183-562: PT-59 / PTGB-1 was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat ( PT boat ) of the United States Navy , built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey . The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-27 , and was reclassified as BPT-11 when assigned to transfer to Britain under Lend-Lease . However, this was cancelled, and she was reclassified as PT-59 prior to launch on 8 October 1941, and
366-508: A 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon . Propulsion was via a trio of Packard 4M-2500 and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled V-12 marine engines . Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Their role
549-412: A daybreak raid on the base . Aircraft from recently captured Vella Lavella were sent over to provide a combat air patrol over the carriers. All available aircraft from the two carriers were committed to the raid itself. The mission was a stunning success, so damaging the cruiser force at Rabaul as to make them no longer a threat. Aircraft losses in the raid were light. Halsey later described the threat to
732-411: A 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 21-inch (530 mm) steel torpedo tubes . Mark 8 torpedoes had a range of 16,000 yards (14,630 m) at 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight 22.5-inch-diameter (570 mm) Mark 13 torpedoes , which weighed 2,216 pounds (1,005 kg) and contained
915-817: A 50-foot (15 m) "Sea Sled" torpedo boat and submitted these to the Navy in hopes of obtaining a contract. While favorably received, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels rejected the proposal since the US was not at war, but Hickman was advised to submit his plans and proposal to the British Admiralty, which was done the following month. The Admiralty found it interesting but thought that "no fast boat of 50' to 60' length would be sufficiently seaworthy", so Hickman built and launched his own privately financed 41-foot (12 m) sea sled capable of carrying
1098-604: A 600-pound (270 kg) Torpex -filled warhead. These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks. The Mark 13 torpedo had a range of 6,300 yards (5,800 m) and a speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph). PT boats were also armed with numerous automatic weapons. Common to all US PT boats were the two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44 ) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically-operated rotating turrets. Almost immediately after
1281-610: A contract in 1941 for 8 boats, and later added 10 more. The design was enlarged and modified to meet the new requirements. The first three of the new design ( PT-95 through PT-97 ) were initially kept in the Jacksonville, Florida, area for testing, resulting in several important modifications to the overall design (these boats were later assigned to Squadron 4 in 1942). Huckins ended up building just two squadrons of PT boats during World War II. Five 78-foot (24 m) boats were assigned to Squadron 14 ( PT-98 through PT-102 ) which
1464-460: A daylight raid, many of the 59 ' s crew were concerned that Kennedy volunteered for the riskiest missions and constantly sought out danger, but they were usually willing participants. Cluster gave Kennedy a perfect 4.0 for his leadership as PT-59 ' s commanding officer, writing that Kennedy "demonstrated a cool effectiveness under fire and exhibited good judgement and determination in entirely strange conditions." With Kennedy suffering from
1647-438: A deaf ear to these calls. Then, shortly after 10:00 hours, a message was received from Admiral Nimitz: "Where is repeat where is Task Force 34? The world wonders". The tail end of this message, The world wonders , was intended as padding designed to confuse enemy decoders, but was mistakenly left in the message when it was handed to Halsey. The urgent inquiry had seemingly become a stinging rebuke. The fiery Halsey threw his hat on
1830-466: A familiarization trip to the south Pacific on October 15, 1942, arriving at area headquarters at Nouméa in New Caledonia on October 18. The Guadalcanal campaign was at a critical juncture, with the 1st Marine Division, 11,000 men, under the command of Marine Major General Alexander Vandegrift holding on by a thread around Henderson Field . The Marines did receive additional support from
2013-532: A frontal angle. On 7 October 1943, the five-week redesign of PT-59 was completed, and on the following day Kennedy was promoted to full lieutenant. Kennedy's new executive officer was Lt. (j.g.) Robert Lee "Dusty" Rhoads. Rhoads later stated he was impressed that so many men (five) from PT-109 followed Kennedy to his new command. Kennedy's loss of the 109 was not viewed as a shortcoming by his crew, many of whom had been on other craft that had sunk or been run aground. Two other gunboats were also converted. The plan
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#17327718552372196-422: A full loaded weight of 56,000 lb (25,000 kg), C-378 made a top speed of 37 kn (69 km/h; 43 mph) with 1,400 horsepower (1,000 kW), and maintained an average speed of 34.5 kn (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph) in a winter northeaster storm with 12-to-14-foot (3.7 to 4.3 m) seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. The sea sled did not surface again as
2379-476: A guy work harder, longer hours". Kennedy's gunboat, sometimes referred to as PT-0001 was the first completed, and it carefully followed the design and planning of both Kennedy and squadron commander Cluster. Another PT gunboat was given to Lenny Thom, who helped in the refit, and later commanded. Thom had been Kennedy's former executive officer on PT-109 . Both sides of PT-59 ' s highly flammable 3000 gallon gas tanks, housed below decks and immediately behind
2562-511: A host of ailments, Cluster relieved him of command on 18 November, after a routine patrol off Redman Island in Choiseul Bay. Kennedy had lost twenty pounds in the three previous months and had put back little of the weight, weighing only around 145 pounds at six feet of height. In Lambu Lambu's hospital, Dr. Wharton, concerned about Jack's worsening back problems and continued weight loss, diagnosed "chronic disk disease" and colitis, and passed
2745-429: A northerly path for the storm, which would have cleared Task Force 38 by some two hundred miles (320 km). Eventually his own staff provided a prediction regarding the direction of the storm that was far closer to the mark with a westerly direction. However, Halsey played the odds, declining to cancel planned operations and requiring the ships of Third Fleet to hold formation. On the evening of December 17 Third Fleet
2928-469: A powder charge and set off two others. No explosion occurred, but the rapid burning of the powder burnt and suffocated to death 31 officers and enlisted sailors. This resulted in Halsey dreading the 13th of every month, especially when it fell on a Wednesday. After his service on Missouri , Halsey served aboard torpedo boats, beginning with USS Du Pont in 1909. Halsey was one of the few officers who
3111-645: A profit of $ 28.60 on this transaction. In March 1941, during a heavy weather run from Key West to New York by Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRON 2), Elco 70-footers pounded heavily in 8-to-10-foot (2.4 to 3.0 m) waves even at moderate speeds, and seas continuously broke high over the bows. Operating personnel reported extreme discomfort and fatigue. All boats suffered from some sort of structural failure: forward chine guards ripped away, bottom framing under bows broken, side planking cracked [indicating lack of longitudinal strength], and other weaknesses were reported. In April MTBRON 1 reported enthusiasm over
3294-722: A series of naval battles around Guadalcanal, including the carrier engagements of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal . These engagements checked the Japanese advance and drained their naval forces of carrier aircraft and pilots. For his conduct, "can-do" leadership style, and increasing number of forces under his command, Halsey was promoted to four-star admiral in October 1942. The promotion put Halsey into sustained public spotlight for
3477-634: A shield, positioning itself between the Japanese shore battery and both the escaping marines in the water and one landing craft bearing marines, 250 yards (230 m) from shore, that had been damaged after running aground on the coral reef. PT-59 took aboard ten marines near the crippled craft and fed them canned peaches, the first meal they had had in days. Three marines were wounded, including Corporal Schnell who died in Kennedy's bunk that night, attended by his Marine doctor, whom Kennedy had also picked up. Kennedy's PT may have slowly departed, as she carried
3660-474: A single 18-inch Whitehead Mark 5 torpedo . In February 1915, this Hickman sea sled demonstrated 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph) speeds in rough winter seas off Boston to both US and foreign representatives, but again he received no contracts. The Admiralty representative for this sea sled demonstration was Lieutenant G. C. E. Hampden. In the summer of 1915, Lieutenants Hampden, Bremner, and Anson approached John I. Thornycroft & Company about developing
3843-582: A single-shot Army M3 37 mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost. The larger punch of the 37 mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot Army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37 mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal . After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats,
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#17327718552374026-704: A small high speed torpedo boat, and this effort eventually led to the Coastal Motor Boat which first went into service in April 1916. Meanwhile, in August 1915, the General Board of the United States Navy approved the purchase of a single experimental small torpedo boat that could be transportable. This contract for C-250 ended up going to Greenport Basin and Construction Company . When it
