PT Boats

http://www.savetheptboatinc.com/

restoration by 12 WW II PT crew members and other volunteers.

 

Yea Bob..a well trained sqdn of WWII PT boaters would fix those yahoos up. PTs were not plywood as most think. The hulls were double planked 2x12 Honduran mahogany with oak frames and gussets. The only plywood on the things were the topside fixtures. ie cabins, gun tubs, splinter shields etc. and perhaps some smaller below deck bulkheads. Very well put together machines.
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Oh boy.

I can see it now......"Starring Spegetti and Switches".
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As neat as it would be to see a couple of WWII PT boats roaring towards these high seas criminals, we all know our Navy does not lack for weaponry adequate to take on what are little more than muscle boats manned by a couple of yahoos armed with AK-47s. What our military lacks is the unambiguous order from its Commander in Chief that any incident of attempted piracy shall be treated as a terrorist attack on the United States and its interests and shall be met with deadly force. But why hasn't this order been given? See excerpts from an Op Ed column in today's Washing Post that I have inserted below for some reasons.

Forget cruisers and submarines and carrier fighters. They are all overkill by many multiples. Take a look at Google Earth if you are not familiar with it to see how good aerial earth imaging is these days. Now imagine what our super secret spy satellites are capable of. They could probably transit an image that would allow an analyst to tell if one of the waterborne yahoos had shaved yesterday or not. Couple that with airborne drones capable of loitering for many hours and then unleashing Hell via missile at the command of a technician thousands of miles away. We routinely take out houses and even vehicles of terrorists in just this manner. A 25 foot boat on the high seas would be the fish in the barrel.

Just my very frustrated $0.02.

<< -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>

Kill the Pirates

By Fred C. Iklé
Monday, April 13, 2009; Page A15

With the rescue of American Richard Phillips from the hands of pirates yesterday, there was a blip of good news from the Indian Ocean, but it remains a scandal that Somali pirates continue to routinely defeat the world's naval powers. And worse than this ongoing demonstration of cowardice is the financing of terrorists that results from the huge ransom payments these pirates are allowed to collect.

It is naive to assume that the millions paid annually in ransom to pirates merely enables them to purchase villas and fancy automobiles. Somalia is a country without government, where anarchy is being exploited by terrorist organizations. Although the threat that pirates pose to commercial ships is increasingly known, little is being done to combat it. And we must consider the bigger picture: Terrorists are far more brutal than pirates and can easily force pirates -- petty thieves in comparison -- to share their ransom money.

We already know that Somalia is an ideal fortress and headquarters for global terrorist activity. The United States has learned the painful lesson that Somalia is not an easy place for our military to establish law and order; two of our interventions there became embarrassing defeats -- in 1993 and more recently in support of Ethiopian forces.

So why do we keep rewarding Somali pirates? How is this march of folly possible?

Start by blaming the timorous lawyers who advise the governments attempting to cope with the pirates such as those who had been engaged in a standoff with U.S. hostage negotiators in recent days. These lawyers misinterpret the Law of the Sea Treaty and the Geneva Conventions and fail to apply the powerful international laws that exist against piracy. The right of self-defense -- a principle of international law -- justifies killing pirates as they try to board a ship.

Nonetheless, entire crews are unarmed on the ships that sail through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Shipowners pretend that they cannot trust their crews with weapons, but the facts don't add up. For one thing, in the United States most adults except felons are allowed to have guns, and the laws of many other nations also permit such ownership. Even if owners don't want everyone aboard their ships to be carrying weapons, don't they trust the senior members of their crews? Why couldn't they at least arm the captain and place two experienced and reliable police officers on board?

When these pitifully unarmed crews watch pirates climb aboard their vessels, they can do little to fight back. And while the United States and many other naval powers keep warships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean -- deployments that cost millions of dollars -- these ships cannot keep pirates from boarding commercial ships that have unarmed crews.

