PT Boat Forum


Moderated by: Dick, Jeff D

The PT Boat Forum ª PT Boats of WWII ª  PT Boats - General

Page: 1 of 1

« Back to Topic Index Page 14 | Replies: 0

 Author  Topic: Wisconsin Maritime Museum at Manitowoc
Bob Steinbrunn

Advanced Member
  

    
Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Bob Steinbrunn   Send Email To Bob Steinbrunn Posted on: Apr 20, 2016 - 1:26pm
For those of you who live in the Midwest - or elsewhere for that matter - you might put the Wisconsin Maritime Museum at Manitowoc on your bucket list. They focus on the maritime history of Wisconsin, obviously, and not PT boats, but I think anyone who is interested in PT boats has a keen appreciation of maritime history no matter what particular subject.

This museum is really excellent and has recently undergone a major $$ expansion and upgrade. It's especially significant since it has the USS Cobia (SS-245) moored alongside. This is a Gato-class fleet submarine that is air-conditioned, well-lit, open for tours or overnight camping, and has been so authentically restored inside that, with all the crew's gear stowed properly and all the electrical boards, instruments, and displays lit up, you get the eerie feeling that the crew has gone ashore for lunch and will be back any moment.

See: http://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/index.php

The museum also hosts a model ship & boat competition each May, this year's will be the weekend of 20 May 2016 and this marks the 40th anniversary of the contest. PT boat models are welcome, whether scale or RC! The RC models are run outside in the parking lot across the street from the museum in a large temporary tank and are great fun to watch.

http://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/special-events/midwestern-model-ships-boats-contest-and-display/

As an example, in 2012 I photographed this PT 109 model that was about 1/20 scale or so. The German builder was delighted to show off all of its operating features: sound board, spinning propellers, gun positions that rotated, lighting, and.....and......he had it hooked up to an air compressor on the floor to generate the air pressure necessary to launch all four torpedoes individually upon command. More of a toy, really, than a scale model, but fascinating for its engineering.






Cheers!
--Bob

Total Posts: 134 | Joined: Jan 23, 2016 - 9:16am | IP Logged


Lock Topic

 

Forum Legend

New Member

Reply to topic

More than 25 posts | Full Member

Reply to topic with quoted message

More than 50 posts | Advanced Member

Edit Message

More than 150 posts | MASTER

View profile

More than 300 posts | TOP BOSS

Email member