4209-559: A speed of one per month. The success and ruggedness of the Huckins' 78-foot seagoing design is demonstrated by Squadron 26's constant ready-boat operations and fleet torpedo boat training in the oceans around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war. Vospers of Great Britain arranged for several boatyards in the United States to build British-designed 70 ft (21 m) motor torpedo boats under license to help
4392-469: A third full, around seven hundred gallons, so he sent two additional PT's to accompany him and provide support if necessary. Completing their Northbound route to Choiseul, PT-59 first arrived near the shore of the Marine outpost at Voza Village and picked up Kennedy's friend from Rendova, Lieutenant Richard Keresey, and Lt. Col. Krulak, who acted as guides. The officers were picked up from a landing craft near
4575-519: A third. The following day, Third Fleet's aircraft carriers launched strikes against Kurita's Center Force, sinking the battleship Musashi and damaging the heavy cruiser Myōkō , causing the force to turn westward back towards its base. Kurita appeared to be retiring but he later reversed course and headed back into the San Bernardino Strait . At this point, Ozawa's Northern Force was located by Third Fleet scout aircraft. Halsey made
4758-548: A torpedo boat topic until 1939 but continued to be used by both the Army and Navy as rescue boats and seaplane tenders during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1922, the US Navy reconsidered using small internal combustion engine powered torpedo boats. As a result, two types—45-foot (14 m) and 55-foot (17 m)—of British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats were obtained for testing. The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. In 1938,
4941-621: A total of 7 battleships and 16 cruisers. The operation brought about the Battle for Leyte Gulf , the largest naval battle of the Second World War and, by some criteria, the largest naval battle in history . On October 23, the Center Force commanded by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita was located coming through the Palawan Passage by two American submarines, which attacked the force , sinking two heavy cruisers and damaging
5124-487: A view to obtaining one that could be used as a check on the Navy's efforts. While visiting the British Power Boat Company , they purchased a 70-foot (21 m) private venture motor torpedo boat (MTB) design—PV70, later renamed PT-9— designed by the power boat racer Hubert Scott-Paine . PT-9 was to serve as the prototype for all the early Elco PT boats. After the initial competition, in late 1939
5307-575: Is safe to assume repairs were performed on the boat by the MTB Base Repair Training Unit. PT-59 was redesignated as a "Small Boat" and renumbered C102583 on 14 October 1944, and along with ex- PT-47 , used briefly as a crash rescue boat at NAS Norfolk , before being transferred to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 December 1944 to serve as a test subject for dehydration tests. Surveyed on 21 March 1947, she
5490-432: The 1st Marine Parachute Regiment that had been lost in the jungle and trapped by Japanese shore fire during the recent raid on Choiseul Island , still in progress. The trapped marines originally numbered around 87, and had faced as many as 900 Japanese during the height of the fighting. Kennedy was reluctant to have his gunners fire on the shoreline, afraid of hitting any of the marines waiting to evacuate. The 59 acted as
5673-619: The Battle of Leyte Gulf , the largest naval battle of the Second World War and, by some criteria, the largest naval battle in history . He was promoted to fleet admiral in December 1945 and retired from active service in March 1947. Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey , on October 30, 1882, the son of Anna Masters (Brewster) and United States Navy Captain William F. Halsey . Halsey
Patrol torpedo boat PT-59 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5856-612: The Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1934, the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics , Navy Rear Admiral Ernest King , offered Halsey command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga , subject to completion of the course of an air observer. Halsey elected to enroll as a cadet for the full 12-week Naval Aviator course rather than the simpler Naval Aviation Observer program. "I thought it better to be able to fly
6039-552: The Solomon Islands with MTB Squadron 2, numbering 8 boats. The squadron was based at Sesapi on Tulagi Island. On the night of 9 December, Lt. (j.g.) John M. Searles USNR, in the 59 , patrolling with PT-44 at Kamimbo Bay, sighted an enemy barge. As the PT-boats opened fire on the barge, Searles saw a surfaced submarine. He quickly fired two torpedoes, one of which struck it amidships. A geyser of water spouted high in
6222-670: The United States Naval Academy in 1904. He served in the Great White Fleet and, during World War I , commanded the destroyer USS Shaw . He took command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga in 1935 after completing a course in naval aviation, and was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1938. At the start of the War in the Pacific (1941–1945), Halsey commanded the task force centered on
6405-601: The attack on Pearl Harbor , the Dewandre turrets were replaced on the entire PT boat fleet with open-ring twin mounts. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and Bell and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. Part of the Mark 17 Mod 1 and Mod 2 ring mount consisted of the Bell Mark 9 twin cradle. Another automatic weapon commonly mounted on PT boats was the 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. On early series of boats,
6588-451: The 4-6 Australian P-40's that responded were eventually shot down. On the evening of 3 November, PT-59 and four other craft traveled around 45 miles (72 km) from Lambu Lambu back to the Marine base at Voza Village and screened and escorted several landing craft that carried additional marines back to Vella Lavella Island. The 59 and several other PT's arrived in darkness at Voza around 11:30 p.m. and interspersed themselves around
6771-603: The 77 ft (23 m) Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended 70 ft (21 m) Elco would not be an improvement. The conference recommended a series of comparative tests to evaluate what turned out to be five new designs of motor torpedo boats. The conference strongly recommended that no more Elco 77-footers be ordered until the tests had shown that they were indeed satisfactory. The Board of Inspection and Survey , headed by Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox Jr. , conducted comparative service tests off New London, Connecticut , from 21 to 24 July 1941, using
6954-516: The 81-foot Higgins ( PT-6 ), and with the PT-6 showing such good seakeeping, further purchase of Scott-Paine boats was unnecessary. In early 1941 the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships lent Packard engines to both Huckins and Higgins, which wanted to build competitive boats at their own expense. A Chief of Naval Operations PT Boat Conference convened in May 1941 to discuss future PT characteristics. All PTs prior to
7137-557: The Battle for Guadalcanal: Halsey said he gave this order to conform to Army practice and for comfort. To his command it viscerally evoked the image of a brawler stripping for action and symbolized a casting off of effete elegance no more appropriate to the tropics than to war. Halsey led the South Pacific command through what was for the U.S. Navy the most tenuous phase of the war. Halsey committed his limited naval forces through
7320-598: The Crouch design; to the Philadelphia Navy Yard (PT-7, PT-8) for 81-foot boats designed by the Bureau of Ships. These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines. Higgins built an additional PT-6 "Prime" redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. Later that same year, Higgins built PT-70 (at their own expense) that incorporated slight improvements over PT-6 Prime . Later, testing revealed shortcomings that had to be fixed before
7503-559: The Elco 77' (PT-20 Class) developed structural failures even under moderate weather conditions prevailing. In the interval between the first and second test periods the PT-70 was repaired and an effort made to eliminate the causes of the structural failures. However, during the second endurance run, which was made in a very rough sea for this size boat, structural failures again occurred in PT-70. PT-69 and PT-21 experienced structural failures during
Patrol torpedo boat PT-59 - Misplaced Pages Continue
7686-479: The Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the contoured "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time (and still in use today): a sharp V at the bow softening to a flat bottom at the stern. A common characteristic of this type of contoured hull is the "rooster tail" in the wake. Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at 10-11 knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds (PT 71 and PT-103 classes at around 27 knots, and
7869-589: The Germans. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, three of which have been restored to their World War II configuration) than the more numerous Elco boats. Of the Elco boats, only three hulls (one restored) were known to exist as of 2016. Huckins and his innovative Quadraconic planing hull design were latecomers to PT boat design. Not invited to participate in
8052-637: The Harlem River near 208th Street indicated a strong possibility that PT-59 could be found and recovered. He is looking to raise funds from Kennedy focused organizations to fully explore the area. In June 2020 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that parts of the boat had been recovered during preparations to construct a seawall . Byron "Whizzer" White served as deputy attorney general under Kennedy, who later appointed White as an associate justice to
8235-525: The Huckins ( PT-69 ) completed the run. The Huckins withdrew because of a bilge stringer failure. The Higgins 76-footer ( PT-70 ) completed the entire run but also suffered structural failures: attachments between planking and web frames pulled loose and deck fastenings near engine hatches showed extensive failures. PT-21 suffered minor cracks in the deck in the same location, but not to the same extent, as previously observed in PT-26 , PT-30 , and PT-33 . PT-29
