What is a PT Boat ?

In the build up to WW-II, many countries developed their own fast-light attack boats. The general category was known as ‘motor torpedo boats’. Late in the 30s the US began to develop its own MTB ship, with three major design requirements: very fast, lightweight, and low resource materials for building. That meant three beastly racing engines cradled in an all-wood frame and lots of weapons. The operational plan for PT boats was to chase after enemy shipping, patrol coastlines, and attack destroyer convoys.

The PT boats were deployed in three areas during the war. First, in the Mediterranean where they attacked Italian and German ships. Second, in Alaska to prevent Japanese invasions, and most famously, in the South Pacific against the Japanese forces. It’s been said that the very first shots of WWII were from PT boats - firing at incoming Japanese fighter planes even before they reached Pearl Harbor.

These boats were 80’ long, un-armored wood, running 60+mph in the open seas, usually at night. If that alone didn’t require nerves of steel, these boats would attack four or more destroyers at a time, and fend off kamikaze attacks, and spend mindlessly dull days patrolling mosquito-infested coastlines. Each boat could hold a crew of 10 to 12, with each member being hand-selected for duty. To be on a PT boat was like being a pilot of an F18 fighter jet.

Initially the PT boats had little impact on the war effort, mainly because their engines used gasoline, instead of the more common diesel. The gasoline gave them the great speed, but was notoriously difficult to deliver at the front lines. 'Bad gas' was a frequent problem and caused nail-biting problems.

At the end of the war, the hundred or so PT boats in the South Pacific were stripped of useful equipment, and intentionally burnt/sunk. Part of the stripping of useful equipment was also a time for crewmembers to take home mementos of the boat. Parts of the floorboards, insignias and even the logbooks were desirable mementos.

Every hour of every day is recorded in naval ship log-books. My grandfather, Frank Kassay, was part of the PT171 crew, and took home one of the log books that detailed his service days from September of 1944 to May of 1945. It covers a time just after the rescue of PT-109, the move from Rendova, to Papau New Guinea, and the log closes when the crew reached Mois Woendi.

When I was young, he would often tell stories about his PT days with a glint in his eyes. The glint wasn’t for war-glory, he chastised any glorification of war, but, he really loved the memories of racing against other PT boats, the goofy things crewmembers did to each other, and the spray of the ocean.

When our family found the Log book, I read through it, and was lost. I understood nothing of the lingo, but, my brother explained some of the terms, and quickly the log became very real, very dramatic.

Please understand the photo's are from other sites, and may not directly represent the journal entry - they are included to tell a story. A deep thanks to http://www.ptboats.org, http://www.petertare.org/ and http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/pt/.

By MikeMontana@gmail.com - click to read copyright and source information for this website