Do patrol boats have torpedoes?
PT (Patrol, Torpedo) boats were small, fast, and expendable vessels for short range oceanic scouting, armed with torpedoes and machine guns for cutting enemy supply lines and harassing enemy forces. Forty-three PT squadrons, each with 12 boats were formed during World War II by the U.S. Navy.
How many torpedoes did a PT boat carry?
four
Primary anti-ship armament on the standard PT boat was four 21-inch Mark 8 torpedoes, each had a 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead and had a range of 16,000 yards (15,000 m) at 36 knots (67 km/h). Two twin . 50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns were mounted for anti-aircraft defense and general fire support.
How fast could a ww2 PT boat go?
41 knots
Patrol torpedo boat PT-109
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Installed power | 4,500 horsepower (3,400 kW) |
| Propulsion | 3 × 12-cylinder Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines 3 × shafts |
| Speed | 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph) maximum (trials) |
Are there any ww2 PT boats still around?
Today, just four combat-veteran PT boats still exist in the United States; of those, only PT-305 is fully restored and operational, complete with original-model engines. An operational PT-305 promises to become one of The National WWII Museum’s most exciting artifacts and teaching tools.
How did PT boats fire torpedoes?
WW2 PT boats generally carried four torpedoes when configured for anti-ship duty. A single torpedo sight was used to aim all four torpedoes. The torpedoes were launched when the PT boat had been steered in the direction you wanted the torpedoes to go.
How did JFK save his crew?
Most of the crew were knocked into the water. The one man below decks, engineer Patrick McMahon, miraculously escaped, although he was badly burned by exploding fuel. Fear that PT 109 would go up in flames drove Kennedy to order the men who still remained on the wreck to abandon ship.
What happened to all the PT boats after WW2?
After the war, most of the remaining PT boats were destroyed by the US Navy because they were too expensive for a peacetime Navy. Each boat had three Packard 3A-2500, V-12 aircraft engines with as much as 1,850 hp each, which consumed vast quantities of high-octane gasoline.