that I can properly render now. Thank you to the servicemen who served aboard, thank you to the team that saw fit to respectfully restore & keep alive a tradition with the history & crew & equipment behind it - which is quickly disappearing. Thank you!!
Lumpyone, Yes you are correct, that is an Oldsmobile Mark 4 37mm Automatic Cannon replica. The distinctive 30 round belt type magazine's rounded shape was designed to fit inside the cowling of the Bell P39 Airacobra fighter. The story goes that enterprising young PT Boat crews saw crashed P39's on Henderson Field Guadalcanal and cannibalized them for barge busting. It was so successful on PT Boats, that after a few months they were fitted with these weapons directly from the factory. Jerry
I saw some early models that did not even have a radar mast just an antenna... They had a 3 inch gun up front or the 40 or 50 up front. It was amazing to see how these thing evolved and how some of the weapons were switched around to fit the situations.
I remember seeing this boat when I was a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary in Portland. It's nice to see a tour by someone who actually knows the details of the boat.
This is really cool. Thank you for posting this. My grandfather served on one in the pacific theater as an electrician. I was told he wired the torpedoes etc. After the war he was an electrician for the subway in new york. During his time in theater he took a scrap piece of a downed japanese fighter and fashioned it into a large bracelet and crudely engraved a pt boat skimming across the water with palm trees nearby for his wife, my grandma. Coolest naval boat ever.
Thank you. Brought back memories. 62&63, Torpedo Retriever,72 ftfUsualllly only on testing bay, Dabob Bay. One trip working liaison with Canadian Navy, Nanaimo B.C.. Only time we used the sleeping quarters, galley, etc. Was 1 or 2 weeks, memories of a lifetime in that short time. Had no idea later on I would be Gunners Mate on discharge. Your video revived forgotten memories..Fair Winds Mates.
I have great admiration and respect for the men who went to sea and fought on America's PT boats. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who had a hand in preserving this wonderful piece of our history.
Great tour. I was a torpedoman in the nuclear submarine service back in the 70s. We still had the old 21 foot long World War II manufactured Mk.14 torpedoes, along with newer wire guided and acoustic weapons. The older torpedoes were retained well into the Cold War because they were "war-time proven" weapons. The Mk.13s on your PT boat have internals similar to our Mk.14s -- combustion flask, main drive gears, and other features like an external starting lever. I heard from some of the older guys that I served with that PTs were like howling demons fueled by avgas and powered by three 12-cylinder aircraft engines. Hard to imagine that the Navy had over a thousand of them -- and scrapped almost all that survived at the end of the war. Thanks again for a great tour.
Richard najjar Those Packard M2500's were a purpose designed for PT Boat service based loosely on the innards of Packards A2500's that were used in planes but the M2500 were PT Boat use only !!!
What an amazing restoration!! A big congratulations and Thank You to all who were involved in this historic preservation! It must have been incredibly difficult to find and restore all the components that are on display not to mention bringing the boat itself back to operational condition.
Wow! My father was on a 78' Higgins. MTB RON 30, PT460 "ALI BABA". RON 30 worked with RONs 34 & 35, (80' Elcos) in the English channel 1944-45.GREAT VIDEO! God bless the Iron men who served in the Wooden boats! THANKS!
Thanks a bunch. Im a modeler and this was a very close and personal view a this baby. very clear details that help my work, like the raft.certain details you dont get from schematics, black and white pictures or work from other modelers. pound for pound, the best equiped ship in the whole navy. armed to the teeth. these are like pitbulls, just mean and bread to do one thing. destroy the enemy. Thanks for the effort.
As a kid growing up in the 60's I always wanted a PT boat. I built models of them, I watched all the black and white war movies on TV, sat on the living room floor each time McHale's Navy came on etc etc etc. For some reason I didn't understand how big a 70' or 80' Elco or Higgins PT was. It just never occurred to me. Another thing that I missed as a kid was that it took apx 10 to 12 men to operate the boat, with 2 of them in the engine room. I figured it wold be just like running our 19' fiberglass Larson with the 115 horse Johnson outboard. Not quite. I imagined my PT being on Lake George in NY state. That was something else I didn't know as a kid, how was I going to get it there. Then as I get older finding out most were destroyed by the Navy by setting them on fire as it was cheaper to burn the wooden hulls instead of transporting them back to the US after the war. I am 61 now and if it were within my means I would purchase the plans/blueprints to an Elco or Higgins and have a boat builder build a 40' scaled out version of modern materials such as fiberglass and Kevlar etc.
