bertram31.com

The Genuine PT Boat.
Description.This is PT-728, a 66 1/2 year-old restored Patrol Torpedo Boat from World War II. With a keel laid on August 10, 1945, she is one of 12 remaining PT boats in the world. She is "armed" (all weapons are deactivated) with a single .50- and two twin .50-caliber Browning machine gun stations, an aft 20mm Oerlikon cannon, four tubes that each housed a Mark VIII torpedo, and two depth charge launchers. Built in the Annapolis Yacht Yard using a 72' British Vosper design, her hard-chined, triple-ply mahogany hull is nearly flat at the stern, allowing her to "plane" on top of the water at speeds up to 42 knots, a necessity for quick getaways after a torpedo run. So compelling was a PT boat's performance that Nelson Rockefeller converted one into a high-speed yacht for commutes between Albany and New York City. Updated with modern electronics, radar, and two turbo-charged diesel engines providing 1,100 total horsepower, she is the only PT boat in existence licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard for carrying passengers. Special conditions and guarantee limitations apply. Please call 1-800-227-3528 for details. 72' L x 18' W x 7' 4" H. (45 tons)



Price:$ 1,000.000

it would be fun......cept at the gas dock. you would always have the right of way!

I had a freind in law school in the 60s who's Dad's friend had one he'd converted to a sportsfishermn. They kept it in southwest Louisiana - Intracoastal City - where the 100 fathom curve is 100 miles offshore. I was invited for a three day trip on it to a coral reef called the Flower Gardens. As I recall the boat had several (?) huge Packard engines and went real fast. Vibrated like crazy and was loud all over. The owner was in the oil business and didn't seem to worry a lot about fuel consumption, but shoot, gas was a quarter a gallon back then anyway. The living accomidations were spartan and no a/c. Did have a generator for fans and a full time cook who grilled up the huge red snapper we jerked off the reef. The boat was plywood and creaked all the time, and leaked like a seive. Many bilge pumps going constantly. We stayed on anchor on the Flower Gardens for a couple of days - 150 feet of water with 100 fathoms all around and saw lots of interesting stuff, including the first blue marlin I ever saw in person, chasing chicken dolphin.

I'm still in touch with my friend and I'll ask if he knows what ever happened to the boat.

UV

You can buy one in the new Hammachler Schlemmer catalog for $1,000,000.

Dug, that is the one...Russ

i just remember the summer i ran with no reverse. i got into a narrow channel stand off with this guy in a 40 foot clorox bottle that thought i should back up cause he was bigger. i cant get the thought of strolling up to the bow and grabbing the 50 cal out of my mind.

42 knots ... in a boat that size ... at that time ... pretty impressive !!

A friend of mine's dad had the civilian version -- Huckins Fairform Flyer. Man could that plywood beauty scream at unheard of speeds in those days. And, it could twist and flex like nothing short of a Post or Ocean Yacht!

My dad was an apprentice at Wheeler Shipyard during the war--he told me they made a few---got a ride once and it was unbelievable.

I don't know if it was wartime heresay but we were told their trannys were so tough that you could throw them from forward to reverse at full throttle for high speed getaway maneuvering.

like Paul did

Or you could step up like our buddy Daryl P. did with the Mary P......a new article on her. The dock shots were taken at her berth in Biloxi, Miss.


http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/trini ... ary-p.html


And she catches the woo-woo outta fish.

UV

Wow...to say the least.

Now thats a battle wagon....bet brew could troll 30 rods off that rig..

yikes....5000 HP....if its not the most amazing sport fish on the planet....its in the running.

good on daryl!!

I bet they were fine on a flat ocean but I wonder how they ran in any kind of head sea.

My uncle served on a PT Boat in WWII in the South Pacific. I was just talking to him on Sunday........he was telling me (that's about he talks about anymore) about his life in the Navy.

He told me that one day they had to replace one of the 3 Packard engine in the PT Boat.

I think he told me that the engines were 1500 HP each.....V12. He tells me that while on sea trial the skipper turned hard STBD.....so hard that the port prop caviatated and the engine ran away and when they straighten up and the prop caught water again the the results blew up the tranny.

He told me that a sailor sat on a seat mounted on the front of the center engine. His job was to watch the gages, shif the transmission, and just keep an eye on the engines.

I think his PT Boat was an Elco and at todays rate would cost $11670.00 for a tank of fuel.

hb

My Godfather, who bought my B31 new, ran one of the older, shorter ones as a rescue boat out of Key West early in WWII. They did lots of pilot training down there and he would pick up any pilots who had to ditch. That one had Packard's as well. One time they pushed the boat so hard during a storm that they broke its back and were a month and a half in Cuba getting it fixed.

He had a good time in Cuba! He had a Cuban girlfriend from a pretty well off family. At that time, when sailors walked down the streets the whores would send their little brother's out to steal the sailor's caps and run back into the whore house. The sailors would have to go inside to retrieve their cap or risk being out of uniform. His girlfriend's brother saw him go into a whore house to retrieve his hat and told his sister. That night Billy took her out to dinner. She was sitting across the table from him and asked if he had a pocket knife to cut a thread on her dress. The next thing he knew she was coming across the table at him with his knife! He kicked backwards in his chair and wound up lying on his back with his knife sticking out of his thigh! Needless to say he swore of hot blooded Cuban women after that!

The fun in the sun ended shortly thereafter when he got reassigned to a Destroyer Repair Ship and sent to the Pacific.

Rawleigh wrote:The fun in the sun ended shortly thereafter when he got reassigned to a Destroyer Repair Ship and sent to the Pacific.

Where he was obviously safer......