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 Author  Topic: Photos of Ron 33 boat 488 & a few ?s for PT Vets
Blake

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Blake   Send Email To Blake Posted on: Feb 23, 2009 - 3:33pm
I’m finally getting closer to actually starting my Italeri 1/35 scale boat & diorama & was wondering if anyone on the forum might have some pictures of Ron 33 boat #488. I’ve been sort of putting off starting my kit in hopes of finding some clearer details about which boat(s) my Uncle served on. I’ve got pictures of him & a friend posing in the cockpits of boats 488, 490, 491, 492, 494 & 497, so even his photos don’t seem to be much help in determining which boat in particular. However I’ve noticed that the 488 boat seems to be the boat in the center of a lot of his shots albeit subtly. Along with that there are a few dry dock pictures & while one boat doesn’t have a bow # the other has a #48?. The picture isn’t very clear, but the 3rd digit looks to be partially obscured by possibly paint. I thought it might be a shadow, but it appears that same way in another grainy photo of the boat in a completely different situation(see attached pics)(sorry, I’ve only had time to clean up half the distant dry dock photo). I thought possibly that the un-numbered boat in yet another dry dock picture I have, might be the same boat, but at a time in it’s existence when it wasn’t sporting a bow #.
I also have a picture or 2 of boats under way taken from other boats, but 488 is never in the picture, so I’m wondering if that’s because he took the picture from the 488 boat. I’m trying to figure out why he took the pictures he did & hopefully make some sense of the photos he left.
However, I’m no Sherlock Holmes & since I’ll probably only ever build one of Italeri’s Big Boats, mine I’m sure will include subtle details gathered from what I see in photos of multiple Ron 33 boats. That said however, I think I’ll give the nod to the 488 boat, unless I come across some concrete evidence proving he served on another boat, in the very near future.
That’s the VERY Long Story as to why I’m looking for any photos of 488 (Little Joe) along with any written references to her &/or her actions. At Close Quarters only lists her as an entry in the glossary & I haven’t come across any mention of her anywhere else.
In closing I have a few questions I’d like to ask actual PT veterans.
1: Did the crew always work on THEIR boat in dry dock, or did they sometimes help other crews, or have a “duty”? Per the info above I have pics of him(my Uncle) with what his photo calls “The Old Dry Dock Gang” with what I think is 488 (with the 3rd digit partially obscured), but I also have a pic of him & a group in front of what looks to possibly be the 497 in dry dock, but the picture is really not very good quality. Is there any reason, if part of the 488 crew, he’d help out on 497(other than possibly being assigned to it at another time)?
2: The 488 pics I have show the blue & white Star & Bar on the Chart House, which I want to include on my kit. The only color photos I’ve seen of the Star & Bar are on models & a few washed out original color photos of boats from other squadrons. However, every one I’ve seen shows the blue as a much lighter blue than normally seen on an aircraft Star & Bar. Does anyone remember if this was indeed the case& that the blue was fairly light?
3: Finally, my diorama is going to be pier/dock side & most photos being black & white don’t lend much information as to what color the water really was around these areas. I’m assuming the water would be murky green, but I’m just looking for one little shred of evidence that would show that to make the water a prettier “south Pacific” aqua-marine, or turquoise wouldn’t be completely off the deep end historically.
Thanks again for any & all information.
Blake-
488 partially obscured?

Same 488 partially obscured? But hard to see unless looking at the original.

Total Posts: 61 | Joined: Apr 18, 2008 - 2:44pm | IP Logged

G R Powell

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message   Posted on: Feb 23, 2009 - 5:47pm
Blake,

Please email me off-list at Gerald_Powell@baylor.edu.

G R Powell

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