A PT boat was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to December 1941. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, and PT-41, the last as the squadron flagship. The other six boats of the squadron remained at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and were there when war broke out, eventually being shipped to the Solomons.
Patrol torpedo boat PT-41 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-21, but was reclassified as PT-41 prior to its launch on 8 July 1941, and was completed on 23 July 1941. It was used to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor at the beginning of the war in the Pacific in World War II.
Motor torpedo boat PT-617, also known as Big Red Cock and Dragon Lady, "is the sole surviving 80' Elco type PT boat and represents the United States's most heavily used, highly favored, and combat-tested PT boat type in World War II." She is a museum ship at the PT Boat Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. The 80-foot (24 m) Elco type boat was the predominant type and is the same type as the famous PT-109 commanded by John F. Kennedy; the 78-foot (24 m) "Higgins" boat is the other type.
Huckins Yacht Corporation is one of the oldest boat builders in the United States. The company is located on the Ortega River in Jacksonville, Florida, and is run by its third-generation owners, Cindy and Buddy Purcell. Huckins manufactures custom yachts ranging from 40 to 90 feet that combine classic design and traditional workmanship with modern technology and amenities. It has built a total of 457 yachts during its 80 years of operation, crafting vessels one at a time.
The Type V ship is a United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) designation for World War II tugboats. Type V was used in World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Type V ships were used to move ships and barges. Type V tugboats were made of either steel or wood hulls. There were four types of tugboats ordered for World War II. The largest type V design was the sea worthy 186-foot (57 m) long steel hull, V4-M-A1. The V4-M-A1 design was used by a number of manufacturers; a total of 49 were built. A smaller steel hull tugboat was the 94-foot (29 m) V2-ME-A1; 26 were built. The largest wooden hull was the 148-foot (45 m) V3-S-AH2, of which 14 were built. The smaller wooden hull was the 58-foot (18 m) V2-M-AL1, which 35 were built. Most V2-M-AL1 tugboats were sent to the United Kingdom for the war efforts under the lend-lease act. The Type V tugs served across the globe during World War II including: Pacific War, European theatre, and in the United States. SS Farallon, and other Type V tugs, were used to help built Normandy ports, including Mulberry harbour, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and made nine round trips to Normandy to deliver Phoenix breakwaters.
Fellows & Stewart Inc. was a shipbuilding company in San Pedro, California on Terminal Island's Pier 206. To support the World War II demand for ships Fellows & Stewart built Crash rescue boats and submarine chasers. The Crash rescue boats were operated by both the US Navy and US Army during the war. Some crash rescue boat also served in the Korean War. Fellows & Stewart was founded as Joe Fellows Boat Shop in 1896. Joe Fellows was an English immigrant who learned boat building in Seattle and San Francisco. The company changed to Fellows & Stewart as the shipyard manager, Victor Stewart joined in as a partner. Many of the boats were designed by Joseph Pugh. From 1907 to 1917 called the Joe Fellows Yacht and Launch Company. In the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s the shipyard built many yachts and sailboats. The name changed to the Fellows & Stewart Inc. in 1917. In 1967 the shipyard was sold to Harbor Boatbuilding. The shipyard is sometimes listed as being in Wilmington. The records of Fellows & Stewart are housed at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. Notable boats and ships: HMAS Air View, USS SC-1012, Rudolph Valentino's 1926 yacht Charade (Phoenix) and the Ranger built in 1917 active at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.
Victory Shipbuilding was the name of two shipbuilding companies that built vessels during World War 2. The first was the Victory Shipbuilding Company, of Holland, Michigan, and the second was the Victory Shipbuilding Corporation, of Newport Beach, California.
Wilmington Boat Works, Inc. or WILBO was a shipbuilding company in Wilmington, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Victory Shipbuilding built: Tugboats, crash rescue boats and sub chasers. Wilmington Boat Works opened in 1920 building Fishing boat and yachts, by Hugh Angelman, Willard Buchanan and Tom Smith. After the Korean War the shipyard closed in 1958. The shipyard was located at 400 Yacht Street, Wilmington, the site of the current USC boatyard.
Kneass Boat Works was a shipbuilding company in San Francisco, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships, Kneass Boat Works built: US Navy Sub chasers, US Army barges and tugboats. Kneass Boat Works was started by California native George Washington Kneass (1859–1923) in 1868, at 22 Mission Street, San Francisco. George Kneass started as an apprentice to boat builder Martin Vice. The two became partners operating a shipyard at Pier 70 at 671 Illinois Street, San Francisco. Business was good and in 1898 Kneass opened a second shipyard at 718 3rd Street, San Francisco. At its peak, Kneass employed 50 workers. George Kneass died in 1923 and his two sons, George Jr. and Webster, took over the shipyard. Kneass built small boats, launches, rowboats, barges, lifeboats), sailboats, and a few wooden cruisers. For World War 2, in 1941 the company built a small emergency shipyard. The shipyard closed in 1970, but the site is now the art studio of Ruth Kneass; she kept the boatyard name for her studio.
