http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4319128/PT-boat-saw-WWII-combat-restored-Louisiana.html

Nice to see an oldey restored !

 

Yep, it is nice to see that. Awful spendy to go for a ride on, but those three engines and screws suck up a lot of the expensive type of fuel, unless they modified the engines to burn the cheaper stuff.

 

Holy schmoly, that's why PT-305 is named USS Sudden Jerk -- three 1,500HP engines. What a ride!

Thanks for the article, kudos to the vets who rebuilt it, that boat is a beauty.

 

I wonder how often they run all three Packard's at the same time? In the one pic you can see they are only running the port and starboard and the midship is shut down. At something like 200 gals of Avgas 100 p/hr at normal cruise speed, I can see why they have a $350 price on the ride tickets.

 

There are very few PT's in existence.

After WWII ended in the PTO, the USN ran dozens aground in the P.I. and burned them.

However, I think 350 bucks is way too much money to take a ride, regardless of how much gas 3 Packard V12 engines burn.

I spent less than that for a one hour 'warbird' (AT-6) flight at the Kissimmee airport.

What's even rarer than PT boats are '4 piper' flush deck Destroyers.

100's were built, but AFAIK, there are none in existence (afloat) anywhere in the world.

 

It's amazing that ANY PT's are around - they were made out of WOOD! Thank God anybody cared enough about what they meant to save any of them...

"The PLYWOOD SHIP DESTROYER"

 

I'm reading "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James D. Hornfischer. This book is about the Battle of Samar.

USN DD's, DE's and CVE's vs HIMJN BB's; CA's; CL's & DD's.

Another book (Battle Report Vol IV: The End of an Empire) I have, has a chapter titled: Jeeps vs. Giants.

The book also talks about the Battle of Surigao Strait, where USN PT's, DD's, CA's and OBB's sank 2 BB's, plus.

 

Thank you for the book titles - I just may collect them.

When I was on ACDU I built up a library through the Military Book Club (similar setup to the Science Fiction Book Club but focused on military topics)

It was an education...


Here is a link, and I recommend it to anyone on active duty today - especially if you are trying to figure out why you are doing what you are:
https://www.militarybookclub.com/

Unless you are an Officer, I doubt you have any real idea of the science or history of warfare. They just don't teach you much. Realizing that, I went a step further. And I think that can help a lot of young men and women.


"How to Make War" by James F. Dunnigan is likely dated by now, Carl Von Clauswitz is classic as well as Sun Tzu (whom the Japanese used as the basis of their business model - literally transforming war into economic terms - which is what much of the modern Chinese model is I believe based upon)

The more we know the more we understand.

Little is new


I hope that by handing you that on a silver platter - a wide library of books and histories studied in detail, I have given you a priceless treasure

I don't intend it as an advertisement, damned if I will ever see a dime from it! But this is where you can get information, lots of it. Also analysis by some of the best military analysts you could ask for

But who the hell knows where to find that stuff?

 

As a long time subscriber to Sea Classics magazine, I'm familiar with the Military Book Club, but never joined.

Most of the 100's of books I have on military history, I bought at independent book stores.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and another book by the same author: The Fleet at Food Tide, America at Total War in the Pacific 1944-1945 (haven't read it yet) I bought at B&N along with Dawn Of Infamy by Stephan Harding.

This is the story of the SS Cynthia Olson, the first ship (a lumber carrier) sunk December 7, 1941 by a Japanese sub between CA and HI

There's always been a controversy: Was this ship sunk before the attack on Pearl Harbor...or not? The author proved...it wasn't.

The Olson's distress call picked up by the Matson Liner SS Lurline was received at 8:08 AM. The attack began before 8 AM, some say as early as 7:45 AM

'Course the USS Ward (DD-139) fired the first shots of WWII before 7AM, sinking a midget sub that was trailing behind the tug Antares that was headed into Pearl Harbor.

 

I hear that, av gas is $4.50 a gal here at the local http://www.airnav.com/airport/KFWN get into a bigger Ap like http://www.airnav.com/airport/KTEB it can cost $9.58 a gal. might as well buy cam2 race gas

 

wonder how hard they had to look to find parts to OH those motors? 200 gals a hour maybe at less then 1/2 open , attached is one of my toys, many of us can remember the old LCPL"s the 425 hp 8v71 tia pulls 40 gals a hour at 3/4 and 20 knts
she came off lsd 46 in 05. when they swapped out to RHIB's

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I remember seeing this before - thank God you have deeper pockets than mine!

The sinking of the Cynthia Olsen seems to be coincident with the attack on Pearl - and I am not sure what it means.

Q: When exactly did Packard go out of business? Or was it absorbed by another company?

(Like Desoto was taken over by Chrysler)

 

that boat had a $2.500 price from government surplus plus another $1.500 to truck it from little creek VA to NJ. then another 12k in parts for me to over haul that pig of a 8v71, 8 piston & liner kits. main and rod bearings. 1 used head, to replace a cracked one "the 2 strokes were known for". 2 turbos and the blower rebuilt. give the transmission a go over, add to the cost a new white paint job, full electric rewire/ rebuild from 24 volts to the combo of 24 to start and 12 for the lights and new electronic's added a head and tank.
today she works as a patrol boat for the USCG AUX. on the Hudson river.

packard mixed with Studebaker the last real pack was built late june 25 1956 for 57 it was the stude packard clipper 1962 stude dropped the packard name fully . don't remember much about them other then getting my DL in a 49 clipper
here is more info for you dutch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard#1957.E2.80.931958

 

Since the SSSS message (Submarine attack) from the Cynthia Olsen was picked up by the Matson Liner Lurline at 8:08 AM, it wasn't attacked until the Pearl Harbor Attack had already begun.

Packard purchased Studebaker in a stock swap in late 1954, the plan was to fold it into American Motors (composed of Nash & Hudson).

But George Mason, the prez of AMC died suddenly and AMC's new prez George Romney hated James J. Nance, prez of Studebaker-Packard, so that was the end of that.

It was later discovered that Studebaker had 'cooked the books.' Their published break even point was 150,000 vehicles, but in reality, it was 350,000 vehicles!

Packard spent a fortune they didn't have on the 1956 Studebakers, then when it came time to borrow money for the 1957 Studebaker & Packard models, no one would loan them the money.

So Packard was dropped, production moved to South Bend. The 1957 and 1958 Packards were basically rebadged Studebakers, very few were made.

Walter P. Chrysler had attempted to buy Dodge several times from the brothers widows, but was thwarted, so in 1929, he introduced the DeSoto. Soon after that, Dodge became available, so he purchased it too.

btw: There's no such thing as a 1949 Clipper. Clipper introduced in 1941, dropped after 1947, reintroduced in 1953 (replacing the Packard 200 that was made 1951/52).