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PT Boats of WWII
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PT Boats - General
Post a reply to: ELCO vs HIGGINS
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[StartQuote] One would tend to prefer the Elco PT Boat because frankly it was all we ever saw as young kids growing up. As a 10 year old in 1967, all I ever saw in the stores was the Elco PT 109 model. I never even knew another PT Boat existed until I was old enough to do my own research. The two movies produced that dealt with PT Boats showed the Elco design. PT 109 in its wonderful attempt to copy the 80 footer, and of course the 1945 splender They Were Expendable. The second movie used real 80 footers and I must say, seeing them dance across the water tends to stick in ones mind. There is nothing like the sound of the Elco as she is going thru her start up wine, with the mufflers popping, and that gurrgling sound above the water line. Her keen and sleek lines leave one breathless and one look at her and you are instantly in love. One must agree that before all the weapons were stuffed on her decks, she looked like a racing grey hound, a corvette getting ready for the big race. . I am sure we have all seen the Elco 103 class with her twin 50's proudly pointing upward and her long torpedo tubes just waiting for the chance to launch an all out attack. No 37MM up front, no 20MM as well. In the back no large 40MM, and no Radar Mast. She was a thing of beauty. One PT Crewmen once said to me that the Higgins was the box we used to ship over our Elco. It proves just how loyal one can be when it came to his boat. In all fairness to the Higgins, it just was not in the public eye as was the Elco. I own over 275 original ads all dealing with the PT Boats, and I think I have maybe 6 or 7 dealing with the Higgins PT Boats, the rest all Elco. There is no doubt that the Higgins Hellcat might have been one of the best boats built, but of course it was not put into production. I had heard the speed and turning power were unmatched. The end result here. It seems for those of us who never set foot aboard a PT Boat, we prefer the sleek look and design of the Elco. This above all other things is the number one reason most of us have one, two, maybe three Elco models in our collections. [EndQuote]
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