Crash boats, at the time known as "aircraft rescue boats" or "air-sea rescue boats", were United States high speed boats built to rescue the crew of downed Allied aircraft during World War II. US boats came from the observation of British experience with high-speed launches (HSL) by the Royal Air Force Marine Branch during the Battle of Britain.
Ranger was an ocean-going tugboat commandeered by the United States Navy during the Second World War.
Splinter fleet or Splinter navy was a nickname given to the United States wooden boats used in World War II. The boats served in many different roles during the war. These boats were built in small boatyards on the West coast and East coast, Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. They could be built quickly, in just 60 to 120 days. Most of the boats were built by boatyards that already had the tools and knowledge from building yachts, sailboats and motor boats. Many were built by craftsmen in family-owned small businesses. Under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and War Shipping Administration contracts went out to over fifty boatyards across the country. The boats were built for the US Navy, the United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard, and US Army. Some of the wooden boats went to Allied nations on the Lend-Lease program.
US Navy Small Craft Training Centers(SCTC) were United States Navy training bases used to train sailors in the operation of the many small wooden crafts used in World War II. These crafts were given the nickname Splinter Fleet. There was a shortage of steel and steel shipyards during World War II, so there was a need for a vast wooden fleet of crafts. The Small Craft Training Centers had classrooms and crafts for training. The bases had barrack housing and mess halls. To get the men and crafts out into the field quickly, at many of the bases men trained on new ships. The new ships were at the center for about 4 weeks as part of the vessel's sea trial. Tugboats, Minesweepers, Net laying ships, Crash boats, PT boats and other crafts built near the center were taken to the Small Craft Training Centers for testing. Crafts built at Lynch Shipbuilding in San Diego, California were taken to the Small Craft Training Center at Terminal Island, San Pedro, California for their sea trial. Lynch Shipbuilding built tugboats, and minesweepers. Some of the craft at the Terminal Island school were: USS Density (AM-218), USS Waxsaw (AN-91), and USS Climax (AM-161), USS Wateree (ATF-117), USS Quest (AM-281), USS Snowbell (AN-52). The US Navy also had Small Craft Training Centers in Miami, Florida, Santa Barbara, California, New Orleans, Louisiana and other sites.
Naval Base Kossol Roads also called Naval Base Kossol Passage was a major United States Navy base at Kossol Roads in northern Palau in the western Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean during World War II. Kossol Roads lagoon is surrounded by fringing coral reef. The base was built to support the island hopping Pacific War efforts of the allied nations fighting the Empire of Japan. In terms of the number of ships at one base, Naval Base Kossol Roads was one of the largest Naval Base in the world in 1944 and 1945. Naval Base Kossol Roads was unique, as it was the only large US Naval base to have no shore facilities. Kossol Roads was part of US Naval Base Carolines.
Patrol torpedo boat PT-48 is a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. PT-48 was laid down on 6 June 194, launch on 8 July 1941, and was completed on 21 August 1941. PT-48 was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 under the command of Lieutenant commander Earl S. Caldwell. PT-48 was part of 11 new 77-foot Elco boats that were assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier, to protect the Panama Canal, starting in December 1941. PT-48 was shipped to the Balboa, Canal Zone on the deck of USS Kitty Hawk at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, departing on 15 December 1941. PT-48 arrived at Balboa on 25 December 1941 and was transferred 27 July to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three under the command of Lieutenant commander Alan R. Montgomery. PT-48 operated out of Balboa and Taboga, Panama. On Taboga Island was PT Boat Base Taboga Island. At its peak the PT Boat Base Taboga Island had 47 PT boats and 1,200 troops. After the crew was trained and the PT Boat completed sea trails, they would be sent to other US Naval Advance Bases. PT-48 commander, Lieutenant Lester H. Gamble USNR was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star in 1943.
The Cornell Steamboat Company was founded by Thomas Cornell (1814–1890) in Rondout, New York in the late 1840s, as a major passenger ship and cargo company. Thomas Cornell was President of Cornell Steamboat Company from 1865 to 1870.
Melville Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center (MTBSTC) was a PT boat Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center found on February 17, 1942, by the United States Navy for World War II. The MTB Training Center Melvill was at Melville, Rhode Island on Narragansett Bay. MTB Training Center Melvill nickname was Spect Tech after its first commander, Lieutenant commander William C. Specht.
Annapolis Yacht Yard was founded in 1937 by Nelson-Reid, Inc, naval architects and yacht brokers in New York City. Annapolis Yacht Yard was across the Severn River from the Annapolis Naval Academy.
