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South West Pacific Motor Torpedo Boats Follow My Time In The Pt Service During World War 2
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Book Synopsis South West Pacific Motor Torpedo Boats: Follow My Time in the PT Service During World War 2 by : James Beck
Download or read book South West Pacific Motor Torpedo Boats: Follow My Time in the PT Service During World War 2 written by James Beck and published by . This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I volunteered for the PT Service but I had no idea that it would lead to me working later for Admiral "Bull" Halsey and General MacArthur through out the South Pacific. I would start out as a lowly Ensign on a PT Boat and end up years later as an Admiral in charge of all of the PT Boats in the Philippines area.We go from running around chasing the enemy ships and eating C-rats and peanut butter sandwiches to having my own command ship and eating "Baked Alaskan" with the Admiral. Follow us as we push the Japs back to Japan.
Book Synopsis Beachheads Secured by : Harold L. Barbin
Download or read book Beachheads Secured written by Harold L. Barbin and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beachheads Secured Volumes 1 and 2 each tell the detailed history of the 873 PT Boats, after USA construction transferred to the navies of UK, USSR, and the USA; their one hundred thirty bases, nineteen Tenderships, and fiftysix PT Boat Squadrons. This comprehensive work takes the reader to actions and thrilling operations in the North Pacific, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, the Caribbean Sea, South Pacific, Southwest Pacific, Western Pacific, Panama Canal Zone, Australia, Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel.
Book Synopsis Beachheads Secured by : Harold L. Barbin
Download or read book Beachheads Secured written by Harold L. Barbin and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beachheads Secured Volumes 1 and 2 each tell the detailed history of the 873 PT Boats, after USA construction transferred to the navies of UK, USSR, and the USA; their one hundred thirty bases, nineteen Tenderships, and fiftysix PT Boat Squadrons. This comprehensive work takes the reader to actions and thrilling operations in the North Pacific, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, the Caribbean Sea, South Pacific, Southwest Pacific, Western Pacific, Panama Canal Zone, Australia, Mediterranean Sea, and the English Channel
Download or read book PT Boats written by David Doyle and published by Schiffer + ORM. This book was released on 2019-05-28 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of the design, development, and deployment of the US Navy's famed fleet of PT boats Chronicles the construction, launch, commissioning, and combat use of PT boats, including John F. Kennedy's ill-fated PT-109 Profusely illustrated with scarce archival photographs from diverse collections, including previously unpublished images
Book Synopsis US Patrol Torpedo Boats by : Gordon L. Rottman
Download or read book US Patrol Torpedo Boats written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motor torpedo boat development began in the early 1900s, and the vessels first saw service during World War I. However, it was not until the late 1930s that the US Navy commenced the development of the Patrol Torpedo or PT boat. The PT boat was designed for attacking larger warships with torpedoes using its 'stealth' ability, high-speed and small size to launch and survive these attacks – although they were employed in a wide variety of other missions, including rescuing General MacArthur and his entourage from the Philippines. This book examines the design and development of these unique craft, very few of which survive today, and goes on to examine their role and combat deployment in World War II.
Book Synopsis At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy by : Robert J. Bulkley
Download or read book At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy written by Robert J. Bulkley and published by Historical Studies. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 683 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small though they were, PT boats played a key role in World War II, carrying out an astonishing variety of missions where fast, versatile, and strongly armed vessels were needed. Called "weapons of opportunity," they met the enemy at closer quarters and with greater frequency than any other type of surface craft. Among the most famous PT commanders was John F. Kennedy, whose courageous actions in the Pacific are now well known to the American public. The author of the book, another distinguished PT boat commander in the Pacific, compiled this history of PT-boat operations in World War II for the U.S. Navy shortly after V-J Day, when memories were fresh and records easily assessable. Bulkley provides a wealth of facts about these motor torpedo boats, whose vast range of operation covered two oceans as well as the Mediterranean and the English Channel. Although their primary mission was to attack surface ships and craft close to shore, they were also used effectively to lay mines and smoke screens, to rescue downed aviators, and to carry out intelligence and raider operations. The author gives special attention to the crews, paying well-deserved tribute to their heroism, skill, and sacrifice that helped to win the war.
Book Synopsis PT Boat Odyssey by : Robert P. Gelzheiser
Download or read book PT Boat Odyssey written by Robert P. Gelzheiser and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2019-08-23 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Nicely illustrated with black-and-white historical photos…extraordinary…impressively informative…. Expertly organized and presented…recommended”—Midwest Book Review During the Pacific War between the United States and Imperial Japanese navies, the author's father, Francis Gelzheiser, deployed with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 16A, from New Orleans to Panama to Seattle and to Attu Island in the Aleutians. After their return voyage, the PT boats journeyed to New Guinea, then battled Japanese kamikazes for the Philippine Island of Mindoro. Like many World War II veterans, Gelzheiser only shared his recollections of combat later in life. The author chronicles his father's experience, details the roles PT boats played in the war and examines why, despite America's overwhelming wartime manufacturing capacity, the Japanese believed they could still win the war.