8418-603: The Huckins 72-foot (22 m) boat, was third with an average speed of 33.83 kn (62.65 km/h; 38.93 mph); PT-6 , the Higgins 81-footer, with an average speed of 31.4 kn (58.2 km/h; 36.1 mph) was fifth; and PT-8 , the Philadelphia Navy Yard boat, was last, at 30.75 kn (56.95 km/h; 35.39 mph). The other two Elco boats, PT-30 and PT 23 (standby boat), followed PT-31 , placing before PT-69 . The accelerometers ranked
8601-466: The Japanese carrier force, Halsey gave orders to "sink any shipping sighted, shoot down any plane encountered." His operations officer protested, "Goddammit, Admiral, you can't start a private war of your own! Who's going to take the responsibility?" Halsey replied, "I'll take it! If anything gets in my way, we'll shoot first and argue afterwards." A storm delayed Enterprise on her return voyage to Hawaii. Instead of returning on December 6 as planned, she
8784-401: The Japanese efforts to dislodge them, he intended to secure the island. Above all else, he wanted to regain the initiative and take the fight to the Japanese. It was two days after Halsey had taken command in October 1942 that he gave an order that all naval officers in the South Pacific would dispense with wearing neckties with their tropical uniforms. As Richard Frank commented in his account of
8967-556: The Japanese for inter-island transport. Several saw service with the Philippine Navy , where they were named " Q-boats ". Primary anti-ship armament on the standard PT boat was four 21-inch Mark 8 torpedoes , each of which had a 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead and a range of 16,000 yards (15,000 m) at 36 knots (67 km/h). Two twin .50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns were mounted for anti-aircraft defense and general fire support. Some boats carried
9150-517: The Japs in the air. That's why I sent Pete Mitscher up there. Pete was a fighting fool and I knew it." Typical for the period was an exchange that occurred between Halsey and one of his staff officers in June 1943. The South Pacific Area was expecting the arrival of an additional air group to support their next offensive. As a part of the long view of winning the war taken by Nimitz, upon its arrival at Fiji
9333-890: The Leyte landings were still successful despite Halsey falling for the Japanese Navy's decoy. After the Leyte Gulf engagement, December found the Third Fleet confronted with another powerful enemy in the form of Typhoon Cobra , which was dubbed "Halsey's Typhoon" by many. While conducting operations off the Philippines, the fleet had to discontinue refueling due to a Pacific storm. Rather than move Third Fleet away, Halsey chose to remain on station for another day. In fairness, he received conflicting information from Pearl Harbor and his own staff. The Hawaiian weathermen predicted
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#17327718552379516-558: The M4 (and later M9) cannon was installed at the factory. The M4/M9 37 mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large magazine (30 rounds). These features made it highly desirable because of the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese Daihatsu -class barges , which were largely immune to torpedoes because of their shallow draft . By
9699-627: The Mediterranean on 9 March 1945 and yet returned to base for repairs. PT-167 (Elco) was holed through the bow off Bougainville Island on 5 November 1943 by a torpedo which failed to detonate; the boat remained in action and was repaired the next day. In 1943, an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. This resulted in the November 1943 Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before
9882-497: The Naval Academy on February 2, 1904. Following graduation he spent his early service years in battleships , and sailed with the main battle fleet aboard the battleship USS Kansas as Roosevelt's Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe from 1907 to 1909. Halsey was on the bridge of the battleship USS Missouri on Wednesday, April 13, 1904, when a flareback from the port gun in her aft turret ignited
10065-422: The Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of PT-9 . On 11 October 1940 an agreement between the Navy and Huckins Yacht Corporation was finalized. The Navy would provide engines and Huckins would build a PT boat at their own expense, with the caveat that the boat (upon completion) would be offered to the Navy for a later sum. This 72-foot (22 m) boat (designated MT-72) later became PT-69 . Huckins reported
10248-664: The Navy. Several of the crew of PT-109 rode on a patrol boat float at his inauguration. In 1948, as a member of the House of Representatives, Kennedy came out strongly in favor of retaining the Marines as a separate division of the armed services. PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat ) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II . It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at
10431-574: The Northeast coast of Choiseul Island, near the base of the Warrior River. Though the barges were believed to be unmanned, they would likely never return to duty. Attacking manned barges required the superior use of firepower, and then a quick retreat, and were usually brief, but important actions as barges could ferry both troops and supplies. On the night of 11 November, the 59 ' s gunners fired at two Japanese armored barges emerging from
10614-547: The PT-265 and 625 classes at around 23 knots). The Elco, Higgins and Huckins companies used varying lightweight techniques of hull construction. Though often said to be made of plywood , the hulls were actually made of two diagonal layered 1 in (25 mm) thick mahogany planks, with a glue-impregnated or lead-painted layer of canvas in between. Holding all this together were thousands of bronze screws and copper rivets. This type of construction made it possible for damage to
10797-492: The Pacific Fleet, he remarked, "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell." Halsey was an aggressive commander. Above all else, he was an energetic and demanding leader who had the ability to invigorate the U.S. Navy's fighting spirit when most required. In the early months of the war, as the nation was rocked by the fall of one western bastion after another, Halsey looked to take
10980-632: The Pearl Harbor debacle he summed up American carrier tactics being to "get to the other fellow with everything you have as fast as you can and to dump it on him." Halsey testified he would never hesitate to use the carrier as an offensive weapon. In April 1940, Halsey's ships, as part of Battle Fleet, moved to Hawaii and in June 1940, he was promoted to vice admiral (temporary rank), and was appointed commander Carrier Division 2 and commander Aircraft Battle Force. With tensions high and war imminent, U.S. Naval intelligence indicated Wake Island would be
11163-425: The Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins chose to use it on their boats. Most probably due to the lateness in joining the PT boat program and unlike Elco and Higgins, the Huckins yard was not provided government support to construct a larger facility prior to the war. The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at
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#173277185523711346-566: The South Pacific Area commander while Halsey was en route. As Halsey's aircraft came to rest in Nouméa, a whaleboat came alongside carrying Ghormley's flag lieutenant. Meeting him before he could board the flagship, the lieutenant handed over a sealed envelope containing a message from Nimitz: "You will take command of the South Pacific Area and South Pacific forces immediately." The order came as an awkward surprise to Halsey. Ghormley
11529-537: The Soviet Union and Great Britain at the beginning of the war, so many of the lower-numbered squadrons in the U.S. Navy were made up exclusively of Elcos. U.S. Navy PT boats were organized into MTBRONs. The first Higgins boats for the U.S. Navy were used in the battle for the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) as part of Squadrons 13 and 16, and others (MTBRON15 and MTBRON22) in the Mediterranean against
11712-580: The Supreme Court in the early 1960s. White had acted as the intelligence officer for Commander Thomas Warfield, Kennedy's commanding officer while he served in Rendova, and had investigated the sinking of the PT-109 . He joined Kennedy on several patrols of PT-59 , while Kennedy captained the boat from Lambu Lambu. Kennedy appointed Paul Burgess ("Red") Fay Jr., skipper of PT-167 , as Under Secretary of
11895-491: The U.S. Seventh Fleet carried out General Douglas MacArthur's major landings on the island of Leyte in the Central Philippines. Halsey's Third Fleet was assigned to cover and support Seventh Fleet operations around Leyte. Halsey's plans assumed the Japanese fleet or a major portion of it would challenge the effort, creating an opportunity to engage it decisively. Halsey directed that the Third Fleet "will seek
12078-499: The U.S. Army's 164th Infantry Regiment with a complement of 2,800 soldiers on October 13. This addition only helped to fill some of the serious holes and was insufficient to sustain the battle of itself. During this critical juncture, naval support was tenuous due to Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley 's reticence, malaise and lackluster performance. Pacific Fleet commander Chester Nimitz had concluded that Ghormley had become dispirited and exhausted. Nimitz made his decision to change
12261-503: The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Prior to the discussion of his raids against the Japanese positions in the Marshall Islands, Halsey informed the midshipmen before him, "Missing the Battle of Midway has been the greatest disappointment of my career, but I am going back to the Pacific where I intend personally to have a crack at those yellow-bellied sons of bitches and their carriers," which was received with loud applause. At