Great Vid. I had the honor of visiting & touring this fine boat several years ago at the Portland Rose Festival. My cousin, John D. Bulkeley commanded PT-41...
Terrific informative and interesting video. Like others I have often wondered what they looked like aboard. More to a PT boat than I had thought; thanks for the tour.
Thank you for taking the time to do such an awesome tour. And thank you to all the men and women and the families for former service men who both toiled and worked so hard to preserve this true living history monument (though moving) to our past and to what was absolutely a national effort to defend our great Nation and May God preserve and Bless the United Sates of America and slaughter our enemies both foreign and domestic..
I really enjoyed the tour, thank you for posting it. PT boats were so cool, dad served on an LST, maybe the most "uncool" boat in the war, LARGE SLOW TARGET as they used to call them. They were safe boats though, very few were lost to battle damage. I took a tour of one in Evansville Indiana, wish dad had been along, he had already passed.
Well done and very knowledgeable. Impressive. Thanks. Some fun facts: Approx 513 PT boats in WWII There were at least 6 different mfgrs of these boats making many different models of varying lengths; 72-81ft. At the end of the war most all boats were stripped and burned where they were stationed. (Wood hulls.) During the war approx 1 in 5 were lost. There are 14 known boats left today.
My dad, an air traffic controller, was xfer'd in '72 to John Wayne Airport. He came home one day telling us he was looking at a PT Boat from WWII. I was 8 and excited about it, but as things would have it, when he went back to make an offer, it had sold.
Blackmongoose There were only three companies that made PT Boats for the US Navy, Elco, Higgins, Huckster, there may have been others that made similiar for other countries !!! !
I worked for chief in the Navy that had been on a PT in Nam. They told us he could go off without warning. They were Right. But much respect to him for his duty!!
A great video Jerry! In about 1965 as a young boy I was introduced to, and shook the hand of, the "designer of the PT boat" by my father at the Sweetwater Casino on the Mullica River, NJ. I cannot determine his name as the other "designers" had long passed away before my birth.
As of June 2017, another boat has been successful restored and is prowling the waters of Lake Ponchitrane in New Orleans where the Higgins built PT boats were built and tested. PT-305, an actual veteran of the Mediterranean Theater (sank two German F-lighters-gunboat) has just recently started tours associated with the World War II museum there.
Well I thank you for the video walkthrough tour. It has given me more of an understanding of the layout of that boat. During World War II my dad served briefly on one. He drew me a diagram even though it didn't look as I thought it should look but he was right. My boat that I had was 50 foot long and I kind of understand why he said my boat reminded me of the PT boat. I know steel was in high demand and I know my dad told me the PT Boat was made out of wood and I have seen that now but I don't understand why they did that still. My dad passed away 10 years ago at age 93. His name was Benjamin Hinz
Fascinating. Very well done. Kudos to you for an exceptional and informative tour. Always had an interest in these classic fighting boats. Outstanding! Thank you!
#219 I just found this site, thanks for the tour. I learned so much about how living onboard actually happened. Most of my PT Boat knowledge came from TV shows with Tim Conway!
I had no idea the extent of gear, guns and equipment crammed into one of these vessels. True genius use of space everywhere....simply an amazing war machine.
Wow. I can say that this video was really fun to watch. I grew up watching McHale's navy and wanted to serve on a PT boat when i was little. 😆 Great job, you made my day!
