USA produserte under den andre verdenskrig et stort antall av disse lettbygde torpedobåtene, og båtene gjorde tjeneste over hele verden. Senere modeller av denne typen ble også brukt under Korea krigen og Vietnam krigen. Tre av disse båtene som ble bygget under den andre verdenskrig endte sine dager i Varangerfjorden etter å ha engasjert tyske konvoier. PT-275 / TK-212 ble senket av tyske vaktbåter utenfor Sturskjær den 9 april 1944. PT-291 / TK-217 ble senket av samme årsak nesten en måned senere den 8 mai 1944 utenfor Kiberg, og PT-412 / TK- 239 forsvant i dypet den 15 juli 1944 etter å ha blitt engasjert av tyske vaktbåter utenfor Sture-Ekkerøy. Vrakene av disse båtene er ikke funnet enda, men lite gjenstår nok av disse båtene som var bygget i tre...e...

USA produced during second world war a great number of this easy-to-build torpedo boats, and the vessels did service all over the world. Later models of this type were also used in the Korea war and the Vietnam war. Three of these vessels that were built under the second world war ended their days in Varangerfjorden after having engaged German convoys. PT-275 / TK-212 was sunk by German guard boats outside Sturskjær on 9 April 1944. PT-291 / TK-217 was sunk by the same reason almost a month later on 8 May 1944 outside Kiberg, and PT-412 / TK-239 disappeared in the deep on 15 July after having been engaged by German guard boats outside Sture-Ekkerøy. The wrecks of these vessels has not been found yet, but little is probably left of these boats which were built in wood...

 

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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.

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.

 

Edited 29.06.2007