PT Boat Specs
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The Patrol Torpedo Boat was a wooden craft, about 80 feet long and displacing about 55 tons. It was powered by three Packard Marine engines that developed close to 1,500 horsepower each. The boats carried 3,000 gallons of 100 octane aviation fuel for power. They could accelerate from 8 to 40 knots in about eleven seconds, with a top speed of about 48 knots. As far as armament goes, you couldn't come near one without having something lethal pointed in your direction. The PT Boat carried more firepower per pound than any other craft in the Navy. The typical boat carried most of the following:
40 mm Bofors cannon, aft.
Twin 50 cal. machine guns port and starboard
20 mm Oerlikon forward
37 mm Automatic forward
4 MK VIII torpedoes in tubes,
later boats had 4 MK XIII torpedoes on racks
Depth Charges
Mortar
Rockets
Smoke Generator
Small Arms
Hand Grenades
Crew
The crew consisted of about 14 men, 1 or 2 of them officers. What made the all-volunteer crew different was the breadth of their training. While the crew members on a typical ship were trained in a specialty, and there were several crew members trained in the same job. The crew of a PT was trained to do every job on the boat, with one or two being their specialty. They didn't have the luxury of replacements, so everyone had to know everyone elses job.
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"..he shoots fire out of his eyes and lightning bolts out of his arse..."
