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Topic: PT 505 Last known surviving member |
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djwhite
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Posted on: Mar 27, 2012 - 12:12pm
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I am absolutely beside myself.
I printed out the pictures that Don and Ted both posted and enlarged them to fill up a letter size sheet and assembled them into a three ring binder photo album.
He was in tears. Now I'm about to be in tears.
He told my that he lost his camera on the boat from Florida going over to England and these were the first time he had seen his boat since 1946. He said that the only pictures that he had taken and sent back home were of the Florida MTB base. He is kind of sad because they have been lost over the past 60 years.
He said that he does remember being on the boat in the cove just north of Utah beach after they hit the mine and that it was the blackest black night he had ever experienced. Absolutely nothing still worked on the boat after the mine. He just told me a few minutes ago that they felt like 12 year olds jabbering about what they might be able to do if the Germans had desided to go out to check on the boat.
He is very excited to see the pictures. He has only gone thru a few of the pictures both he did say that the picture that shows the engine room being completly re skinned with all three packards out of the boat is definetely the PT 505. They used crate materials to cover the bottom of the boat to get back to Porland England.
He also said that to clarify one thing about the side of the boat with the "Portland or Bust" on it. I was painted by Lt. Godfrey himself, he told the crew that he brought the boat to the war and he was taking back after they were done.
Sorry about misspellings as My Hands are still shaking from the last conversation.
Denny
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David Waples
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Posted on: Mar 27, 2012 - 7:46pm
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Hi Denny,
Just returned from Phoenix and saw this post. That's incredibly nice of you to look after Mr. Frank and put together the photo album for him. Would love to have him come to our ship club meeting but not sure if that's possible. I'm hoping to meet him sometime and hear about his time in the Navy. Interesting story about his boat being damaged on or around D-Day. Would love to hear more about that. So many things I'm curious about after seeing the great pictures Don & Ted posted.
Thanks for sharing Denny and looking forward to seeing you soon and getting caught up in your own build.
Dave
David Waples |
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David Waples
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Posted on: Mar 27, 2012 - 8:22pm
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Just got a little excited here. I purchased a couple of LCM's from L'Arsenal in 1:350 scale. I'm getting ready to start a couple of 1:350 PT boat dioramas so might as well make it a third to honor Mr. Frank.
Ted, is the first photo you posted before D-Day? I'm wondering about the paint scheme. Nothing to do with the diorama really. Just curious. What I am curious about is the armament. Looks like 505 sported a couple of 20mm and a 37mm on the bow?
Looking at the side of the hull I'm guessing that that angular black marking along the side is where the water line was. I guess I'm a little surprised that they had her over on Utah Beach just a few days into operation Overlord.
I love these boats!
Dave
David Waples |
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TED WALTHER
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 5:27am
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David;
Yes that photo was taken before D-Day. Don has a great collection of RON 34 photos he posted on photobucket. This is one of them, I believe it was taken stateside just prior to deployment.
Take care,
TED
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djwhite
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 7:31am
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To David:
Ted is correct according to Mr. Frank. The 505 did have the camaflauge design at the commissioning at the Brooklin Navy Yard.
But once they were on the transport ship to England they were all painted "Battleship Grey".
To Ted:
Mr. Frank was all teared up from seeing his boat right after they were towed off Utah beach with the temporary repairs. He also confirmed that being towed back to the tent city at Portland was almost as terrifing as the mine. They had very bad weather and all four times "that Damn Line broke" they were sure they were going down.
To All:
Now before we get into a huge discussion about what was battleship gray, Mr Frank said that the 505 ran up against a battlship when they were picking up mail for the squadron and the sailors aboard the battlship said it was a good thing the 505 was the same color they were or they would have made the plywood coffin boys repair the paint.
No, he didn't remember which battleship or even if it was a US or British.
One other thing I should pass along. I showed Mr. Frank the PT boat crew for the Italiari 596, He told me that there was never a single day on the boat that they were ever that dry looking. "The dungarees were dark with water all the time and had white stains around the hips where the salt was drying. The shirts were also dark from the water."
Man this stuff is so good!!!!!!!!!!
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Will Day
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 8:30am
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Great stuff indeed!
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djwhite
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 10:31am
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Sorry Ted, I guess I just got overwhelmed for a little bit there.
I did ask Mr. Frank about how much damage was done to the underside of the boat. They had to cover the bottom of the boat from the middle of the fuel tanks back to the middle of the lazerette. Mostly cracks between the mahagony sheeting. He said that the wood was actually almost forced around the bracing. That is amazing since the bracing inside the hull was usually 12 to 15 inches apart.
That is a lot of force from the mine explosion.
Denny
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djwhite
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 11:43am
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Frank,
Can you e-mail my your e-mail address. I would love to see what we can share with Mr. Frank.
I think that mine is in my profile.
Denny
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David Waples
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Posted on: Mar 28, 2012 - 7:02pm
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I wonder if this is just Measure 14. Ocean Gray 5-O on vertical surfaces and Deck Blue 20B on horizontal surfaces. Looking at paint chips it seems right. I'm guessing somebody can provide the answer.
Dave
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TED WALTHER
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Posted on: Mar 29, 2012 - 5:12am
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YIPEE ANOTHER PAINT DISCUSSION!!!!
Just kidding David.
My guess would be:
#17 Ocean Gray (1944) FS 36251
5-N Navy Blue FS 15042
Revised Deck Blue 20B FS 36076
however, since this is stateside prior to deployment, these could actually be greens. if RON 34 was like RON 29 stateside their boats were green for shakedown, then painted enroute to MED. Maybe Mr. Frank can shed some light on the colors, since he did say PT 505 was painted battleship gray enroute.
Take care,
TED
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