12444-509: The U.S. Navy's most aggressive admiral, and with good reason. He set about assessing the situation to determine what actions were needed. Ghormley had been unsure of his command's ability to maintain the Marine toehold on Guadalcanal, and had been mindful of leaving them trapped there for a repeat of the Bataan Peninsula disaster. Halsey punctiliously made it clear he did not plan to withdraw the Marines. He not only intended to counter
12627-567: The U.S. These were to be provided to the Dutch forces under Lend Lease but were re-requisitioned to the USN as PT 368–371 after the fall of the Netherlands to German forces. PT boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. Crews varied from 12 to 17, depending upon the number and type of weapons installed. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons. The hull shapes of
12810-404: The U.S. in 1927, he served one year as executive officer of the battleship USS Wyoming , and then for three years in command of USS Reina Mercedes , the station ship at the Naval Academy. Then- Captain Halsey continued his destroyer duty on his next two-year stint at sea, starting in 1930 as the Commander of Destroyer Division Three of the Scouting Force, before returning to study at
12993-403: The US Navy renewed their investigation into the concept by requesting competitive bids for several different types of motor torpedo boats but excluded Hickman's sea sled. This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. The first class was for 54-foot (16 m) boats, and the second class was for 70-foot (21 m) boats. The resulting PT boat designs were
13176-457: The Warrior River on Choiseul, but they quickly fled. Barge traffic in the vicinity had begun to diminish slightly by this period in the Solomon campaign, as thousands of exhausted Japanese troops on Choiseul began to hope for evacuation northwest to Bouganville Island. On 13 November, PT-59 had success shelling Sipassa and Guppy Island at the mouth of Choiseul Bay , only 2–3 miles northwest of
13359-470: The Warrior River, shown in map at right. According to Christiansen, the 59 then saw the flash of a muzzle farther back on the high bluffs of the Warrior River on northern Choiseul Island during return fire, and pinpointed heavy automatic fire at the flash, likely knocking out the shore battery. Flushed with his successes, Kennedy, developed a plan for a daylight raid up the Choiseul's Warrior River, shown in
13542-516: The West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept. Higgins Industries produced 199 78 ft (24 m) boats of the PT-71 / PT-235 , PT-265 and PT-625 classes. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engines, generators, shaft horsepower, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the 80 ft (24 m) Elco boats. Many Higgins boats were sent to
13725-697: The above recommendations and their order of merit. Those are: The newly designed 80 ft (24 m) Elco Naval Division boats were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. By war's end, more of the Elco boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. While comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history, these 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) beam wooden- hulled craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled destroyers , destroyer escorts , and corvettes . Five Elco boats were manufactured in knock-down kit form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on
13908-586: The actual identity of the fishing boat was discovered, James "Boat" Newberry, founder of PT Boats Inc., attempted to obtain her; however, her ownership was tangled up in NYC probate court . After an unexpected fire, the boat sank at its moorings, beside the 207th St. Bridge over the Harlem River , around 1976. The hull sat for years at the bottom of the river and slowly rotted away. In May 2017, Kennedy biographer William Doyle announced preliminary explorations in
14091-448: The advances in planing hull design borrowed from offshore powerboat racing and used multiple lightweight but more powerful marinized aircraft-derived V-12 engines , and thus were able to advance in both size and speed. During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans . Some were converted into gunboats which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by
14274-588: The air, followed by tremendous explosions and a huge oil slick that spread for an hour and a half. It was confirmed that Searles had sunk the submarine I-3 , a vessel 320 feet (97.5 m) long, of 1,955 tons standard surface displacement. In March 1943 PT-59 was sent forward to the Russell Islands . In the fall of 1943, David M. Levy returned to the United States and was succeeded as commanding officer by Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy . In September 1943, Kennedy took command of PT-59 . Though he had earned
14457-423: The aircraft itself than to just sit back and be at the mercy of the pilot," said Halsey at the time. Halsey earned his Naval Aviator's Wings on May 15, 1935, at the age of 52, the oldest person to do so in the history of the U.S. Navy. While he had approval from his wife to train as an observer, she learned from a letter after the fact that he had changed to pilot training, and she told her daughter, "What do you think
14640-492: The battle force had to slow to 12 knots so that the battleships could refuel their escorting destroyers. The refueling cost a two and a half-hour further delay. By the time Task Force 34 arrived at the scene it was too late to assist the Seventh Fleet's escort carrier groups. Kurita had already decided to retire and had left the area. A single straggling destroyer was caught by Halsey's advance cruisers and destroyers, but
14823-469: The battle group from shore-based aircraft. Carrier-based aircraft were lighter in design and had not been shown to be as lethal. The adage "Capital ships cannot withstand land-based air power" was well known. Aviation proponents, however, imagined bringing the fight to the enemy with the use of air power. Halsey was a firm believer in the aircraft carrier as the primary naval offensive weapon system. When he testified at Admiral Husband Kimmel's hearing after
15006-546: The beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs). The PT boat was very different from the first generation of torpedo boat , which had been developed at the end of the 19th century and featured a displacement hull form. These first generation torpedo boats rode low in
15189-570: The best possible V-bottom or hard chine design". Earlier when sea sleds were specifically excluded, Crouch had informed the Bureau of Ships that the sea sled was the best type of vessel for the job. Following the competition, contracts were placed for construction of boats: 25 May 1939 to Higgins Industries for two boats (PT5 and PT6) of the Sparkman & Stephens design, scaled up to an overall length of 81 feet; 8 June 1939 to Fogal Boat Yard (PT-1 and PT-2) and Fisher Boat Works (PT-3 and PT-4) for
15372-794: The boats as follows: first was the Philadelphia Navy Yard PT-8 with the least pounding, second was the Huckins PT-69 , third was the Higgins PT-6 , and last were the Elco 77-footers. Because of the problem with ingot loading, a 185 nmi (343 km; 213 mi) trial with the PTs fully fitted out was conducted on 12 August 1941. Four boats— PT-8 , PT-69 , PT-70 , and MRB—returned and Elco sent two new boats, PT-21 and PT-29 . During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as 16 ft (4.9 m). All except
15555-408: The cannon was mounted on the stern. Later in the war, several more of these 20 mm cannons were added amidships and on the forward deck. Forward of the chart house of some early Elco 77-foot (23 m) boats ( PT20 through PT44 ) were twin .30 cal (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns on pedestal mounts. Beginning in mid-1943, some boats were fitted with one or two .30 cal Browning machine guns on
15738-473: The carrier Enterprise, directing the Navy's counterstrikes. Psoriasis covered a great deal of his body and caused unbearable itching, making it nearly impossible for him to sleep. Gaunt and having lost 20 pounds (9.1 kg), he was medically ordered to the hospital in Hawaii and was successfully treated. Meanwhile, U.S. Naval intelligence had strongly ascertained that the Japanese were planning an attack on
15921-581: The carrier USS Enterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets. Halsey was made commander of the South Pacific Area , and led the Allied forces over the course of the Battle for Guadalcanal (1942–1943) and the fighting up the Solomon chain (1942–1945). In 1943 he was made commander of the Third Fleet , the post he held through the rest of the war. He took part in
16104-484: The case. Kinkaid and his staff failed to confirm this with Halsey, and neither had confirmed this with Nimitz. Despite aerial reconnaissance reports on the night of October 24–25 of Kurita's Center Force in the San Bernardino Strait, Halsey continued to take Third Fleet northwards, away from Leyte Gulf. When Kurita's Center Force emerged from the San Bernardino Strait on the morning of October 25, there
16287-416: The central Pacific island of Midway . Admiral Chester Nimitz , Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet , determined to take the opportunity to engage them. Losing Midway would have been a very serious threat because the Japanese then could easily take Hawaii and threaten the west coast of the United States. The loss of his most aggressive and combat experienced carrier admiral, Halsey, on the eve of this crisis
16470-416: The cockpit in the front of the boat on each side. The higher caliber guns were added to increase range and power and to make the 59 more effective against both Japanese barge traffic, which had powerful guns, and heavy caliber Japanese land and shore based garrisons. Admiral William Halsey and other high ranking naval officers had concluded that the torpedo tubes and Bliss–Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo es assigned
16653-498: The cockpit, and the gunwales were reinforced with armor plate to protect them from return fire. Kennedy was aware that the PT's wooden hulls without armor plating could not withstand even a single bullet or bomb fragment, and that the tiniest shard of hot metal could ignite the gas tanks, instantly destroying the boat and killing the crew. The 59 ' s crew set up some of the armor for live fire tests and found they could be breached at short range by .30 and .50-caliber machine guns at