Book Synopsis At Close Quarters by : Robert Johns Bulkley
Download or read book At Close Quarters written by Robert Johns Bulkley and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis The Devil Boats by : C.J. Skamarakas
Download or read book The Devil Boats written by C.J. Skamarakas and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PT boats loom large in the popular imagination of World War II. In March 1942, a PT boat evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family, and top staff from the Philippines, which inspired the war movie They Were Expendable, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. John F. Kennedy became a war hero while commanding PT-109, which collided with a Japanese destroyer and was sunk in August 1943. But the story of PT boats has never been told in the depth and detail that their exemplary service deserves. Naval historian C. J. Skamarakas uses one Pacific PT boat squadron to tell the story of PT boats in action in World War II. Eighty feet long, PT boats were designed to launch torpedoes against enemy ships five and ten times their own size. But defects in the torpedoes and the boats’ speed and maneuverability ultimately shifted the boats’ mission to patrolling and breaking up Japanese shipping and reinforcements. In the waters of the Southwest Pacific as part of MacArthur’s offensives in New Guinea and the Philippines, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 25 completed these missions and also executed other operations for which they weren’t specifically trained, including inserting commandos behind enemy lines, air-sea rescue, raids on enemy positions, reconnaissance of potential sites for amphibious landings, coordination of air strikes in support of ground forces, meetings with guerrilla leaders, recovery of prisoners of war, diversionary activities, and psychological operations. Today we would call many of their missions “special ops.” The Japanese called PT boats “mosquitoes” and “devil boats.” The Devil Boats recounts the unique contributions of one motor torpedo boat squadron and through it tells the story of PT boats in the Pacific War. With drama and excitement, as well as careful attention to detail, the book fills a void in the history of the U.S. Navy in World War II.
Book Synopsis A PT Skipper in the South Pacific by : Kenneth W. Prescott
Download or read book A PT Skipper in the South Pacific written by Kenneth W. Prescott and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2011-12-22 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Merriam Press World War 2 Memoir Series Second Edition 2011 From training at Melville, Rhode Island, to the South Pacific where as XO and CO of PT 61 and CO of PT 48 he served at Tulagi-Florida Island, Guadalcanal, and the Russells, as well as on different assignments in Torokina, Bougainville, and Emirau, New Ireland, back to Melville and on to the USS Jamestown (AGP-3) as XO, home based in the Philippines, and finally to his post-war career in the Navy. Included are his bird collecting and taxidermy efforts during and after the war, as well as an encounter with future president John F. Kennedy. Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Pearl Harbor and Joining the Navy Chapter 2: Motor Torpedo Boat Training, Melville, Rhode Island Chapter 3: To the South Pacific Chapter 4: The Old-Timers: Heroes of the PT Saga Chapter 5: Calvertville Chapter 6: XO of PT 61 Chapter 7: Patrolling and Boxing Chapter 8: The Russells, Rats, and Poker Chapter 9: Taxidermy-South Pacific Style Chapter 10: CO of PT 61 Chapter 11: Kennedy, Crocs, and Gunboats Chapter 12: CO of PT 48 Chapter 13: Torokina and Malaria Chapter 14: Bougainville and Bird Collecting Chapter 15: Emirau and Back to the U.S. Chapter 16: Melville Again Chapter 17: Back to the Pacific; Chapter 18: XO of the Jamestown Chapter 19: Japan Surrenders and Jamestown Returns Home Chapter 20: Recuperating in Hollywood Chapter 21: My Post-War Studies Chapter 22: Naval Reserve and Civilian Life Chapter 23: Epilogue 100 photos/illustrations
Book Synopsis Fast Boats and Fast Times by : David M. Levy
Download or read book Fast Boats and Fast Times written by David M. Levy and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2008 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the gruesome battle for Guadalcanal, David Levy was skipper of PT 59, one of several Patrol/Torpedo boats that were among the first U.S. Navy vessels to engage Japanese warships at the beginning of World War II. Dave's wartime experiences in the South Pacific marked one of the most transformative periods in his life. In the Navy he quickly learned to assume a "deal-maker" persona that helped him get along with fellow PT boat skippers, many of whom, like future president John F. Kennedy, came from privileged East Coast families. He got to be known in the Navy by the nickname "Hogan," famous as "the guy to go to," who could get things done, organize parties well-stocked with liquor and women, obtain supplies when none seemed available, and, in those early, desperate days of the battle for Guadalcanal, also perform in the top ranks of competent PT boat skippers. The PT boats were small, maneuverable, and fast, and they were given the seemingly impossible mission of regularly engaging and sinking the much larger and more numerous destroyers, cruisers, and battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Dave's PT 59 was in the thick of all the action. These brave PT boat skippers, many of whom were graduates of Ivy League colleges or the U.S. Naval Academy, were a hard-partying group, and their "fast times" during World War II epitomized the intensity with which life was lived by those who, like Dave, were fully engaged in the deadly struggles of the Pacific War. Dave's wartime experiences shaped the rest of his life, a long journey that has included a successful law career, annual ski trips to his vacation home in Aspen since the early 1950s, and fishing all over the world.