When these PTs were RCT 13, 14 and 15, they were stationed at Port Hueneme, CA. I was one of the E-4 Air Force guys serving with the 669th Aircraft Control Squadron, Santa Rosa Island, CA. Made many round trips to Johnson’s Lee, SRI. 1955-56. I got to visit engine room many times. Enjoyed your narrated tour. When the AF leased the boats, none of the armament was on deck, just two bench seats for troops to use with seat belts. About 47 miles each way, sometimes in very rough seas. CMSgt USAF RET Jonothan TAYLOR. 🇺🇸⚓️
Hi Chief Master Sgt Taylor! I think I have some of your photos that you posted on the internet? One shows the crane on the pier with new arrivals in the basket being "dipped" as a way to welcome them to SRI! Could you please contact our museum we really want to get you back onboard the boat. Look at www.savetheptboatinc.com for contacting us. Thanks!
Saw the old footage of how the PT’s were made and your video popped up right after. Very interesting. Would love to see the startup and operation of those Packard engines. Thanks for sharing this . Really good condition-hopefully it still is.
I seen Pt boat 305 in New Orleans an done the tour they have. It is really awesome tour. Pt boat 305 is special to me cause my grandfather severed on it .
Hi Merle! The PT658 is a non profit museum located in Portland OR, we are docked in the Swan Island Lagoon on the property of the Vigor Shipyards. Thanks Jerry
Hi libra8a, they switched from tubes to racks in mid-1943. Story goes 2 PT skippers spoke to a Torpedo bomber pilot about using aircraft dropped Mk13torpedoes in a bar in NYC!
Great video. The only thing lacking is not seeing the engine room although I'm sure it was quite noisy when they were running. Excellent attention to detail and I hope the boats lasts forever for future generations to see.
Thanks for watching! I made another video that tours the engine room and another trying to start and another doing post startup checks. Just search RUclips for PT658 and they should come up.
Yes that wheel was donated by the family of Ed Jepson, who was the skipper of PT238. It is the actual wheel from that Higgins PT Boat. He was instrumental in allowing us to originally locate the PT658 when she was down in Alameda CA. Having been a Higgins PT Boat former Captain, he immediately recognized the boat as an old PT boat and called our group immediately to come down and try to obtain it from the former owners.
I seem to be very drawn to these boats i absolutely love them and would enjoy nothing more than to own a fine piece of history like this naval vessel , Although a relatively small craft my god do they have some firepower onboard a little of everything to make someone's day ( or night ) a living hell . Thankyou so much for the detailed walk through , I know I'm several years too late but oh well . ✌️👍👌
My late uncle by marriage was a really soft spoken guy. He was a radio operator on a PT in the Pacific. He never wanted to talk about it much. I guess he just wanted to do his time and come home. During one furlough he met my aunt on a train from NY. Thanks for the glimpse into his past world.
Only caught a couple of glimpses of the ventilation ductwork. Darn. I installed the working ductwork throughout that boat. It had been stripped out by its previous owner. It was a huge challenge and one of the high points of my career. It was a great honor to have worked with all of the veterans who were on this project.
ever since I was a kid I wanted to know what the inside of a PT boat looked like. Thank you for this video.
Agreed.
karlhungusjr1 VERY COOL! ! THANK YOU!
Me too. This video was excellent.
Especially when I watched McHale's Navy as a kid! Thank everyone for showing me what they were like!
This!!! Thank you so much!!
My Uncle George Kempfe, was a Motor Mac on PT 363 in the South Pacific from '43 till then end. We lost him this year just short of 101. One of my biggest thrills was taking him to the PT Boat museum in Mass. when he was about 97. His photo was on the wall as he was in the second boat that brought McArthur back to Subic Bay! God Bless you and all of the other "Iron Men" that crewed these boats. CW-2 John Vansworth. 119th AHC Viet Nam '69-'70.(My Huey number was 362!)
❤
I’m assembling a couple of models of PT boats & this video has added to the knowledge of these awesome craft & several items that I can properly render now. Thank you to the servicemen who served aboard, thank you to the team that saw fit to respectfully restore & keep alive a tradition with the history & crew & equipment behind it - which is quickly disappearing. Thank you!!