16836-487: The combat task forces, allowed the fleet to operate for extended periods of time far out to sea in the central and western Pacific. The Japanese Navy conserved itself in port and would sortie in force to engage the enemy. The U.S. Navy remained at sea and on station, dominating whatever region it entered. The size of the Pacific Ocean, which Japanese planners had thought would limit the U.S. Navy's ability to operate in
17019-573: The completion of his convalescence in September 1942, Admiral Nimitz reassigned Halsey to Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet. After being medically approved to return to duty, Halsey was named to command a carrier task force in the South Pacific Area . Since Enterprise was still laid up in Pearl Harbor undergoing repairs following the Battle of the Eastern Solomons , and the other ships of Task Force 16 were still being readied, he began
17202-513: The copper fell into the hull. Nine boats participated in the trial. Six boats completed the trial, while three withdrew: PT-33 suffered structural damage off Block Island; PT-70 was damaged by loose copper ingots; and MRB developed engine trouble at the start of the run. By class, PT-20 , an Elco 77-footer, came in first with an average speed of 39.72 kn (73.56 km/h; 45.71 mph); followed by PT-31 , with an average speed of 37.01 kn (68.54 km/h; 42.59 mph); PT-69 ,
17385-477: The deck of the bridge and began cursing. Finally Halsey's Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Robert "Mick" Carney , confronted him, telling Halsey "Stop it! What the hell's the matter with you? Pull yourself together." Halsey cooled but continued to steam Third Fleet northward to close on Ozawa's Northern Force for a full hour after receiving the signal from Nimitz. Then, Halsey ordered Task Force 34 south. As Task Force 34 proceeded south they were further delayed when
17568-471: The designers were asked to submit more detailed plans for both the 54 and 70 foot boats by no later than 7 November. On 21 March 1939 Sparkman & Stephens won the prize in the 70-foot class, and George Crouch (for Henry B. Nevins, Inc. ) had won the design proposal for the 54-foot class. After winning the design competition for the smaller PT boat, Crouch wrote that Hickman's sea sled design would be far superior "in either rough or smooth water to that of
17751-622: The designs could meet performance specifications. As a result, the Navy ordered further investigation and refinement of the existing designs until a satisfactory working design could be obtained. At the same time, Henry R. Sutphen of Electric Launch Company (Elco) and his designers (Irwin Chase, Bill Fleming, and Glenville Tremaine) visited the United Kingdom in February 1939 at the Navy's request to see British motor torpedo boat designs with
17934-438: The desperate early months of the war, his desire to bring the fight to the enemy, his willingness to take on a gamble, worked against him in the later stages of the war. Halsey received much criticism for his decisions during the battle, with naval historian Samuel Morison terming the Third Fleet run to the north "Halsey's Blunder". However, the destruction of the Japanese carriers had been an important goal up to that point, and
18117-534: The direction of its new commander, Lieutenant (and future U.S. President) John F. Kennedy when the chronic inaccuracy of the era's torpedoes and under-arming of the resulting craft were both recognized. She had all four of her torpedo tubes removed, as well as her two depth charges, but retained two 40-millimeter Bofors cannon anti-aircraft guns fitted fore and aft. The refit also added six .50-caliber machine gun nests, with three on each side, behind shields, as well as additional weaponry. The partially armored craft
18300-511: The eastern end of Block Island , then around Fire Island Lightship, finishing at Montauk Point Whistling Buoy. At the time, only the Elco 77-footers were loaded with armament. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. This resulted in severe conditions for several of the boats during the trial and accounted for the transverse failure in PT-70 ' s deck and subsequent hull failure as
18483-419: The end of the war. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs ("ElcoPlane") which achieved significant increase in top speed. Higgins developed the small and fast 70-foot (21 m) Higgins Hellcat , which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production because of increased fuel consumption and other considerations. After the war, Lindsay Lord, who
18666-469: The enemy and attempt to bring about a decisive engagement if he undertakes operations beyond support of superior land based air forces." In response to the invasion, the Japanese launched their final major naval effort, an operation known as 'Sho-Go', involving almost all their surviving fleet. It was aimed at destroying the invasion shipping in Leyte Gulf . The Northern Force of Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa
18849-427: The extra weight of ten marines. Several of the unwounded marines held on to gun mounts to steady themselves as the 59 departed. The two PT's, including Kennedy's, then escorted the slow-moving landing craft they had shielded from fire back to Voza, and when it was clear they would safely reach their destination, they left the landing craft and returned to their base at Lambu Lambu. With their speed and maneuverability,
19032-518: The fight to the enemy. Serving as commander, Carrier Division 2 , aboard his flagship Enterprise , Halsey led a series of hit-and-run raids against the Japanese, striking the Gilbert and Marshall islands in February, Wake Island in March, and carrying out the Doolittle Raid in April 1942 against the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Japan's largest and most populous island Honshu ,
19215-481: The first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands , providing an important boost to American morale . Halsey's slogan, "Hit hard, hit fast, hit often," soon became a byword for the Navy. Halsey returned to Pearl Harbor from his last raid on May 26, 1942, in poor health due to the extremely serious and stressful conditions at hand. He had spent nearly all of the previous six months on the bridge of
19398-475: The first time, appearing on the cover of Time magazine's November 1942 issue which quoted Halsey from his superior Nimitz as "professionally competent and militarily aggressive without being recklessly foolhardy" and that his promotion by the President was something "he richly deserves". Halsey's four-star insignia were welded together from two-star rear admiral's insignia; his vice admiral's stars were sent to
19581-764: The following boats: Each member of the board conducted an independent inspection of every boat class, evaluating them for structural sufficiency, habitability, access, arrangement for attack control, and communication facilities. Boats were also evaluated under two conditions of armament loading: loaded and fully equipped with four 21 in (53 cm) torpedoes and sufficient fuel to operate 500 NM at 20 knots; and fully loaded with two 21 in (53 cm) torpedoes and ten 300 lb (140 kg) depth charges with sufficient fuel to operate 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph). Boats would have their tactical parameters of each design determined by photographs from an airship. Lastly, there
19764-483: The following recommendations: The board also had the following opinion on structural sufficiency: "During the first series of tests (21–24 July) the Huckins design (PT-69), the Philadelphia design (PT-8) and the Higgins design (PT-6) completed the open sea endurance run without structural damage. The Higgins 70' (British) boat did not complete this run because of engine trouble. The Higgins 76' (PT-70) and boats of
19947-503: The force refueled in preparation for the coming night battle. Halsey had no surface forces anywhere near equivalent strength to oppose them. Battleships Washington , South Dakota , and assorted cruisers had been transferred to the Central Pacific to support the upcoming invasion of Tarawa. Other than the destroyer screen, the only force Halsey had available were the carrier air groups on Saratoga and Princeton . Rabaul
20130-399: The forward half of future President John F. Kennedy 's PT-109 (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri . PT-323 (Elco) was cut in half by a kamikaze aircraft on 10 December 1944 off Leyte , yet remained floating for several hours. PT-308 (Higgins) had her stern sheared off by a collision with PT-304 during a night mission in
20313-402: The forward torpedo racks on pedestal mounts. Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ad hoc up-fits, where they mounted such weapons as 37 mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's PT-109 , which was equipped with
20496-511: The group was given new orders to return stateside and be broken up, its pilots to be used as instructors for pilot training. Halsey's headquarters had been counting on the air group for their operations up the Solomons chain. The staff officer who brought the dispatch to Halsey remarked "If they do that to us we will have to go on the defensive." The admiral turned to the speaker and replied: "As long as I have one plane and one pilot, I will stay on
20679-463: The heavy fighting that would have been necessary to capture the base itself. With the neutralization of Rabaul, major operations in the South Pacific Area came to a close. With his determination and grit, Halsey had bolstered his command's resolve and seized the initiative from the Japanese until ships, aircraft and crews produced and trained in the States could arrive in 1943 and 1944 to tip the scales of
20862-476: The immediate wake of the attack upon Pearl Harbor, Admiral Kimmel named Halsey "commander of all the ships at sea." Enterprise searched south and west of the Hawaiian Islands for the Japanese attackers, but did not locate the six Japanese fleet carriers then retiring to the north and west. Halsey and Enterprise slipped back into Pearl Harbor on the evening of December 8. Surveying the wreckage of
