PT Boat PT-658 Deck and Interior Walkthrough Sept 2012 -18 minutes
PT Boat PT-658 Deck Tour and Interior Tour shows details and closeups of all weapons and equipment on board. Be sure to check website at www.savetheptboatinc.com PT-658 was named to the National Register of Historic Places on 04 September 2012. The boat was restored by a group of 12 WW2 PT Boat veterans. The tour starts from Bow and works back to see entire boat with detail views of each weapon and piece of equipment. Views of 20mm Oerlikon Cannon, 37mm Oldsmobile Cannon, Mk50 Spin Stabilized 5 Inch Rocket Launcher Mounts, Browning M2 twin 50 cal machineguns, Mk17 turret, Mk 13 Torpedo, Mk6 Depth Charge, 40mm Bofors Cannon, Raytheon SO Radar Mast, signal generator, waveguide and antenna dome, Helm Equipment, Compass, Throttle and EOT, Searchlight, Reflector Gunsight, Collins TCS-12 Radios, Radar PPI Scope, Chartroom, Navigators Chartboard, Galley, Stove, Sink, Refrigerator, Toaster, Drop Leaf crews mess table, Crews Bunks, Pinup Girls, Crews Dress Uniforms, Kapok Life Jackets, Crews Quarters, Wardroom, Officers Head, Foul Weather Jacket, Radar Power Supply, Officers Dress Uniform, Officers Pith Helmets, Captains Desk, Ammo Locker, Small arms gun rack, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, 1903 Springfield Rifle, BAR, Thompson Sub-machinegun, Wardroom Fan, Fluxgate Gyro compass Amplifiyer and Power Inverter, Ammo passing hatch, Running Engine exhausting through bronze mufflers. Please help support the further restoration and preservation of this historic treasure by visiting the above website and donating. "Save the PT Boat" is a 501c3 non profit organization and appreciates all the support we can get! Check back soon for further detailed videos about starting up the engines and other operational details.
My late uncle by marriage was a really soft spoken guy. He was a radio operator on a PT in the Pacific. He never wanted to talk about it much. I guess he just wanted to do his time and come home. During one furlough he met my aunt on a train from NY. Thanks for the glimpse into his past world.
ever since I was a kid I wanted to know what the inside of a PT boat looked like. Thank you for this video.
Agreed.
karlhungusjr1 VERY COOL! ! THANK YOU!
Me too. This video was excellent.
Especially when I watched McHale's Navy as a kid! Thank everyone for showing me what they were like!
This!!! Thank you so much!!
Only caught a couple of glimpses of the ventilation ductwork. Darn. I installed the working ductwork throughout that boat. It had been stripped out by its previous owner. It was a huge challenge and one of the high points of my career. It was a great honor to have worked with all of the veterans who were on this project.
I have only one thing to say aboat the men who oprerated these boats : RESPECT
My Uncle George Kempfe, was a Motor Mac on PT 363 in the South Pacific from '43 till then end. We lost him this year just short of 101. One of my biggest thrills was taking him to the PT Boat museum in Mass. when he was about 97. His photo was on the wall as he was in the second boat that brought McArthur back to Subic Bay! God Bless you and all of the other "Iron Men" that crewed these boats. CW-2 John Vansworth. 119th AHC Viet Nam '69-'70.(My Huey number was 362!)
That was an excellent tour. The boat is in excellent condition and I am glad you are using it, if even to just make coffee.
I remember seeing this boat when I was a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary in Portland. It's nice to see a tour by someone who actually knows the details of the boat.
It needs to move to warmer climate have its own vacation home say Florida San Diego maybe..
You see them in movies or read about life on board inside in books, but a video such as yours brings it all to life. Thanks for the tour.
My dad served on PT811 as a punk kid in very end of the 1950's. Rode her to the scrapyard. Took me 50 years to drag the story out of him.
Amazing restoration! Thanks for your efforts in preserving a great piece of our WW2 naval history.
