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 Author  Topic: PT 164 Rendova Harbor
Shaneo2

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Shaneo2  Posted on: May 12, 2009 - 2:25pm
Hi Shane02, i bumted into the owner of Munda Dive at the recent Dive Tek in Sydney and quzided him on Rendova and Munda PT Boat wrecks.He told me of a number of spots were his crew had found the remains of the as he put it " The big v 12 engines " some around Munda and one spot at Rendova.
Maybe he has alreaby found the 164 Boat but as the engines are all that is left and does not make a very interesting wreck dive he has put it aside as of no paticular interest to anyone. At least this was the impresion i received when i talked with him.
He is more into Sharks than PT Boats.
Good luck when you head out that way again. Yours, D.B.

D.buck

D.Buck

I have not been here for awhile. I think/know there is alot of war debris in the lagoon off Munda. As far as PT boat engines, I will follow up on my return either this year or next. There were two PT's (153 & 158 ?) said to be lost off Munda Pt., but no one seemed to recall where. One of the old Solomon scouts seemed unsure himself, so I would venture they were either destroyed- or I read somewhere else salvaged -then burnt...there is alot of conflicting information.

There is a small debris field of what myself and Aussie Paul presume to be the 164 right off Lumbari Island- lot of bits down under water, most as I stated before probably under the sand...all sorts of wood bits with monel and stainless screws- electical wire in pipes etc.

I would not be surprised if engines were dumped in the harbor too, the yanks dumped everything else being to costly to ship it home etc.

As I found out the remains of the 164 were supposedly blown to bits by a couple expats looking for scrap -after the war- there are more questions I have and will address when I return from next trip.

I do not have alot of faith in dive shops, or staff myself, I've been a diver who worked with those folks in my past & I found them often not to be self proclaimed experts at just about everything underwater. With the whole Solomons area every wreck/battle site it seems gets you 10 different stories- all the way from the vets who were there, to the scouts, to locals who moved there later, or ex-pats who heard from other ex-pats etc. etc.

Regardless, many thanks for your information (!), as often unless you ask about something "specifically" there like: "big PT boat engines" or such, you may not be shown the engines, because you were looking for "PT boats"...not the engines.

Regards-


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Frank J Andruss Sr

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Frank J Andruss Sr   Send Email To Frank J Andruss Sr Posted on: May 12, 2009 - 3:20pm
Shaneo:

Time seems to change many things. I have heard many different stories about parts continuing to be shipped to the War Zone even after the War was over. It was tough to shut off the flow of supplies.

As those Packard Engines weighed in at 2, 950 pounds each, I would say anything that was junked into the water might have a pretty good chance of being there. This would certainly be the last thing claimed to the Ocean on a PT BOAT. Now, if over the years those engines meant money to someone, I would guess they might have been removed (providing they had a way to do this).

If those engines are still there, that means the nomenclature plates would still be there, as well as any stamped numbers on the engine, or stamped numbers on the reverse gear unit. Most were made by Joe's Gears, and I would think you might be able to trace the engines by those numbers. Along those same lines, this is one of the biggest reasons why I never thought for one minute they found PT 109. That's another story. Too bad those divers don't consider diving the area worth the time. You might just get lucky. It would make since that finding monel screws and or rivets might be that of a boat, but my thoughts continue to race back to the claim of finding PT 109. Show me more proof, Show me those engines, show me those guns. You will never know for sure, unless you do.......simply because many things ended up in the water. Heck on Base 17 in the Philippines, they began taking the boats apart to ship items home, but with the War ended , things became very Lax.

Items were simply bulldozed into the jungle, dropped into the water, or buried. Now that would be the place to go with a metal detecter and some divers. I will continue to remain positive that somewhere out there a boat or two lays in wait. Lets see.............


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smallwi

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of smallwi  Posted on: May 12, 2009 - 4:57pm
Richard Kempf,

Drop me an email when you have a chance, I will pass it along to my brother.

Bill Smallshaw
peter.tare@verizon.net

Bill Smallshaw

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David Buck

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of David Buck   Send Email To David Buck Posted on: May 13, 2009 - 3:28am
Hi, Frank you should be right about the I.D.plates as most of the ones i have seen are stainless and seems to survive when all else falls apart.

SCRAP ! Copper, Bronze, Brass, Tin !, this is what brings out the scrapers Allumimum especially WW11 Magnesiumn alloy they throw back in the water, witness the large number of Aircraft left lyiing around the South Pacific. A man would be a Millionare many times over if you could but find a home for this resource not to mention a CHEAP and SAFE way to seperate the two main metals.(And you were totaly unscrupulus)

Question .What was the Ore used to alloy with the Alum. in the Packhards
Mag. or Copper.

This will answer two questions,
1.Why no one has salvaged the engines.( see above!)

2. Why they are still in such good conditiom after 60+ years

T.A.

D.buck

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TED WALTHER

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of TED WALTHER   Send Email To TED WALTHER Posted on: May 14, 2009 - 8:21am
Frank;
Engines might be found, shafts and props for sure, but weapons, I doubt it very seriously as these would have been salvaged by crew/base force. 43, at Guadalcanal, PT164, 117, at Rendova would have had weapons removed. 109, 153, 158, 164, 166 and 172 more than likely have there weapons still with them. PT 63, 107, at Emirau probably still have weapons with them. PT 67,119 all of the pierside base losses in Tufi, New Guinea had there weapons as they were all fueling fires. Some photos I have seen on the web show .50's as recovered as have been the props of 119 and 67.
Take care,
TED


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Shaneo2

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Shaneo2  Posted on: May 14, 2009 - 4:42pm
The two PT's : the PT-67 and the PT-119 are said to be dive sites. I have mentioned this to a couple people here, just Google: Tufi Dive and they have some information on the dive site. The more people know, the better you all have of helping to preserve and bring attention to PT's- otherwise collectors and scrapers are going to pick over what little remains in the Pacific.

Hope that helps some of you...

Regards-

Shane




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