21045-399: The island from the Japanese. Japanese naval aviation proved to be formidable during the Solomon campaign. In April 1943, Halsey assigned Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher to become Commander Air, Solomon Islands , where he directed a mixed bag of army, navy, marine and New Zealand aircraft in the airwar over Guadalcanal and up the Solomons chain. Said Halsey: "I knew we'd probably catch hell from
21228-532: The landing craft waiting to pick up the marines. The Japanese were stationed near the shore, and began setting off booby traps. By around 1:50 a.m., the marines began boarding the landing craft, having been ordered to withdraw by Lt. Col. Krulak, who was concerned the Japanese might begin to mortar his troops. When the marines had fully boarded the landing crafts, the 59 and other PT's escorted them around 45 miles (72 km) back to Vella Lavella island. Operation Blissfull's diversionary raid on Choiseul was, for
21411-481: The landings as "the most desperate emergency that confronted me in my entire term as ComSoPac." Following the successful Bougainville operation, he then isolated and neutralized the Japanese naval stronghold at Rabaul by capturing surrounding positions in the Bismarck Archipelago in a series of amphibious landings known as Operation Cartwheel . This enabled the continuation of the drive north without
21594-451: The mission demonstrated the PTs ' suitability for search and rescue operations, their greatest strength throughout the war. Around 3:00 a.m. on 2 November, PT-59 ran out of gas about halfway back to Lambu Lambu and had to be towed by PT-236 . Both PT's were vulnerable to Japanese airstrikes during the slow towing process, and Kennedy called for air support. To Kennedy's dismay, all of
21777-478: The momentous decision to take all available strength northwards to destroy the Japanese carrier forces, planning to strike them at dawn of October 25. He considered leaving a battle group behind to guard the strait, and made tentative plans to do so, but he felt he would also have to leave one of his three carrier groups to provide air cover, weakening his chance to crush the remaining Japanese carrier forces. The entire Third Fleet steamed northward. San Bernardino Strait
21960-1037: The most effective way to bring the torpedo into combat against capital ships. Then- Lieutenant Commander Halsey's World War I service, including command of USS Shaw in 1918, earned him the Navy Cross . In October 1922, he was the Naval Attaché at the American Embassy in Berlin , Germany. One year later, he was given additional duty as naval attaché at the American Embassies in Christiania , Norway; Copenhagen , Denmark; and Stockholm , Sweden. He then returned to sea duty, again in destroyers in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne . Upon his return to
22143-461: The most heroic feats in the history of the U.S. Navy. Their efforts and those of the several hundred aircraft that the escort carriers could put up, many of whom, however could not be armed with the most effective ordnance to deal with heavy surface ships in time, took a heavy toll on Kurita's ships and convinced him that he was facing a stronger force than was the case. Mistaking the escort carriers for Halsey's fleet carriers, and fearing entrapment from
22326-562: The most part, a success. The Japanese did send reinforcements to Choiseul, weakening their reaction to the Allied Bougainville landing. The Choiseul operation destroyed several hundred tons of enemy fuel and supplies, sank two barges, and destroyed the barge station at Sangigai, Choiseul, disrupting Japanese barge traffic along the coast of Choiseul. At 5:30 a.m on 5 November, PT-59 , accompanied by two other PT's, destroyed three Japanese barges they found beached on Moli Island on
22509-769: The news to Cluster who worked to get Kennedy back to the states. First sent to Tulagi for medical care and diagnosis, Kennedy was sent home to the States on 23 December 1943, aboard the USS Breton , and arrived in San Francisco on 7 January. He obtained a Navy desk job at the Submarine Chaser Training Center in Miami in March, was transferred to the Chelsea Naval Hospital near Boston by May, and, after months of recuperation,
22692-429: The next month, PT-59 took part in thirteen patrols, initially expected to discourage Japanese barge traffic in the north of Choiseul Island. Kennedy described his month on patrol as "packed with a great deal in the way of death". Constantly tracked by aircraft, Kennedy's refitted PT-59 evaded bombs dropped by Japanese floatplanes on 26 October, though one bomb landed only 150 yards (140 m) away. Operation Blissful
22875-409: The northeast side of Vella Lavella Island, if he would take PT-59 to support a rescue operation around 65 miles (105 km) north near the base of Choiseul Island 's Warrior River. Berndsten had been contacted by Krulak, the leader of Operation Blissful, who had requested rescue for marines trapped near the base of Choiseul's Warrior River. (Berndsten had formerly skippered PT-171 when it helped in
23058-648: The offensive." Halsey's forces spent the rest of the year battling up the Solomon Islands chain to Bougainville . At Bougainville the Japanese had two airfields in the southern tip of the island, and another at the northernmost peninsula, with a fourth on Buki just across the northern passage. Here, instead of landing near the Japanese airfields and taking them away against the bulk of the Japanese defenders, Halsey landed his invasion force of 14,000 Marines in Empress Augusta Bay , about halfway up
23241-517: The old PTs, were highly unreliable and inaccurate; the torpedoes very rarely hit their mark against larger craft, particularly Japanese destroyers and cruisers. The new PT gunboat was given slightly higher quality radar, and a taller radar mast that could, in theory, boost reception and transmission to 75 miles (121 km). Kennedy lived on the boat during its refit, and worked extremely hard according to Lieutenant Alvin Cluster, who stated, "I never saw
23424-565: The old fool is doing now? He's learning to fly!" He went on to command the USS Saratoga , and later the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida . Halsey considered airpower an important part of the future navy, commenting, "The naval officer in the next war had better know his aviation, and good." Halsey was promoted to rear admiral in 1938. During this time he commanded carrier divisions and served as
23607-528: The original design competition, by late 1940, Huckins had a meeting with Captain James M. Irish, Chief of Design, and offered to build a "planing seagoing hull" PT boat, on the condition the Navy loan Huckins engines and agree to look at the Huckins boat. In early July 1941, the Navy accepted PT-69 . After obtaining excellent testing results at the Plywood Derby, the Navy awarded Huckins Yacht Corporation
23790-524: The overall commander of the Aircraft Battle Force. Traditional naval doctrine envisioned naval combat fought between opposing battleship gun lines. This view was challenged when Army Air Corps Colonel Billy Mitchell demonstrated the capability of aircraft to substantially damage and sink even the most heavily armored naval vessel. In the interwar debate that followed, some saw the carrier as defensive in nature, providing air cover to protect
23973-657: The pilot house of each boat, but the readings were incomplete because the violent motion of the boats made observations difficult and in some cases necessitated abandonment of the observing stations. Further, many of those taken were beyond the normal range of the instruments and were considered inaccurate. Elco boats were found to pound heavily and confirmed previous reports of crew discomfort. The Elco 77-Footer Design Demonstrates: The Huckins 72-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Navy Yard Philadelphia 81-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Higgins 81-Foot Design Demonstrates: The Higgins 76-Foot Design Demonstrates: The board arrived at
24156-472: The product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy. On 11 July 1938 the Navy solicited design proposals for four separate types of boat: a 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat. The winning design proposals would each receive a prize of $ 15,000 with $ 1,500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition each to be given out on 30 March 1939. The larger boat proposal
24339-453: The raid on Choiseul map, above. The concept of a daylight raid was rejected by both his Chief Petty Officer, Christiansen, and his senior squadron commander, Lieutenant Alvin Cluster, who considered the plan risky to the extreme. Though the Warrior River acted as a base of operations for many of their barges, it was fortified by large numbers of Japanese shore batteries, and would have been a deadly mission in daylight. As evidenced by his plan for
24522-409: The rescue of Kennedy and his 109 crew the previous August.) Choiseul Island became a very new Allied target, as the Navy and Marines pushed farther northwest into territories in the Solomons formerly held by the Japanese. With time of the essence, Kennedy was not able to fully re-fuel his boat. Berndsten knew Kennedy did not have enough fuel to make the trip there and back with his gas tanks less than
24705-437: The rest of Kurita's force was able to escape. Meanwhile, the major part of Third Fleet continued to close on Ozawa's Northern Force, which included one fleet carrier (the last surviving Japanese carrier of the six that had attacked Pearl Harbor) and three light carriers. The Battle off Cape Engaño resulted in Halsey's Third Fleet sinking all four of Ozawa's carriers. The same attributes that made Halsey an invaluable leader in
24888-727: The right by Navy custom to be returned to the States, he chose to stay and fight in the Pacific Theater (PTO) after his second command, PT-109 , was rammed and sunk by the Amagiri on the early morning of 2 August 1943. At 74 feet, the PT-59 was six feet shorter than the PT-109 , but it would soon bristle with far more and heavier guns and armament, which required a larger crew to operate. On Tulagi Island, under Kennedy's supervision and with his help, PT-59 had all four of her torpedo tubes removed, as well as her two depth charges, and