Lumpyone, Yes you are correct, that is an Oldsmobile Mark 4 37mm Automatic Cannon replica. The distinctive 30 round belt type magazine's rounded shape was designed to fit inside the cowling of the Bell P39 Airacobra fighter. The story goes that enterprising young PT Boat crews saw crashed P39's on Henderson Field Guadalcanal and cannibalized them for barge busting. It was so successful on PT Boats, that after a few months they were fitted with these weapons directly from the factory. Jerry
I saw some early models that did not even have a radar mast just an antenna... They had a 3 inch gun up front or the 40 or 50 up front. It was amazing to see how these thing evolved and how some of the weapons were switched around to fit the situations.
I’m assembling a couple of models of PT boats & this video has added to the knowledge of these awesome craft & several items that I can properly render now. Thank you to the servicemen who served aboard, thank you to the team that saw fit to respectfully restore & keep alive a tradition with the history & crew & equipment behind it - which is quickly disappearing. Thank you!!
As a kid growing up in the 60's I always wanted a PT boat. I built models of them, I watched all the black and white war movies on TV, sat on the living room floor each time McHale's Navy came on etc etc etc. For some reason I didn't understand how big a 70' or 80' Elco or Higgins PT was. It just never occurred to me. Another thing that I missed as a kid was that it took apx 10 to 12 men to operate the boat, with 2 of them in the engine room. I figured it wold be just like running our 19' fiberglass Larson with the 115 horse Johnson outboard. Not quite. I imagined my PT being on Lake George in NY state. That was something else I didn't know as a kid, how was I going to get it there. Then as I get older finding out most were destroyed by the Navy by setting them on fire as it was cheaper to burn the wooden hulls instead of transporting them back to the US after the war. I am 61 now and if it were within my means I would purchase the plans/blueprints to an Elco or Higgins and have a boat builder build a 40' scaled out version of modern materials such as fiberglass and Kevlar etc.
Thanks my grandfather served as mechanic on Pt boat in WWII in the South Pacific.
Great tour. I was a torpedoman in the nuclear submarine service back in the 70s. We still had the old 21 foot long World War II manufactured Mk.14 torpedoes, along with newer wire guided and acoustic weapons. The older torpedoes were retained well into the Cold War because they were "war-time proven" weapons. The Mk.13s on your PT boat have internals similar to our Mk.14s -- combustion flask, main drive gears, and other features like an external starting lever. I heard from some of the older guys that I served with that PTs were like howling demons fueled by avgas and powered by three 12-cylinder aircraft engines. Hard to imagine that the Navy had over a thousand of them -- and scrapped almost all that survived at the end of the war. Thanks again for a great tour.
Richard najjar Those Packard M2500's were a purpose designed for PT Boat service based loosely on the innards of Packards A2500's that were used in planes but the M2500 were PT Boat use only !!!
I have great admiration and respect for the men who went to sea and fought on America's PT boats. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who had a hand in preserving this wonderful piece of our history.
It woulda been a job I wanted. I love hot rods still build em now even at my age...
Awesome tour and description. A beautiful piece of US Navy history
I've always wanted my own PT boat since I was a kid...THANKS for sharing.
THANKS FOR SHOWCASING A FANTASTIC RESTORATION.
nice boat that can be used for anything at anytime and still come from history that can always come to thr rescue
Terrific informative and interesting video. Like others I have often wondered what they looked like aboard. More to a PT boat than I had thought; thanks for the tour.
Thanks for the tour, and thank you all for the preservation of this interesting (and complicated) part of our fighting heritage.
Great video Mate, I have always wanted to see a PT Boat below decks and now I have. It looks bigger than I imagined. Thank you.
Fascinating, thanks for the tour.
Great video. It really captures what the men in service had to do and endure in WW2. Thanks for your work.
Agreed.
Great Vid. I had the honor of visiting & touring this fine boat several years ago at the Portland Rose Festival. My cousin, John D. Bulkeley commanded PT-41...
thanks for this up load
Great post of a brilliant machine,amazing living quarters,Lest we forget these brave Sailors.
What an amazing restoration!! A big congratulations and Thank You to all who were involved in this historic preservation! It must have been incredibly difficult to find and restore all the components that are on display not to mention bringing the boat itself back to operational condition.
That is a job very well done indeed...
