My Dad was Skipper of PT 82, The Boston Bastard, and it was great to find out what the RON did during the early part of the war, but I have wonderful stories that my Dad and his best friend Sandy, another Skipper, told me about their service. They saved hundreds of Filipinos by meeting them on the end of their island at midnight and ferrying them to safety on a secured island.
I appreciate your professional objectivity and honesty regarding the footage you showed in these McHale videos. Most historians throw unrelated footage at you without bothering to explain its provenance because it 'looks good'.
This must be the most detailed look at an operational PT squadron that anyone has put together on RUclips. It is sad to think of the needless lives lost to friendly fire and the ignoble end of these fine boats at Samar. So much for beating them into plowshares.
Thank you. The more you dig into the records, the more you appreciate what incredible sacrifices these guys made, from the COs down to the tender crews, maintenance guys, the whole logistic chain... hats off to an incredible bunch! I need to go to Samar one of these days and visit the beach there. Also a shout out to the kind folk at the National Archive for compiling and publishing all these record groups, scanning 16mm to digital files, paper to pdf etc. Good use of your tax dollar!
Just found this series, a bit late to the game. You've done an excellent job telling how long and hard the real war was for these men and their boats. Thank you, it has been very interesting.
The oil and well fires and video footage you mention on Borneo, look like images and video I have seen of the Australian 7th Division's amphibious landing at Balikpapan, Borneo. My father took part in the landing. Thank you for this brilliantly researched mini series.
Great documentary series. Many thanks. I'm glad that, despite the awful friendly fire incident, you do allow the DD captains to state their side of events too. Although they undoubtedly acted in error and were wholly mistaken, it's very fair to say that the culture of DDs was to be very aggressive in their reconnaissance. They were frequently the forward pickets of a larger force and were the main line of defence against close-in targets. To believe that they were under attack as a result of misinterpreting the positions and movements of unknowns was not unique to the USN's DD crews, but that said they did certainly have a tendency towards it. The second incident in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War was almost certainly the engagement of phantom targets - and one skipper present says that the men were so on edge that they were "shooting at flying fish", so the ordinary sailor on destroyers was long susceptible to such erroneous hot engagements. Very sad though.
In the movie, PT-109, there was a a character named Lt Cmdr C R Richie, played by Janes Gregory. Was this a real person or a conglomeration of personal in the Squadron?
Thank you for your hard work. As a kid I remember when McHale's navy came on the air. One I loved the show and two from that point on the PT boats had a special place in my heart. Thanks again.
Really well done. Thanks! There looked to footage from a film interspersed with archival footage. If so, could you name it please? Needless to say I'm a pt boat obsessive😁
I have a book that lists all USN ships lost in WWII...the PT 73 was listed as lost in a "grounding" 15 January 1945 in the Philippines. Amazing to see this video tonight confirming a line of data in a 1946 history book! Oddly, a few lines above the PT73 there is a note about PT109 being lost 2 August 1943 in Blackett Straight from "surface action". As near as I can tell, that is the only reference to the PT109 in the entire 1946 book. This was obviously before JFK's story was spread far and wide by Papa Joe Kennedy's media machine. I wonder if the producers of McHale's Navy researched the PT73 in coming up with their own PT73. I think they at least knew that it hadn't been lost with a loss of life due to enemy action. That would not have played well in a comedy.
