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PT Boats of WWII
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PT Boats - General
Post a reply to: The Book Is Here
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[StartQuote] The book contains a fair amount of information. Unfortunately, much of it is wrong. While there is no bibliography provided, if you know the literature, it’s clear what the majority of the sources used were. These sources are generally reliable, being either primary documents or based on primary documents. They‘ve been available for decades and are easily accessed, at least four of them being available on-line. The information is clear in the sources. Why the author chose to make the statements he did is unknown to me. A few of the errors noted include: a. The V-drive system is described as the two wing engines driving the center shaft. The two wing engines on an ELCO were not coupled to the center shaft. They drove their respective shafts through a V-drive (essentially a transfer case similar in concept to those fitted to four-wheel drive vehicles) while the center engine drove its shaft directly. b. The four 70’ Canadian Power Boat Company boats (PT368-371), along with PT 362-367, are listed as RON11 boats. RON11 comprised PT 175-186 (80’ ELCOs); the four CPB boats and PT 362-367 were assigned to RON18. c. The author states that Higgins boats from PT197 on came from the factory fitted with the MK13 torpedoes. Photos clearly show the RON15 boats (PT 201-218) operating in the Med fitted with the MK19 tubes and the RON23 boats (241-244, 277-288) at the squadron’s commissioning ceremony also fitted with the MK19 tubes. This is consistent with the Higgins factory drawings (available from PT BOATS INC for decades), which indicate the 302 boat as the first to be factory fitted with the MK13. d. The author states the Dewandre turrets (which were Belgian, not Dutch) were designated as MK17 mounts. The MK17 mounts were the Bell Aircraft designed mounts fitted to the Higgins, Huckins, and 80’ ELCOs and bore no resemblance to the Dewandre mounts. e. The 105 boat is described as carrying “…eight ‘Type C’ depth charges“... The depth charges are MK6; the racks in which they are carried are Type C. There are more errors, but I’ll quit here. Documentation used for my comments includes: Bulkley, R.J. At Close Quarters. (Washington, DC: GPO). 1962 Friedman, Norman. U.S. Small Combatants. (Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute Press). 1987. BUSHIPS drawings 553600, 603267, 603275, 603288, 603286 Motor Torpedo Boat Manual (February 1943) OP 951 (MK17 manual) Operating Instructions Dewandre-ELCO Power-operated Machine Gun Turret Al Ross [EndQuote]
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