PTs have always fascinated me. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. It's far more "comfortable" below deck than I'd imagined.
thank you for the tour.
Fascinating. Very well done. Kudos to you for an exceptional and informative tour. Always had an interest in these classic fighting boats. Outstanding! Thank you!
Thanks for the tour. There's a lot more to a PT Boat than we saw on McHale's Navy.
Wow. I was unaware that any boats remained. This is wonderful.
Stellar restoration of a very rare boat! Thanks for posting.
ya did a grate job telling us about the boat, but I kept waiting for you to get into the engine room. I'm glad to see the boats in good hands.
An excellent display of all systems, thank you!
A lot of work and effort went into this that can only come from the love of PT Boats.
Thank you for making this video! I've always been fascinated with these boats since watching McHale's Navy as a kid!
Yep , me too...
thanks for sharing this piece of history with us
Thanks for the informative tour! A labor of love.👍
Wow! My father was on a 78' Higgins. MTB RON 30, PT460 "ALI BABA". RON 30 worked with RONs 34 & 35, (80' Elcos) in the English channel 1944-45.GREAT VIDEO! God bless the Iron men who served in the Wooden boats! THANKS!
Nice job explaining things on the tour. I like seeing and learning the workings of such an awesome boat. Thanks.
Great tour of the boat. Thank you for sharing the video.
This is really cool. Thank you for posting this. My grandfather served on one in the pacific theater as an electrician. I was told he wired the torpedoes etc. After the war he was an electrician for the subway in new york. During his time in theater he took a scrap piece of a downed japanese fighter and fashioned it into a large bracelet and crudely engraved a pt boat skimming across the water with palm trees nearby for his wife, my grandma. Coolest naval boat ever.
Amazing, thanks for the look around.
So many weapons on a plywood boat ! Great video, many thanks. PT boats are frighteningly cool.
Hi. Thank you so much, for all of us how can not get to such a tour.... God be with you Gentiles.
Outstanding tour! Best PT vid ever. Thank you
Thanks for the tour!!
Thank you. Brought back memories. 62&63, Torpedo Retriever,72 ftfUsualllly only on testing bay, Dabob Bay. One trip working liaison with Canadian Navy, Nanaimo B.C.. Only time we used the sleeping quarters, galley, etc. Was 1 or 2 weeks, memories of a lifetime in that short time. Had no idea later on I would be Gunners Mate on discharge. Your video revived forgotten memories..Fair Winds Mates.
PT boats are kinda cool af bro! I remember my mom & dad talking about the PT109 back in the day(70's)
Nicely done. I'm glad to know at least one of these beauties still lives and breathes.
As of June 2017, another boat has been successful restored and is prowling the waters of Lake Ponchitrane in New Orleans where the Higgins built PT boats were built and tested. PT-305, an actual veteran of the Mediterranean Theater (sank two German F-lighters-gunboat) has just recently started tours associated with the World War II museum there.
Great video thank you very much. Bigger than I thought. Now to see the engine room video.
Great video tour. I had no idea they were THAT heavily armed. Wow!
holy crap I thought the same thing. That would be a dangerous boat for pirates to get a hold of expecially if they can get live ammo for it lol
Great tour appreciate it now watching the documentary’s on PT boats I’ll have more of an understanding for what it was like for the crew.
Thank you. Great tour.
Great video! Very informative. Thanks for putting it together!
Hi Jerry, thanks for the walkthrough of such a thoroughly restored PT boat, I am going to put a visit on my list next time I am in the US.
#219 I just found this site, thanks for the tour. I learned so much about how living onboard actually happened. Most of my PT Boat knowledge came from TV shows with Tim Conway!
Fabulous! thank you
Terrific video. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Thanks a bunch. Im a modeler and this was a very close and personal view a this baby. very clear details that help my work, like the raft.certain details you dont get from schematics, black and white pictures or work from other modelers. pound for pound, the best equiped ship in the whole navy. armed to the teeth. these are like pitbulls, just mean and bread to do one thing. destroy the enemy. Thanks for the effort.
Totally useless unless the skipper was a true Warrior willing to go into Harm's Way!