The engines were designed for the aviation environment, which includes a culture on the part of crew and maintenance. They were what was available and what was required for a favorable power-to-weight ratio, and wonderful news for Packard, who had developed an engine that turned out to be a commercial flop, 258 to be exact, and most in old airplanes to replace the old Liberty engine. The PT boats were near useless for the mission they were designed and promoted for, for which the Navy used fictional exploits for recruitment purposes. Not mentioned much was possibly their greatest contribution as "barge busters", and seen as largely responsible for dire Japanese shortages of men, ammunition, and food where needed. It's impossible to put a number on that. Similarly, we hear about the great battles of the Pacific with carriers and their surface fleets being their centerpieces. We hear the stories of the fighting men in the bloody island-hopping campaigns such as Guadalcanal and l, Iwo Jima. We hear about the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, and D-Day. However, there is another one you don't hear much about is 1.6 percent of the total U.S. naval manpower was responsible for America's success on its Pacific high seas; and 56% of the total tonnage sunk. Allied submarines sank an estimated 44 Japanese troopships with greater than 1,000 casualties in 33 of them. The USS Tang alone sunk 33 ships before getting hit by its own circular run torpedo. They did most of the insertions and support of clandestine operations, and provided advance intelligence of Japanese movements which you also cannot put a number on. One shadowed the Yamato and set it up to where it got nowhere near Okinawa, and submarines had it only had fuel for a one-way trip, also thanks to the submarines. They were propositioned prior to attacks to pick up downed airmen. One in 5 submarines never came back, the highest casualty rate of any service in the US. About the only worse odds were being on a German submarine, where 3 out of 4 never came back. There was a lot of blue-on-blue mentioned, and they were a minuscule part of the problem. There were 7,000 killed on the Cap Arcona alone. The top US fighter ace in Europe was shot down and killed by his own AAA. With no GPS, and a small boat hugging the shore line at night with very little horizon, good luck trying to know where you are at. The ships had the advantage of better means and personnel to determine their position but doesn't mean they were correct. Add to that the threat was from fast-attack suicide boats. They unexpectedly pick up small boats in their area and no IFF. The PT boats might as well have been deer hunters wearing antler hats. This is the fog of war in a high-threat environment where being overly cautious will get you killed.
Too bad they were of wood construction but never the less, outstanding in their field. Maybe, some day, they will be built again out of metal. Great video & thanks for posting it.
My Dad was Skipper of PT 82, The Boston Bastard, and it was great to find out what the RON did during the early part of the war, but I have wonderful stories that my Dad and his best friend Sandy, another Skipper, told me about their service. They saved hundreds of Filipinos by meeting them on the end of their island at midnight and ferrying them to safety on a secured island.
Thank you for sharing the stories about a seldomly shown unit of the USN .
I appreciate your professional objectivity and honesty regarding the footage you showed in these McHale videos.
Most historians throw unrelated footage at you without bothering to explain its provenance because it 'looks good'.
Thank you very much. I do try not to fall into that trap, or some of the other obvious ones.
This must be the most detailed look at an operational PT squadron that anyone has put together on RUclips. It is sad to think of the needless lives lost to friendly fire and the ignoble end of these fine boats at Samar. So much for beating them into plowshares.
Thank you. The more you dig into the records, the more you appreciate what incredible sacrifices these guys made, from the COs down to the tender crews, maintenance guys, the whole logistic chain... hats off to an incredible bunch! I need to go to Samar one of these days and visit the beach there.
Also a shout out to the kind folk at the National Archive for compiling and publishing all these record groups, scanning 16mm to digital files, paper to pdf etc. Good use of your tax dollar!
Great information on PT boats thank you
Just found this series, a bit late to the game. You've done an excellent job telling how long and hard the real war was for these men and their boats. Thank you, it has been very interesting.
The oil and well fires and video footage you mention on Borneo, look like images and video I have seen of the Australian 7th Division's amphibious landing at Balikpapan, Borneo. My father took part in the landing. Thank you for this brilliantly researched mini series.
Thanks for that info. There's not much description following these archive reels beyond what was noted on the film spools.
Thank you for taking the time to do this. It was fantastic.
Great documentary series. Many thanks.
I'm glad that, despite the awful friendly fire incident, you do allow the DD captains to state their side of events too. Although they undoubtedly acted in error and were wholly mistaken, it's very fair to say that the culture of DDs was to be very aggressive in their reconnaissance. They were frequently the forward pickets of a larger force and were the main line of defence against close-in targets. To believe that they were under attack as a result of misinterpreting the positions and movements of unknowns was not unique to the USN's DD crews, but that said they did certainly have a tendency towards it. The second incident in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War was almost certainly the engagement of phantom targets - and one skipper present says that the men were so on edge that they were "shooting at flying fish", so the ordinary sailor on destroyers was long susceptible to such erroneous hot engagements. Very sad though.
Absolutely. DD skipper's hat is not for a pipe and slippers officer!
history must be remembered. just like these videos must be. great job.
Fine work Sir, thank you!!
In the movie, PT-109, there was a a character named Lt Cmdr C R Richie, played by Janes Gregory. Was this a real person or a conglomeration of personal in the Squadron?
Man thank you so much for this! So well done!!