I have only one thing to say aboat the men who oprerated these boats : RESPECT
Lumpyone,
Yes you are correct, that is an Oldsmobile Mark 4 37mm Automatic Cannon replica. The distinctive 30 round belt type magazine's rounded shape was designed to fit inside the cowling of the Bell P39 Airacobra fighter. The story goes that enterprising young PT Boat crews saw crashed P39's on Henderson Field Guadalcanal and cannibalized them for barge busting. It was so successful on PT Boats, that after a few months they were fitted with these weapons directly from the factory. Jerry
I saw some early models that did not even have a radar mast just an antenna... They had a 3 inch gun up front or the 40 or 50 up front. It was amazing to see how these thing evolved and how some of the weapons were switched around to fit the situations.
You see them in movies or read about life on board inside in books, but a video such as yours brings it all to life. Thanks for the tour.
Amazing restoration! Thanks for your efforts in preserving a great piece of our WW2 naval history.
I remember seeing this boat when I was a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary in Portland. It's nice to see a tour by someone who actually knows the details of the boat.
It needs to move to warmer climate have its own vacation home say Florida San Diego maybe..
This is really cool. Thank you for posting this. My grandfather served on one in the pacific theater as an electrician. I was told he wired the torpedoes etc. After the war he was an electrician for the subway in new york. During his time in theater he took a scrap piece of a downed japanese fighter and fashioned it into a large bracelet and crudely engraved a pt boat skimming across the water with palm trees nearby for his wife, my grandma. Coolest naval boat ever.
Thank you.
Brought back memories. 62&63, Torpedo Retriever,72 ftfUsualllly only on testing bay, Dabob Bay. One trip working liaison with Canadian Navy, Nanaimo B.C..
Only time we used the sleeping quarters, galley, etc.
Was 1 or 2 weeks, memories of a lifetime in that short time.
Had no idea later on I would be Gunners Mate on discharge.
Your video revived forgotten memories..Fair Winds Mates.
I have great admiration and respect for the men who went to sea and fought on America's PT boats.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who had a hand in preserving this wonderful piece of our history.
It woulda been a job I wanted. I love hot rods still build em now even at my age...
Great tour. I was a torpedoman in the nuclear submarine service back in the 70s. We still had the old 21 foot long World War II manufactured Mk.14 torpedoes, along with newer wire guided and acoustic weapons. The older torpedoes were retained well into the Cold War because they were "war-time proven" weapons. The Mk.13s on your PT boat have internals similar to our Mk.14s -- combustion flask, main drive gears, and other features like an external starting lever.
I heard from some of the older guys that I served with that PTs were like howling demons fueled by avgas and powered by three 12-cylinder aircraft engines. Hard to imagine that the Navy had over a thousand of them -- and scrapped almost all that survived at the end of the war. Thanks again for a great tour.
Richard najjar Those Packard M2500's were a purpose designed for PT Boat service based loosely on the innards of Packards A2500's that were used in planes but the M2500 were PT Boat use only !!!
What an amazing restoration!! A big congratulations and Thank You to all who were involved in this historic preservation! It must have been incredibly difficult to find and restore all the components that are on display not to mention bringing the boat itself back to operational condition.
That is a job very well done indeed...
PT boats are my favorite ships in the world. thanks for sharing 12y later!
Wow! My father was on a 78' Higgins. MTB RON 30, PT460 "ALI BABA". RON 30 worked with RONs 34 & 35, (80' Elcos) in the English channel 1944-45.GREAT VIDEO! God bless the Iron men who served in the Wooden boats! THANKS!
Thanks a bunch. Im a modeler and this was a very close and personal view a this baby. very clear details that help my work, like the raft.certain details you dont get from schematics, black and white pictures or work from other modelers. pound for pound, the best equiped ship in the whole navy. armed to the teeth. these are like pitbulls, just mean and bread to do one thing. destroy the enemy. Thanks for the effort.
Totally useless unless the skipper was a true Warrior willing to go into Harm's Way!