Book Synopsis Into the Dark Water by : John J. Domagalski
Download or read book Into the Dark Water written by John J. Domagalski and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2014-04-19 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complete World War II record of one of the most celebrated warships in American history—made famous by her final commanding officer, John F. Kennedy. Fleshing out the little-known chronicle of this patrol torpedo boat under two officers during the swirling battles around Guadalcanal, “John Domagalski brings PT-109 and her crew back to life once again and, in doing so, honors all who served in the patrol torpedo service” (Military Review). In these mainly nocturnal fights, when the Japanese navy was at its apex, America’s small, fast-boat flotillas darted in among the enemy fleet, like a “barroom brawl with the lights turned out.” Bryant Larson and Rollin Westholm preceded Kennedy as commanders of PT-109, and their fights leading the ship and its brave crew hold second to none in the chronicles of US Navy daring. As the battles moved on across the Pacific, the PT-boat flotillas gained confidence, even as the Japanese, too, learned lessons on how to destroy them. Under its third and final commander, Kennedy, PT-109 met its fate as a Japanese destroyer suddenly emerged from a dark mist and rammed it in half. Two crewmen were killed immediately, but Kennedy, formerly on the swim team at Harvard, was able to shepherd his wounded and others to refuge. His unsurpassed gallantry cannot resist retelling, yet the courage of the book’s previous commanders have not until now seen the light of day. This book provides the complete record of PT-109 in the Pacific, as well as a valuable glimpse of how the American Navy’s daring and initiative found its full playing field in World War II.
Download or read book PT Boats written by David Doyle and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Patrol Torpedo--or PT boats--captured the public's imagination during WWII due to the daring exploits of their crews. Built not of plywood, as many believe, but rather of mahogany planks, and powered by a trio of Packard marine engines, these vessels operated in every theater, often facing opponents many times their size. The use of PT boats to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and his family from the Philippines, a story dramatized in the movie They Were Expendable, put the PT boats and their crews in the public forefront, as did John F. Kennedy's loss of PT-109 and the subsequent rescue of him and his crew. This book looks at all the PT boat configurations used by the US Navy during WWII through rare archival photos, augmented by images of the few remaining vessels of the type. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.
Book Synopsis Under a Blood Red Sun by : John J. Domagalski
Download or read book Under a Blood Red Sun written by John J. Domagalski and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of Into the Dark Water “balances scholarly research with accessible storytelling” to tell the heroic WWII account of Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 (Midwest Book Review). During the opening days of World War II in the Pacific, a small group of American sailors in the Philippines were propelled into the forefront of the fighting against the navy and air power of Imperial Japan. They were manned with six small, wooden PT-boats and led by a courageous, larger-than-life character in Lt. John D. Bulkeley. As America’s defense of the Philippines crumbled under the weight of a massive Japanese assault, the courageous activities of Bulkeley’s Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 made headlines across the United States—often as the only good news coming from the bleak Pacific front. The unit achieved everlasting fame by evacuating Gen. Douglas MacArthur from the front. Then, the squadron continued to fight on until all six of its torpedo boats were lost under fire. The fate of the doomed American defenders was sealed when the Japanese won the battle for the islands in the spring of 1942. The exploits of the unit were immortalized in the blockbuster 1945 movie They Were Expendable, starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery, but since then, the saga of Bulkeley and his men has slipped into history. Under a Blood Red Sun revives the story of the Philippine PT-boats through the intertwined accounts of Bulkeley and his subordinate officers and men. It is a story of the courage and sacrifice of men thousands of miles from their homeland, representing American gallantry and fighting prowess, giving the Japanese a taste of what was to come their way.