25071-553: The second run though these were much more localized as compared with those found on PT-70. The Board is of the opinion that certain changes in design are required to enable PT-69 and boats of the PT-20 Class to carry safely their military loads in rough weather." The board results provided very important benchmarks in the infancy of PT boat development. This type of craft presented design challenges that were still issues decades after, but there are some significant conclusions from
25254-490: The ships in 70-foot (21 m) waves. The barometer continued to drop and the wind roared at 83 knots (154 km/h) with gusts well over 100 knots (185 km/h). At 1:45 pm. Halsey issued a typhoon warning to Fleet Weather Central. By this time Third Fleet had lost three of its destroyers. By the time the storm had cleared the next day a great many ships in the fleet had been damaged, three destroyers were sunk, 146 aircraft were destroyed and 802 seamen had been lost. For
25437-407: The shore. Motoring around 25 miles (40 km) further northwest, and following Choiseul's coastline, the 59 arrived in the rain and darkness at the base of the Warrior River around 6:00 p.m. on 1 November, and helped personnel landing craft evacuate 40 to 50 marines from a company led by Marine Major Warren T. Bigger. Several marines were wounded, and came from the 2nd Parachute Battalion of
25620-482: The shores of Formosa, China, and Vietnam. By this point in the conflict the U.S. Navy was doing things the Japanese high command had not thought possible. The Fast Carrier Task Force was able to bring to battle enough air power to overpower land based aircraft and dominate whatever area the fleet was operating in. Moreover, the Navy's ability to establish forward operating ports as they did at Majuro , Enewetak and Ulithi , and their ability to convoy supplies out to
25803-440: The six battleships of the Third Fleet battleship group, he decided to withdraw back through the San Bernardino Strait and to the west without achieving his objective of disrupting the Leyte landing. When the Seventh Fleet's escort carriers found themselves under attack from the Center Force, Halsey began to receive a succession of desperate calls from Kinkaid asking for immediate assistance off Samar. For over two hours Halsey turned
25986-399: The target of a Japanese surprise attack. In response, on 28 November 1941 Admiral Kimmel ordered Halsey to take USS Enterprise to ferry aircraft to Wake Island to reinforce the Marines there. Kimmel had given Halsey "a free hand" to attack and destroy any Japanese military forces encountered. The planes flew off her deck on December 2. Highly anxious of being spotted and then jumped by
26169-452: The troop transports and support ships of the Leyte Gulf landing, they took Seventh Fleet's escort carriers and their screening ships entirely by surprise. In the desperate Battle off Samar which followed, Kurita's ships destroyed one of the escort carriers and three ships of the carriers' screen, and damaged a number of other ships as well. The remarkable resistance of the screening ships of Taffy 3 against Kurita's battle-group remains one of
26352-598: The war effort. The boatyards were located in Annapolis, Bristol, City Island, Miami, and Los Angeles. 146 boats, armed with 18 in (460 mm) torpedoes, were built for Lend Lease , and exported to Allied powers such as Canada, Britain, Norway, and the Soviet Union. These boats were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy ; most were passed to other countries. The Canadian Power Boat Company produced four Scott-Paine designed PTs for
26535-560: The war in favor of the allies. As the war progressed it moved out of the South Pacific and into the Central Pacific. Halsey's command shifted with it, and in May 1944 he was promoted to commanding officer of the newly formed Third Fleet . He commanded actions from the Philippines to Japan. From September 1944 to January 1945, he led the campaigns to take the Palaus , Leyte and Luzon , and on many raids on Japanese bases, including off
26718-446: The war's end, most PTs had these weapons. William Halsey William Frederick " Bull " Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II . He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others being William Leahy , Ernest J. King , and Chester W. Nimitz . Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey , Halsey graduated from
26901-496: The water, displaced up to 300 tons, and had a top speed of 25 to 27 kn (46 to 50 km/h). During World War I Italy, the US, and UK developed the first high-performance, gasoline -powered motor torpedo boats (often with top speeds over 40 kn (74 km/h)) and corresponding torpedo tactics, but these projects were all quickly disbanded after the Armistice . Design of World War II PT boats continued to exploit some of
27084-599: The west coast of Bougainville. There he had the Seabees clear and build their own airfield. Two days after the landing, a large cruiser force was sent down from Japan to Rabaul in preparation for a night engagement against Halsey's screening force and supply ships in Empress Augusta Bay. The Japanese had been conserving their naval forces over the past year, but now committed a force of seven heavy cruisers, along with one light cruiser and four destroyers. At Rabaul
27267-536: The western Pacific, would not be adequate to protect Japan. Command of the "big blue fleet" was alternated with Raymond Spruance . Under Spruance the fleet designation was the Fifth Fleet and the Fast Carrier Task Force was designated "Task Force 58". Under Halsey the fleet was designated Third Fleet and the Fast Carrier Task Force was designated "Task Force 38". The split command structure
27450-524: The widows of Rear Admirals Daniel J. Callaghan and Norman Scott , both of whom had been killed in action. In November, Halsey's willingness to place at risk his command's two fast battleships in the confined waters around Guadalcanal for a night engagement paid off, with the U.S. Navy winning the battle. The last naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign was decisive, dooming the Japanese garrison and enabling U.S. forces to finally wrest control of
27633-516: The wooden hulls of these boats to be easily repaired at forward operating bases by base force personnel. According to Robert McFarlane, the US Navy built the hulls of some PT boats partially from 3,000-year-old white cedar logs recovered from sphagnum bogs in New Jersey. As a testament to the strength of this type of construction and watertight bulkheads, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example,
27816-462: Was a demonstration of seakeeping qualities and hull strength by making a run at maximum sustained speed in the open ocean. An accelerometer was installed in the pilot house of each boat to record "pounding". Conducted on 24 July 1941, this open-water trial, 190 nmi (350 km; 220 mi) at full throttle, was referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby". The course started from the mouth of New London Harbor, to Sarah Ledge, then led around
27999-466: Was a diversionary raid on Choiseul Island by Marine forces led by Lt. Col. Victor H. Krulak , on 28 October. It was hoped that the raid would convince the Japanese that they needed to send more troops to Choiseul from Bougainville—the Allies' real objective because of its airfields. On the evening of 1 November 1943, Kennedy was asked by Lt. Arthur Berndsten, the temporary base commander at Lambu Lambu, on
28182-423: Was a heavily fortified port, with five airfields and extensive anti-aircraft batteries. Other than the surprise raid at Pearl Harbor, no mission against such a target had ever been accomplished with carrier aircraft. It was highly dangerous to the aircrews, and to the carriers as well. With the landing in the balance, Halsey sent his two carriers to steam north through the night to get into range of Rabaul, then launch
28365-410: Was a long time personal friend, and had been since their days as teammates on the football team back at Annapolis. Awkward or not, the two men carried out their directives. Halsey's command now included all ground, sea, and air forces in the South Pacific area. News of the change flashed and produced an immediate boost to morale with the beleaguered Marines, energizing his command. He was widely considered
28548-485: Was a severe blow to Nimitz. Nimitz met with Halsey, who recommended his cruiser division commander, Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance , to take command for the upcoming Midway operation. Nimitz considered the move, but it would mean stepping over Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher of Task Force 17 , who was the senior of the two men. After interviewing Fletcher and reviewing his reports from the Coral Sea engagement, Nimitz
28731-417: Was also a member of the secretive Seven Society . After his first year, Halsey received his appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and entered the academy in the fall of 1900. While attending the academy he lettered in football as a fullback and earned several athletic honors. For some time while at the academy his roommate was Capt. William Alexander Ancrum . Halsey graduated from
28914-503: Was also to be 40 knots, but specified operating radius was to be 120 miles at top speed and 240 miles at cruising speed. Equipped armament for the smaller proposal was to be either two torpedoes and two depth charges, or .50-cal machine guns and a smokescreen generator. By September 1938 the U.S. Navy had received 24 design proposals for the small boat and 13 design proposals for the larger 70-footer. Of those proposals submitted, three 54-ft designs and five 70-ft designs were of interest, and
29097-600: Was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat, and Federalist . Halsey attended the Pingry School . After waiting two years to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy , Halsey decided to study medicine at the University of Virginia and then join the Navy as a physician. He chose Virginia because his best friend, Karl Osterhause, was there. While there, Halsey joined the Delta Psi fraternity and