As a kid growing up in the 60's I always wanted a PT boat. I built models of them, I watched all the black and white war movies on TV, sat on the living room floor each time McHale's Navy came on etc etc etc. For some reason I didn't understand how big a 70' or 80' Elco or Higgins PT was. It just never occurred to me. Another thing that I missed as a kid was that it took apx 10 to 12 men to operate the boat, with 2 of them in the engine room. I figured it wold be just like running our 19' fiberglass Larson with the 115 horse Johnson outboard. Not quite. I imagined my PT being on Lake George in NY state. That was something else I didn't know as a kid, how was I going to get it there. Then as I get older finding out most were destroyed by the Navy by setting them on fire as it was cheaper to burn the wooden hulls instead of transporting them back to the US after the war. I am 61 now and if it were within my means I would purchase the plans/blueprints to an Elco or Higgins and have a boat builder build a 40' scaled out version of modern materials such as fiberglass and Kevlar etc.
Great Vid. I had the honor of visiting & touring this fine boat several years ago at the Portland Rose Festival. My cousin, John D. Bulkeley commanded PT-41...
I've always wanted my own PT boat since I was a kid...THANKS for sharing.
PTs have always fascinated me. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. It's far more "comfortable" below deck than I'd imagined.
Great video. It really captures what the men in service had to do and endure in WW2. Thanks for your work.
Agreed.
Thank you for making this video! I've always been fascinated with these boats since watching McHale's Navy as a kid!
Yep , me too...
My dad served on PT811 as a punk kid in very end of the 1950's. Rode her to the scrapyard. Took me 50 years to drag the story out of him.
Terrific informative and interesting video. Like others I have often wondered what they looked like aboard. More to a PT boat than I had thought; thanks for the tour.
Thank you for taking the time to do such an awesome tour. And thank you to all the men and women and the families for former service men who both toiled and worked so hard to preserve this true living history monument (though moving) to our past and to what was absolutely a national effort to defend our great Nation and May God preserve and Bless the United Sates of America and slaughter our enemies both foreign and domestic..
Wow. I was unaware that any boats remained. This is wonderful.
I really enjoyed the tour, thank you for posting it. PT boats were so cool, dad served on an LST, maybe the most "uncool" boat in the war, LARGE SLOW TARGET as they used to call them. They were safe boats though, very few were lost to battle damage. I took a tour of one in Evansville Indiana, wish dad had been along, he had already passed.
Great video tour. I had no idea they were THAT heavily armed. Wow!
holy crap I thought the same thing. That would be a dangerous boat for pirates to get a hold of expecially if they can get live ammo for it lol
Awesome tour and description. A beautiful piece of US Navy history
ya did a grate job telling us about the boat, but I kept waiting for you to get into the engine room. I'm glad to see the boats in good hands.
Well done and very knowledgeable. Impressive. Thanks.
Some fun facts:
Approx 513 PT boats in WWII
There were at least 6 different mfgrs of these boats making many different models of varying lengths; 72-81ft.
At the end of the war most all boats were stripped and burned where they were stationed. (Wood hulls.)
During the war approx 1 in 5 were lost.
There are 14 known boats left today.
My dad, an air traffic controller, was xfer'd in '72 to John Wayne Airport. He came home one day telling us he was looking at a PT Boat from WWII. I was 8 and excited about it, but as things would have it, when he went back to make an offer, it had sold.
Blackmongoose There were only three companies that made PT Boats for the US Navy, Elco, Higgins, Huckster, there may have been others that made similiar for other countries !!! !
Thanks for the tour. There's a lot more to a PT Boat than we saw on McHale's Navy.
Great video Mate, I have always wanted to see a PT Boat below decks and now I have. It looks bigger than I imagined. Thank you.
THANKS FOR SHOWCASING A FANTASTIC RESTORATION.
Great post of a brilliant machine,amazing living quarters,Lest we forget these brave Sailors.
I worked for chief in the Navy that had been on a PT in Nam. They told us he could go off without warning. They were Right. But much respect to him for his duty!!
That was an excellent tour. The boat is in excellent condition and I am glad you are using it, if even to just make coffee.
We are taking the boat out to greet the fleet on June 5,6 and 7 Portland Rose Festival
@@allaboutboats The fleet is going to love that! Have a blast!!