Download or read book The Hooligan Navy written by Scott Baron and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-09-16 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese called them "Devil Boats" or "Green Dragons". The Germans called them "Schnellboots". Americans called them "The Mosquito Fleet" or "The Hooligan Navy". But Patrol Torpedo boats, popularly known as "PT boats" or more accurately Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) were small, fast, and highly maneuverable small craft used by the United States Navy in World War II. Initially hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and their comparatively fragile construction, they performed admirably in the Pacific, Atlantic and the Mediterranean theaters of war and their daring tactics earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. They are the precursor of the Navy's fast attack craft used today. PT boats were primarily designed for high-speed torpedo attacks against much larger ships but would also fulfill a variety of vital roles. PT boats were also used to lay mines and smoke screens, search and rescue operations for downed aviators, and carried out intelligence and raider operations. However, following the Allies gaining air superiority during the daylight hours in various theaters, Japanese supply missions in the Pacific and German and Italian supply missions in the Mediterranean gradually shifted to ones that made use of barges in shallow waters. PT boats were more often deployed against barges rather than warships, which explained why most boats were retrofitted with machine guns and cannons. PT boats were the perfect weapons to counter barge traffic. PT's were in more frequent contact with the enemy, and at closer range, than any other type of surface craft. PT officers and enlisted men garnered two Medals of Honor, 22 Navy Crosses, 3 Distinguished Service Crosses, a Distinguished Service Medal, and numerous Silver Stars. On December 7, 1941, there were only 29 PT's in the fleet but by December 7, 1943, there were more than 29 squadrons Forty-three PT squadrons, each with 12 boats were formed during World War II by the U.S. Navy. PT boat duty was extremely dangerous, and the squadrons suffered an extremely high loss rate in the war. Of the 531 PT Boats in service during the war, a total of 99 were lost, or roughly 18.6%, with 32 lost to accidents or friendly fire, 27 were scuttled to prevent capture, 8 were rammed, 2 were destroyed by Kamikazes, 9 were destroyed by naval mines, 6 were sunk by enemy coastal artillery, 8 were strafed and 7 sunk by enemy naval gunfire. Since the end of WW II, and even before, PT Boats have become part of the popular culture and national imagination. In 1945, with the war still going on, John Ford, a captain in the US Naval Reserve, directed the film "They Were Expendable" starring Robert Montgomery, himself a Navy veteran of D-Day, and John Wayne, loosely based on PT-41 and other PT boats in the Philippines following Wake Island. The 1963 film "PT-109" starred Cliff Robertson as Lt. (jg) John F. Kennedy, a semi-biographical account of the then-president's war service in the Solomon Islands during WW II. In 1959, when a high school student asked Kennedy how he had become a war hero, he answered "It was easy - they sank my boat." . As President John F. Kennedy, who as a scrawny 25-year-old lieutenant had commanded the ill-fated PT-109 in the Solomon Islands in 1943 would later state: "PT boats were an embodiment of John Paul Jones' words: "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way" and often expressed the opinion that PT boats were the 20th Century equivalent of the cavalry.
Book Synopsis Hunters in the Shallows by : Curtis L. Nelson
Download or read book Hunters in the Shallows written by Curtis L. Nelson and published by Potomac Books. This book was released on 1998 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hunters in the Shallows is the first book to examine the development and role of the small torpedo boat in U.S. naval history, from William Cushing's heroic attack on the Confederate ram Albemarle in 1864, to PT operations in World War II. Moreover, it offers the first critical analysis of the PT's operational value. Culled from primary sources, this myth-buster covers the inside story of the scandalous 1939 Elco deal, offers new insight into the roles of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Douglas MacArthur in PT development, dares a shocking reappraisal of MacArthur's dramatic escape from Corregidor by PT boat in 1942, and reassesses the sinking of John F. Kennedy's PT-109. It also contains numerous photos and illustrations tracing American small torpedo boat development from the Civil War through World War II. Sure to be controversial, Hunters in the Shallows is a must read for naval professionals, military historians, and PT boat buffs alike.
Book Synopsis Under a Blood Red Sun by : John J. Domagalski
Download or read book Under a Blood Red Sun written by John J. Domagalski and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the opening days of World War II in the Pacific, a small group of American sailors in the Philippines were propelled into the forefront of the fighting. They were manned with six small wooden torpedo (PT) boats and led by a courageous, larger-than-life character in Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley. The men of Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 faced insurmountable odds as they conducted a series of heroic operations against the navy and air power of Imperial Japan. As AmericaÕs defense of the Philippines crumbled under the weight of a massive Japanese assault, the courageous activities of BulkeleyÕs men made headlines across the U.S.Ñoften as the only good news coming from the bleak Pacific front. The unit achieved everlasting fame by evacuating General Douglas MacArthur from the front. Then the squadron continued to fight on until all six of its torpedo boats were lost under fire. The fate of the doomed American defenders was sealed when the Japanese won the battle for the islands in the spring of 1942. The exploits of the unit were immortalized in the blockbuster 1945 movie They Were Expendable, starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery, but since then the saga of Bulkeley and his men has slipped into history. Under a Blood Red Sun revives the story of the Philippine PT-boats through the intertwined accounts of Bulkeley and his subordinate officers and men. It is a story of the courage and sacrifice of men thousands of miles from their homeland, representing American gallantry and fighting prowess, while giving the Japanese a taste of what was further to come their way.