Absolutely fascinating what these men went through on the boat it's nothing more than a piece of wood and plywood
I really enjoyed the tour, thank you for posting it. PT boats were so cool, dad served on an LST, maybe the most "uncool" boat in the war, LARGE SLOW TARGET as they used to call them. They were safe boats though, very few were lost to battle damage. I took a tour of one in Evansville Indiana, wish dad had been along, he had already passed.
Brilliant tour! These boats certainly pack a huge punch! Thx for sharing 😎👍🇦🇺
That was a cool probably the coolest thing I've seen in awhile. Wasn't in navy I was army but I love this stuff.
Awesome! Thanks so much friend! That was all I was looking for!
EXCELLENT PRODUCTION, Thank you so much.
Very Nice - Thanks for the tour - I can now say I've seen the inside of a PT boat.
Great tour, just like being there, thanks!
I worked for chief in the Navy that had been on a PT in Nam. They told us he could go off without warning. They were Right. But much respect to him for his duty!!
Jerry, What a great job you did on your guided tour of the boat! I live in the Santa Cruz, California area, otherwise I would be at every work day!
Awesome video always seen the top of a PT Boat not below deck great video again
Thanks for the tour, really wanted to see the conditions inside this famous boat
Best tour ever! So this was what JFK skippered... Thanks for the education, very detailed, a lot of moving parts.
Fantastic video, thank you. I think it was the best walk through of a PT Boat I have seen. Well done.
I had no idea the extent of gear, guns and equipment crammed into one of these vessels. True genius use of space everywhere....simply an amazing war machine.
No idea
Very instructive, thank you for the time & work making this video & sharing it with the community, Ciao, L
Many thanks for this Walkthrough! You did it very weel with information and details, I love it! Greetings from France!
I REALLY Loved this !! THANK YOU.. Truly Fascinating !!!
Good video and audio from a fantastic boat
They did a great job restoring her!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
My grandfather served on PT 107. Nice to see what he experienced.
Very intresting tour thanks for showing us
Very cool piece of American history right here! Thank you sir
Thank you. Very well done.
Always liked the PT boats. Not even sure why but there's just something about em that appeals to me.
Thanks for your video work. I learned many things from it! Good work!
Thank you for taking the time to do such an awesome tour. And thank you to all the men and women and the families for former service men who both toiled and worked so hard to preserve this true living history monument (though moving) to our past and to what was absolutely a national effort to defend our great Nation and May God preserve and Bless the United Sates of America and slaughter our enemies both foreign and domestic..
Well done and very knowledgeable. Impressive. Thanks. Some fun facts: Approx 513 PT boats in WWII There were at least 6 different mfgrs of these boats making many different models of varying lengths; 72-81ft. At the end of the war most all boats were stripped and burned where they were stationed. (Wood hulls.) During the war approx 1 in 5 were lost. There are 14 known boats left today.
My dad, an air traffic controller, was xfer'd in '72 to John Wayne Airport. He came home one day telling us he was looking at a PT Boat from WWII. I was 8 and excited about it, but as things would have it, when he went back to make an offer, it had sold.
Blackmongoose There were only three companies that made PT Boats for the US Navy, Elco, Higgins, Huckster, there may have been others that made similiar for other countries !!! !
Just picked up a 1961 first edition of "PT-109" and this video was perfect! How cramped, but boy did these babies carry a whollop of weaponry!
Great video! The boat looks amazing !
Those little boats packed alot of firepower, WOW.
FANTASTIC video - almost as good as being actually on board.
Wow that boat has a lot of weapons!
Good job, very informative!
Wow. I can say that this video was really fun to watch. I grew up watching McHale's navy and wanted to serve on a PT boat when i was little. 😆 Great job, you made my day!
Beautifully filmed, and very informative. Not one whiplash causing pan or vomit inducing zoom. Thumbs up from me. Ray
Met a PT skipper once, came to shop for a smog✔, short story long, chatted for couple Hours⏳ about his Pacific tour in WW2. He was in Jack Kennedy's squadron and mentioned stripping down torpedos & racing each other down the Slot for "engine testing" in between missions, & R&R Hijinks not suitable for public disclosure. Jack really loved his Crew and looked out for them and others in squadron.