PT boats are kinda cool af bro! I remember my mom & dad talking about the PT109 back in the day(70's)
Absolutely fascinating what these men went through on the boat it's nothing more than a piece of wood and plywood
So many weapons on a plywood boat ! Great video, many thanks. PT boats are frighteningly cool.
Stellar restoration of a very rare boat! Thanks for posting.
A great video Jerry! In about 1965 as a young boy I was introduced to, and shook the hand of, the "designer of the PT boat" by my father at the Sweetwater Casino on the Mullica River, NJ. I cannot determine his name as the other "designers" had long passed away before my birth.
Nicely done. I'm glad to know at least one of these beauties still lives and breathes.
As of June 2017, another boat has been successful restored and is prowling the waters of Lake Ponchitrane in New Orleans where the Higgins built PT boats were built and tested. PT-305, an actual veteran of the Mediterranean Theater (sank two German F-lighters-gunboat) has just recently started tours associated with the World War II museum there.
Beautifully filmed, and very informative. Not one whiplash causing pan or vomit inducing zoom. Thumbs up from me. Ray
Just picked up a 1961 first edition of "PT-109" and this video was perfect! How cramped, but boy did these babies carry a whollop of weaponry!
Well I thank you for the video walkthrough tour. It has given me more of an understanding of the layout of that boat. During World War II my dad served briefly on one. He drew me a diagram even though it didn't look as I thought it should look but he was right. My boat that I had was 50 foot long and I kind of understand why he said my boat reminded me of the PT boat. I know steel was in high demand and I know my dad told me the PT Boat was made out of wood and I have seen that now but I don't understand why they did that still. My dad passed away 10 years ago at age 93. His name was Benjamin Hinz
Fascinating. Very well done. Kudos to you for an exceptional and informative tour. Always had an interest in these classic fighting boats. Outstanding! Thank you!
A lot of work and effort went into this that can only come from the love of PT Boats.
#219 I just found this site, thanks for the tour. I learned so much about how living onboard actually happened. Most of my PT Boat knowledge came from TV shows with Tim Conway!
I had no idea the extent of gear, guns and equipment crammed into one of these vessels. True genius use of space everywhere....simply an amazing war machine.
No idea
Nice job explaining things on the tour. I like seeing and learning the workings of such an awesome boat. Thanks.
Thanks my grandfather served as mechanic on Pt boat in WWII in the South Pacific.
I love these vids! RUclips should have suggested them years ago. Fantastic boats, thank you very much for sharing!
Greets from the Netherlands 🌷, T.
Brilliant tour! These boats certainly pack a huge punch! Thx for sharing 😎👍🇦🇺
Fantastic video, thank you. I think it was the best walk through of a PT Boat I have seen. Well done.
Great tour of the boat. Thank you for sharing the video.
thanks for sharing this piece of history with us
nice boat that can be used for anything at anytime and still come from history that can always come to thr rescue
The Greatest Generation! Bless our Vets. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Wow. I can say that this video was really fun to watch. I grew up watching McHale's navy and wanted to serve on a PT boat when i was little. 😆 Great job, you made my day!
Great tour! Awesome boat. I think PTs would be great duty!
FANTASTIC video - almost as good as being actually on board.
When these PTs were RCT 13, 14 and 15, they were stationed at Port Hueneme, CA. I was one of the E-4 Air Force guys serving with the 669th Aircraft Control Squadron, Santa Rosa Island, CA. Made many round trips to Johnson’s Lee, SRI.
1955-56. I got to visit engine room many times. Enjoyed your narrated tour. When the AF leased the boats, none of the armament was on deck, just two bench seats for troops to use with seat belts. About 47 miles each way, sometimes in very rough seas. CMSgt USAF RET Jonothan TAYLOR. 🇺🇸⚓️
Hi Chief Master Sgt Taylor! I think I have some of your photos that you posted on the internet? One shows the crane on the pier with new arrivals in the basket being "dipped" as a way to welcome them to SRI! Could you please contact our museum we really want to get you back onboard the boat. Look at www.savetheptboatinc.com for contacting us. Thanks!
