Author |
Topic: Is this bell the real deal ? |
|
Mark Culp
Advanced Member
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 8:32am
|
PT Boat bell on Ebay. Is this an authentic bell?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTHENTIC-Brass-NAVY-U-S-S-PT-648-BOAT-BELL-Mounted-Hickory-Brass-Stand-/150759823452?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2319fc585c
|
Total Posts: 135 | Joined:
Oct 15, 2006 - 2:56pm | IP
Logged
|
|
Frank J Andruss Sr
TOP BOSS
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 9:12am
|
I looked at that and was not sure myself. I had contacted Jerry about this piece but to date have not heard back from him. This is only the second bell I have seen dealing with PT BOATS, and to tell you the truth, I am not sure if they all had them or not............
|
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined:
Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am | IP
Logged
|
|
|
Bob
MASTER
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 1:54pm
|
Our drawings show it as a 6" bell, same as the ebay one.
Bob |
Total Posts: 181 | Joined:
Jun 8, 2010 - 6:21pm | IP
Logged
|
|
|
Jerry Gilmartin |
TOP BOSS
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 3:31pm
|
Hi Frank and Bob and everyone,
We have on the PT658 a donated PT boat bell engraved with "PT483" Or something close to that number? It has a completely different hangar, ours has a keystone shaped wedge that fits into a female holder bracket. You can loosen a set screw and lift the wedge up and out of the bracket. We do this for safekeeping. The bell itself looks identical to that one, however. I think maybe we should get it for the PT658 since it was only 10 numbers different than our own hull number. Frank, the guys story sounds very plausible to me as well. If somebody purchases this bell would you guys consider a trade? Thanks Jerry
Here is a photo of our bell
Here is Al Ross Picture showing the bell and PT265-313 turret
Here is PT305 with bell mounted on mast, that is XO Morse and CO Purdy at wheel
Here is crewman on PT305 with bell on mast in background
Jerry Gilmartin |
Total Posts: 1472 | Joined:
Oct 8, 2006 - 11:16pm | IP
Logged
|
|
Frank J Andruss Sr
TOP BOSS
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 5:20pm
|
Don't count on me Jerry, I think that bell on EBAY will far surpass what's in my wallet. Thanks for the information and the photo's..........
|
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined:
Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am | IP
Logged
|
|
Bob
MASTER
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 6:27pm
|
How bout this one?
Bob |
Total Posts: 181 | Joined:
Jun 8, 2010 - 6:21pm | IP
Logged
|
|
Allan
MASTER
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 6:45pm
|
Being a retired Fire Captain from the City of Hartford I have to say that in the fire service it was the apparatus bell that represented the heart and sole of any particular truck. When a truck was finally surveyed out of city service, that damned bell was sought after by so very many people- all of whom had an association with the truck being removed from service. They weren't "bell collectors". They wanted to preserve the "sole" of that truck in rememberance of all the "working fires" and the men that worked them, the lives lost or changed forever, the damage and destruction that the truck and the bell witnessed.
And so it must also be for the bell of a ship- more important, the bell of a PT boat. Of course, the 648 never saw service. But that bell is so representative of those that did. What I wouldn't give for the bell from USS PT 113, laying atop the coral bottom of Veal Reef in the waters off New Guinea. I sure hope this bell gets to where it should be- a kind of final resting place, in honor of those that served.
That theme carries through to those who conduct deep sea salvage. Ever see the pride on the diver's face as he displays the ship's bell? He knows he's hold ing the heart and sole of that long ago lost ship. Not a single other item aboard any ship would convey the true essence of that ship.
Sorry for the rambling but I just had to comment. I have a couple of fire apparatus bells from the City that were, and are, important to me. I'm now thinking that I should find a "final resting place" for them, as well.
Allan
|
Total Posts: 161 | Joined:
Sep 18, 2007 - 7:07pm | IP
Logged
|
|
alross2
TOP BOSS
|
Posted on: Feb 20, 2012 - 8:11pm
|
Curiously, the seller mixes up the RON with a VA squadron. 648 was assigned to RON 44 but he talks about Attack Squadron 44 (HORNETS), which was an East Coast training squadron (Cecil Field, FL) for A4 Skyhawks. I spent a couple months assigned to VA44 in 1969.
Al
|
Total Posts: 993 | Joined:
Oct 30, 2006 - 8:19pm | IP
Logged
|
|
Nuge210
TOP BOSS
|
Posted on: Feb 21, 2012 - 3:33am
|
I agree with Jerry on the shape of the hanger. Wedge shaped that fits into a female holder. The bell from the 210 looks exactly like Jerry's first photo. And reads ' U S S PT 210'.
Steve |
Total Posts: 323 | Joined:
Jun 4, 2008 - 7:50am | IP
Logged
|
|
|