So much for the past of the torpedo boat. What about its future?
The PT fleet was quickly disbanded after the war. Today, although the Soviet navy has more than 500 motor torpedo boats—according to Jane’s Fighting Ships—and even though Soviet-built torpedo boats ply Cuban waters almost within sight of American shores, the U. S. Navy has not a single PT in commission.
But in the waters of Long Island Sound and in sheltered bays on the Pacific Coast strange craft are roaring about—experimental craft that lift out of the water to skim along on hydrofoils at dazzling speeds (though even the modern hydrofoil cannot attain the breath-taking speeds ascribed to the PTs by overeager reporters during the days of the MacArthur rescue run).
The Navy is puttering about with these hydrofoils, arming them with homing torpedoes, experimenting with tactics to use against swift nuclear submarines—the capital ships of future navies.
There may again be a job in the Navy for the dashing young sailor who prefers the swift give and take of small-boat service to the staid and plodding duty on ships of the line. There may still be room in America’s arsenal for David’s giant-killing slingshot.
Appendix 1
Specifications, Armament, and Crew
American PT boats, with only a few exceptions, were of two types, 78-foot Higgins-built boats and 80-foot Elcos. Draft to the tips of propellers was five feet six inches. Power supply was from three Packard V-12 engines giving 4,500 shaft horsepower. Tanks held 3,000 gallons of high-octane gasoline and 200 gallons of potable water. Normal crew was three officers and 14 men, though the complement varied widely under combat conditions. The boat could carry enough provisions for about five days. The boat weighed 121,000 pounds, of which 30,000 were contributed by four torpedoes and tubes, a 40 mm., two twin 50 caliber, and one 20-mm. antiaircraft gun, one 37-mm. cannon, two rocket launchers with eight 5-inch rockets, a 60-mm. mortar, and a smoke-screen generator. In combat, PT skippers often improvised other armaments to adapt to local conditions. Pound for pound, the PT boat was by far the most heavily armed vessel afloat. Top speed under ideal conditions was 43 knots. Conditions were seldom ideal.
Appendix 2
Losses Suffered by PT Squadrons
Destroyed by surface ships: by gunfire, 5; by ramming, 1 (this one, 109, was destined to become one of the most famous boats of all time, because of the subsequent employment of its skipper, John F. Kennedy). Destroyed by aircraft: strafing, 1; bombing, 4; kamikaze, 2. Destroyed by shore batteries: 5. Destroyed by mines: 4. Damaged by surface ships and beached to prevent capture: 1. Lost in transit on transports sunk: 2. Grounded in enemy waters and destroyed to prevent capture: 18. Destroyed to prevent capture: 3 (the boats left behind by Lt. Bulkeley’s squadron on quitting the Philippines). Destroyed by U. S. aircraft: 3; by Australian aircraft, 2. Destroyed by surface friendlies: 2. Destroyed possibly by enemy shore battery, possibly by friendly destroyer: 1. Lost in storms: 5. Destroyed by fire and explosion in port: 6. Destroyed in collision: 3. Total: 69.