Saw the old footage of how the PT’s were made and your video popped up right after. Very interesting. Would love to see the startup and operation of those Packard engines.
Thanks for sharing this . Really good condition-hopefully it still is.
dmwi Those Packards were the 5M2500 the 1850 HP last version made !!!!
Hi Jerry, thanks for the walkthrough of such a thoroughly restored PT boat, I am going to put a visit on my list next time I am in the US.
I seen Pt boat 305 in New Orleans an done the tour they have. It is really awesome tour. Pt boat 305 is special to me cause my grandfather severed on it .
Hi. Thank you so much, for all of us how can not get to such a tour.... God be with you Gentiles.
Great tour appreciate it now watching the documentary’s on PT boats I’ll have more of an understanding for what it was like for the crew.
Thanks for the tour, and thank you all for the preservation of this interesting (and complicated) part of our fighting heritage.
An excellent display of all systems, thank you!
They did a great job restoring her!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Good video and audio from a fantastic boat
I've been a fan of the PT boat since forever. This video is as close to a walkthrough as I'm going to get. Thanks.
This is really cool to see a PT Boat in such well maintained condition, wouldn't mind a cup of coffee myself :)
Jason K Years and tons of money spent in a complete rebuild/restoration !!!
Hi Merle! The PT658 is a non profit museum located in Portland OR, we are docked in the Swan Island Lagoon on the property of the Vigor Shipyards. Thanks Jerry
Hi libra8a, they switched from tubes to racks in mid-1943. Story goes 2 PT skippers spoke to a Torpedo bomber pilot about using aircraft dropped Mk13torpedoes in a bar in NYC!
Great intell.
My grandfather served on PT 107. Nice to see what he experienced.
Terrific video. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Always liked the PT boats.
Not even sure why but there's just something about em that appeals to me.
Great video. The only thing lacking is not seeing the engine room although I'm sure it was quite noisy when they were running. Excellent attention to detail and I hope the boats lasts forever for future generations to see.
Thanks for watching! I made another video that tours the engine room and another trying to start and another doing post startup checks. Just search RUclips for PT658 and they should come up.
OK, thank you. I was afraid it was far away, I live in PA, near Pittsburgh. If I ever get out there, I'll be sure to stop by.
Great video,
Just one thing wrong, in my opinion Rita Hayworth was the best looking pinup.
Thanks
Agree.
Best tour ever! So this was what JFK skippered... Thanks for the education, very detailed, a lot of moving parts.
Awesome video always seen the top of a PT Boat not below deck great video again
Outstanding tour! Best PT vid ever. Thank you
Thank you for the tour and all the hard work put in on this Historic Boat! God Bless America 🇺🇸
Very Nice - Thanks for the tour - I can now say I've seen the inside of a PT boat.
thank you for the tour.
Great video, Great 👍 camera work, informative narration, Thanks
Thanks for the tour, really wanted to see the conditions inside this famous boat
Very cool piece of American history right here! Thank you sir
Very cool video. I always thought PT men were the swash bucklers of the navy and very brave to go to sea in such a mini battleship.Thanks !
Jerry, What a great job you did on your guided tour of the boat!
I live in the Santa Cruz, California area, otherwise I would be at every work day!
Great video! The boat looks amazing !
3:49 The traditional wooden wheel is a nice touch.
Yes that wheel was donated by the family of Ed Jepson, who was the skipper of PT238. It is the actual wheel from that Higgins PT Boat. He was instrumental in allowing us to originally locate the PT658 when she was down in Alameda CA. Having been a Higgins PT Boat former Captain, he immediately recognized the boat as an old PT boat and called our group immediately to come down and try to obtain it from the former owners.
Thank you for the tour.
I seem to be very drawn to these boats i absolutely love them and would enjoy nothing more than to own a fine piece of history like this naval vessel , Although a relatively small craft my god do they have some firepower onboard a little of everything to make someone's day ( or night ) a living hell . Thankyou so much for the detailed walk through , I know I'm several years too late but oh well . ✌️👍👌
Was there last month - got the same tour, so busy takin pix I missed most that-now I know! Wish you could have done the engines!!
Thanx for tour