29280-460: Was assigned as a pace boat with PT-8 in order to generate a pounding comparison. The average speed results from the 185 nmi (343 km; 213 mi) course were: Elco 77-footer ( PT-21 ), 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph); Higgins 76-footer ( PT-70 ), 27.2 kn (50.4 km/h; 31.3 mph); Higgins MRB and Philadelphia Navy Yard boat ( PT-8 ), 24.8 kn (45.9 km/h; 28.5 mph). Accelerometers were again installed in
29463-541: Was built around the remaining Japanese aircraft carriers, now weakened by the heavy loss of trained pilots. The Northern Force was meant to lure the covering U.S. forces away from the Gulf while two surface battle-groups, the Center Force and the Southern Force, were to break through to the beachhead and attack the invasion shipping. These forces were built around the remaining strength of the Japanese Navy, and comprised
29646-702: Was commissioned in early 1943; and ten boats assigned to Squadron 26 (PT-255 thru PT-264) which was commissioned in mid 1943. They were assigned to specific outposts in the Panama Canal Zone , Miami, Florida , the Hawaiian Sea Frontier at Pearl Harbor and Midway, and a training center in Melville, Rhode Island . Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and
29829-536: Was completed on 5 March 1942. After serving in a training squadron in Rhode Island , PT-59 was reassigned to the protection of the Panama Canal before being transported by oceangoing ship to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. It arrived at its home base of Tulagi and served successfully, sinking a Japanese submarine by torpedo. In the fall of 1943, PT-59 was converted into a gunboat under
30012-461: Was converted into a more powerful gunboat, and re-designated as PTGB-1 . She received two heavy 40-millimeter Bofors cannon anti-aircraft guns now fitted fore and aft. The refit also added six .50-caliber machine gun nests, with three on each side, behind shields. Shielded twin fifty caliber machine guns were placed behind and on each side of the cockpit elevated on circular mounts, and by some accounts, 2 additional thirty caliber machine guns forward of
30195-531: Was convinced that Fletcher's performance was sound, and he was given the responsibility of command in the defense of Midway. Acting upon Halsey's recommendations, Nimitz then made Rear Admiral Spruance commander of Halsey's Task Force 16, comprising the carriers Enterprise and Hornet . To aid Spruance, who had no experience as the commander of a carrier force, Halsey sent along his irascible chief of staff, Captain Miles Browning . Halsey's skin condition
30378-455: Was delivered and tested in the summer of 1917, it was not deemed a success, so a second boat (C-378) of the sea sled design was ordered from Hickman in either late 1917 or early 1918 (conflicting dates). Using his previous design from September 1914 and the previous unsuccessful bid for C-250, the C-378 was completed and fully tested just in time to be cancelled as a result of the Armistice . With
30561-400: Was effectively left unguarded by any major surface fleet. In moving Third Fleet northwards, Halsey failed to advise Admiral Thomas Kinkaid of Seventh Fleet of his decision. Seventh Fleet intercepts of organizational messages from Halsey to his own task group commanders seemed to indicate that Halsey had formed a task force and detached it to protect the San Bernardino Strait, but this was not
30744-563: Was finally given an honorable discharge in December 1944. After working as a journalist, he would begin his run for the House of Representatives in 1946, using his war time experience as a major feature of his candidacy. PT-59 remained in the Solomons until August 1944, when she and five other 77-ft Elco PT boats, including PT-36 and PT-47 were transported back to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center at Melville , Rhode Island . It
30927-409: Was greatest to the fleet's destroyers, which did not have the fuel reserves of the larger ships and were running dangerously low. Finally, at 11:49 am, Halsey issued the order for the ships of the fleet to take the most comfortable course available to them. Many of the smaller ships had already been forced to do so. Between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 pm, the typhoon did its worst damage, tossing
31110-540: Was intended to confuse the Japanese and created a higher tempo of operations. While Spruance was at sea operating the fleet, Halsey and his staff, self-dubbed the "Department of Dirty Tricks", would be planning the next series of operations. The two admirals were a contrast in styles. Halsey was aggressive and a risk taker. Spruance was calculating, professional, and cautious. Most higher-ranking officers preferred to serve under Spruance; most common sailors were proud to serve under Halsey. In October 1944, amphibious forces of
31293-404: Was not to exceed 80 feet and was to carry at least two 21-inch torpedoes, four depth charges, and two .50-cal machine guns. The performance specification was to achieve 40 knots with an operating radius of 275 miles at top speed (550 miles at cruising speed). The smaller boat proposal was to weigh no more than 20 tons so that it could be easily transported by larger cargo ships. Its maximum top speed
31476-402: Was nothing to oppose them except a small force of escort carriers and screening destroyers and destroyer escorts , Task Unit 77.4.3 "Taffy 3", which had been tasked and armed to attack troops on land and guard against submarines, not oppose the largest enemy surface fleet since the battle of Midway, led by the largest battleship in the world. Advancing down the coast of the island of Samar towards
31659-551: Was of English ancestry. All of his ancestors came to America from England and all of them emigrated from England to New England in the early 1600s. He felt a "kinship" with his ancestors, including Captain John Halsey of colonial Massachusetts who served in the Royal Navy in Queen Anne's War from 1702 to 1713 where he raided French shipping . Through his father he was a descendant of Senator Rufus King , who
31842-570: Was promoted directly from ensign to full lieutenant, skipping the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) . Torpedoes and torpedo boats became specialties of his, and he commanded the First Group of the Atlantic Fleet's Torpedo Flotilla in 1912 through 1913. Halsey commanded a number of torpedo boats and destroyers during the 1910s and 1920s. At that time, the destroyer and the torpedo boat, through extremely hazardous delivery methods, were
32025-416: Was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft . At the outbreak of war in August 1914, W. Albert Hickman devised the first procedures and tactics for employing fast maneuverable seaworthy torpedo motorboats against capital ships, and he presented his proposal to Rear Admiral David W. Taylor , the chief of the US Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair . In September 1914, Hickman completed plans for
32208-416: Was so serious that he was sent on the light cruiser USS Detroit to San Francisco, where he was met by a leading allergist for specialized treatment. The skin condition soon receded but Halsey was ordered to stand down for the next six weeks and relax. While detached stateside during his convalescence, he visited family and traveled to Washington D.C. In late August, he accepted a speaking engagement at
32391-469: Was stationed in Hawaii during the war, recorded the Navy's planing hull research and findings in Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls . It covers PT boat hull design and construction and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs. The primary anti-ship armament was two to four Mark 8 torpedoes , which weighed 2,600 pounds (1,179 kg) and contained
32574-401: Was still 200 miles (320 km) out at sea, when she received word that the surprise attack anticipated was not at Wake Island, but at Pearl Harbor itself. News of the attack came in the form of overhearing desperate radio transmissions from one of her aircraft sent forward to Pearl Harbor, attempting to identify itself as American. The plane was shot down, and her pilot and crew were lost. In
32757-430: Was then notably used to rescue marines stranded under heavy Japanese gunfire on Choiseul Island , and attack both Japanese barges and shore batteries. PT-59 was first assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Four, the training squadron based at Melville, Rhode Island . On 9 April 1942, one of its torpedoes was accidentally fired, hitting the supply ship USS Capella and causing eight injuries, but no deaths. It
32940-465: Was then stricken and sold. PT-59 quietly ended her days in the 1970s after having served as a fishing boat in Manhattan . Because PT-59 was thought to be the former PT-95 , a 78-foot Huckins PT boat of very different design, no efforts were made to save or salvage her. The actual PT-95 had been scrapped in Newport, Rhode Island, after her services were no longer needed, in September 1945. When
33123-403: Was to attach one new gunboat to each PT boat section to add firepower and range, though the extra armor and guns reduced their speed. On 18 October 1943, as American Marine paratroopers first landed on Choiseul Island as a diversionary tactic, PT-59 and crew were ordered to move northwest from their base on Tulagi, to Lambu Lambu Cove, on Vella Lavella Island, a new advanced PT boat base. Over
33306-574: Was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two on 7 May 1942. At the end of May 1942, Ensign David M. Levy took over PT-59 and the squadron was sent on anti-submarine duty to Panama to guard the Panama Canal and the Central and South American coast. In October 1942 PT-59 departed for the South Pacific on board the Liberty ship SS Roger Williams . In November 1942 PT-59 arrived at
33489-400: Was unable to land its combat air patrol due to the pitching and rolling decks of the carriers. All the aircraft were ditched in the ocean and lost, but the pilots were all saved by accompanying destroyers. By 10:00 a.m. the next morning the barometer on the flagship was noted to be dropping precipitously. With increasingly heavy seas the fleet still attempted to maintain stations. The threat
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