The international right of self-defense would also justify an inspection and quarantine regime off the coast of Somalia to seize and destroy all vessels that are found to be engaged in piracy. These inspections could reduce the likelihood that any government will find itself engaged in a hostage situation such as the one that played out in recent days. Furthermore, the U.N. Security Council should prohibit all ransom payments. If the crew of an attacked ship were held hostage, the Security Council could authorize a military blockade of Somalia until the hostages were released.

Cowardice will not defeat terrorism, nor will it stop the Somali pirates. If anything, continuing to meet the pirates' demands only acts as an incentive for more piracy.

Fred C. Iklé, a distinguished scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is the author of "Annihilation From Within" and "Every War Must End."

 

Morning Brian.....waddahyamean Speghetti & Switches??? Have had a bunch of Rifledriver retoric in some of those somewhat off subject rambling deals and a good amount of Spasso input also. Thinking of having a Merlin hanging party sometime May...you perhaps could bring a few av interested F buds and we could do lunch or something. Could always use your expertese and beefy arms to help set that thing in place. Pix in Nixons disassembly area about 3 weeks ago. Otta be ready soon.
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Hey...you did the top after all. Last you told me you were just doing the motor mounts.

Give me a date and I'll be there.

That big splined shaft thing goes in front......Right?


Is that rust at the top of the cylinders?

 

Rog on cyl liner rust. We are putting in Cermachrome liners so to negate that problem and new Jack Roush pistons....just a mite larger in diameter than the Nascar junk. Also doing accessory drive unit. Pointy end forward....yep.

 

Wow.
Those are great photos.
What an engine!

 

Woo Wooo

Jack Roush stuff.

Get the hi compression 8:1 pistons and wake up Sparky a little.

 

Roush crews for Jimmy Leeward at Reno every year and makes the rounds to all the pits hawking his wares. Carries his shiny new items in little bule velvet sacks with cinching ties at the tops. Ya know like a Crown Royal bag. Shoulda heard the ohhs and ahhs when he removed a shiny new exhaust valve from a pouch...kinda like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Funny little guy but damned smart. Invites all to come to his shop in Lavonia, Mi. Those that have been are impresed with the clean-room enviroment and state of the art machinery there. Not to far akin with your own shop Brian...clean,neat,organized.

 

I've seen those little blue velvet bags before. You always know that what is inside is "spensive".

 

No wasting Merlins on boats now. Allisons were good enough. Last time I checked, most of the PT boats were at sea level, so wasting a high altitude engine is unjustifiable.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

There's one moored right down the street from here in Marina Del Rey. I looked for the picture I posted of it but couldn't find it. If anyone wasn't to see it I can always take another. It's really cool.

 

If it's old, used up and in need of restoration Steve might be interested in having it but being moored in Del Rey I suppose that does not describe it. Pictures would be good.

 

Tomorrow.....

 

They are a little bigger
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All WWII PTs...Higgins and Elco had Packard 4M-2500 V-12s. Earlier had 1300hp and later were pumped up to 1500hp. Huge machines...about 3000 lbs. Top end looks like an Allison with roller cams, Bendix mag and other stuff. The boat at Long beach is not a PT but a crash boat. Some were steel hulled, were 60ft rather than 80ft and were engined with only 2 Packards. Later models had diesels. Neither were Higgins or Elco. There is a Nasty built 70ft at Rio Vista, Ca that is up and running. The only surviving 80ft Elco boats are owned by Ron ???? on the east coast and one will be built soon. Another converted to a tour boat out of New Jersey is said to be in the process of restoration to WWII PT 109, which is an early Elco A. Another group there has acquired PT 48. This is a Elco 77 footer and will be restored. There is a Higgins 78 footer that operates out of Portland. We could actually get a ride on this one Bob Switches. Of corse we would have to pony up gas money.
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This one has been restored, but not Navy livery.
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Lets see...Bob you can be Gilligan, Brian the capt & I would like to be the guy on the beach with Ginger. Darth thanks for the pix. There is another restored to whatever svc it was in crash boat there. I have a bud that lives across the estuary form it. All done up in navy gray. I'l put up a pix off of google earth. Here ya go...two of them side by side. Overhead of the boat you have pix of and another in gray.
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You have friends?


Those big mothers kind of stand out don't they?