A very informative and enjoyable series.
Well done!
Thank you
Well done Les! Thanks for continuing to do the videos 🙏🏼
Thank you for your hard work. As a kid I remember when McHale's navy came on the air. One I loved the show and two from that point on the PT boats had a special place in my heart. Thanks again.
Thanks for the true history lesson. I m an ex BT from the 1979,WestPac.
Thanks, I really enjoyed this series .
Very well done. Thanks
Well done!
Lot of friendly fire action...😢
Great series. I'm doing my best to drum up new subs. Hang in there Les, one day you'll have many more.
Thanks for the sub!
Really well done. Thanks! There looked to footage from a film interspersed with archival footage. If so, could you name it please? Needless to say I'm a pt boat obsessive😁
I have a book that lists all USN ships lost in WWII...the PT 73 was listed as lost in a "grounding" 15 January 1945 in the Philippines. Amazing to see this video tonight confirming a line of data in a 1946 history book! Oddly, a few lines above the PT73 there is a note about PT109 being lost 2 August 1943 in Blackett Straight from "surface action". As near as I can tell, that is the only reference to the PT109 in the entire 1946 book. This was obviously before JFK's story was spread far and wide by Papa Joe Kennedy's media machine.
I wonder if the producers of McHale's Navy researched the PT73 in coming up with their own PT73. I think they at least knew that it hadn't been lost with a loss of life due to enemy action. That would not have played well in a comedy.
I used the Navy Office of Personnel records and War Diaries, which are the action reports submitted by the unit COs, for primary source material.
AMEN! SHARED! THANKS!
The engines were designed for the aviation environment, which includes a culture on the part of crew and maintenance. They were what was available and what was required for a favorable power-to-weight ratio, and wonderful news for Packard, who had developed an engine that turned out to be a commercial flop, 258 to be exact, and most in old airplanes to replace the old Liberty engine. The PT boats were near useless for the mission they were designed and promoted for, for which the Navy used fictional exploits for recruitment purposes. Not mentioned much was possibly their greatest contribution as "barge busters", and seen as largely responsible for dire Japanese shortages of men, ammunition, and food where needed. It's impossible to put a number on that.
Similarly, we hear about the great battles of the Pacific with carriers and their surface fleets being their centerpieces. We hear the stories of the fighting men in the bloody island-hopping campaigns such as Guadalcanal and l, Iwo Jima. We hear about the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, and D-Day. However, there is another one you don't hear much about is 1.6 percent of the total U.S. naval manpower was responsible for America's success on its Pacific high seas; and 56% of the total tonnage sunk. Allied submarines sank an estimated 44 Japanese troopships with greater than 1,000 casualties in 33 of them. The USS Tang alone sunk 33 ships before getting hit by its own circular run torpedo. They did most of the insertions and support of clandestine operations, and provided advance intelligence of Japanese movements which you also cannot put a number on. One shadowed the Yamato and set it up to where it got nowhere near Okinawa, and submarines had it only had fuel for a one-way trip, also thanks to the submarines. They were propositioned prior to attacks to pick up downed airmen. One in 5 submarines never came back, the highest casualty rate of any service in the US. About the only worse odds were being on a German submarine, where 3 out of 4 never came back.
There was a lot of blue-on-blue mentioned, and they were a minuscule part of the problem. There were 7,000 killed on the Cap Arcona alone. The top US fighter ace in Europe was shot down and killed by his own AAA. With no GPS, and a small boat hugging the shore line at night with very little horizon, good luck trying to know where you are at. The ships had the advantage of better means and personnel to determine their position but doesn't mean they were correct. Add to that the threat was from fast-attack suicide boats. They unexpectedly pick up small boats in their area and no IFF. The PT boats might as well have been deer hunters wearing antler hats. This is the fog of war in a high-threat environment where being overly cautious will get you killed.
Very good points!
Can you do something on black pilots in the Pacific Theater I have looked into it and can't find much info Thanks
Too bad they were of wood construction but never the less, outstanding in their field. Maybe, some day, they will be built again out of metal. Great video & thanks for posting it.
I am really surprised by the amount of friendly fire.
Did Anyone get in trouble for all those friendly fire killings ? US Sailors were killed by their own ships. Someone had to be held responsible !
****** Star
Anyone else catch the cameo of JFK?
****** Star