Comments by "WALTERBROADDUS" (@WALTERBROADDUS) on "US PT Boats of WW2 - Guide 369" video.

Hey, I've been waiting four years for this... enjoy!
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@jimtaylor294 I wouldn't call them lousy? Just equiped with limited dual purpose weapons for the job. Hitting an airplane from a 80 ft boat in seas, without a stabilized mounting can be a challenge.🛥🛩
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FUN FACT... the boat used in the TV show was actually a Ex-USAAF Crash boat. As the name implies that was designed to pick up downed Pilots. And notably its former owner was Howard Hughes. Who used the boat as a chase boat for his testing of the Spruce Goose Flying boat...
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@exsubmariner what are you talking about?
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@jimtaylor294 on the bright side? It's probably a lot safer than U-Boat Duty or sitting in a fjord in Norway and getting bombed all the time.🙄 Still, I would not envy the young German sailor. Sitting in a unheated gun mount; with sea spray flying around at 30 knots trying to shot a plane.🛥🛩
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@MaxwellAerialPhotography there's an excellent book on that topic. "Night Action: MTB Flotilla at war." By Captain Peter Dickens D. S. O., M. B. E., D. S. C. Royal Navy. He was with the 21st MTB Flotilla. Most of the action tended to be off the coast of Holland and Belgium. And, a great Grandson of Writer, Charles Dickens.
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@88porpoise United States Army Air Force is an organization. With several numbered Air forces. You are just posting, just to post something...
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@exsubmariner yes, the US Army Air Force what's established in 1941 from the old Air Corps. And continued as the Army Air Force until the defense act in 1947.
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The internal gyroscopes would make the correction to fire straight ahead.
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There was a lot of field modifications done by Crews. Rather than being issued from the factory. The most notable example is of course, JFK in his use of a 37 mm Cannon on his PT-109.
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 @weatherwaxusefullhints2939 it's taken us a couple of years to get love for the small boat fans. It's on his long list of things.
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🙆🏽‍♂️ Omg! PT BOATS! I have waited years for this one.... Hope we get E boats and MTB in 4 years?🧓🏽⏳A Saturday for the small Surface Warfare /Fast Attack fans.🛥
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@Alche987 will the PT boats don't have a fancy torpedo data computer or anything. Everything was sort of done by sight. But yes the controls inside automatically correct after launch to run straight. That's why they were able to later use later aircraft type torpedo. Rather than a launching tube. They had simple drop racks. You could just roll the torpedo off the side and then it runs. This is all before the days of fancy wire guide torpedoes.
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 @Drachinifel Very good point. There were a lot of field modifications by Crews.
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@88porpoise Well, the USAF history folks seems to agree with you. Although the reasoning seems a little off. Considering the same organization has various Air Forces today.
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These boats have lots of field modifications and improvisation.
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@Normandy1944 🙆🏽‍♂️ hopefully, it'll be a Jeopardy Daily Double one day....
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A very dangerous Choice it turns out. While providing high performance, far more flammable than Diesel engines by their German counterparts.
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One side note myth not addressed........ 🙋🏽‍♂️ While these Boats were equipped with Packard Marine 2500 Engines. The engine "is not" based on the Packard Built Merlin aircraft engine. The company made two entirely separate engine designs. The 2500 has its lineage back to the Liberty aircraft engine.🛥🛩
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 @Cbabilon675 PT 109 is one of the first Elco 80ft. Boats that began with PT-103.
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@Fusako8 I loved those boats.... a lot of Firepower on a small package.🛥
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@iananderson5050 they have limited ability to do any sort of shore bombardment. Very late in the war, they were equipped with 3 inch and 5 inch Rockets. Some boats also were equipped with Mortars. As far as "special forces" go? Their shallow draft and high speed allow them to drop men ashore or support UDT ops. The underwater demolition teams are the Forerunner of the Navy Seals. They were employed in reconnaissance of beaches and taking out obstacles prior to Landings.
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@fidjeenjanrjsnsfh Actually, the PBR of Vietnam had a fiberglass hull.
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@Paladin1873 🤔 I don't think it was a issue, but ok...
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@Paladin1873 but the point is, that the boats in Hawaii were first in action.
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PT Boats At Pearl Harbor On 7 December 1941 According to an after-action report dated 12 December 1941 from the commanding officer of PT Squadron One to the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Six of the squadron’s boats were moored together at Berth S-13 at the Submarine Base. The other six boats from the squadron were on board the USS Ramapo awaiting transportation. Other boats were docked next to a barge where their crews were eating breakfast. These boats were in three nests of two boats each. The squadron duty officer, an Ensign named N.E. Ball said that he was standing with a Chief Petty Officer on the barge when the Japanese attacked. When he saw the first bombs explode, he gave the order to man the guns. The air compressors that ran air to the twin .50 caliber machine gun turrets were started and the guns were fired at the attackers. It has been confirmed that the PT boats were the first vessels at Pearl Harbor to fire back at the Japanese. It is claimed that PT-23 was responsible for shooting down the first Japanese torpedo bomber of the war. Witnesses are said to have seen the plane burst into flames and crash near Halawa.
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PT Boats At Pearl Harbor On 7 December 1941 According to an after-action report dated 12 December 1941 from the commanding officer of PT Squadron One to the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Six of the squadron’s boats were moored together at Berth S-13 at the Submarine Base. The other six boats from the squadron were on board the USS Ramapo awaiting transportation. Other boats were docked next to a barge where their crews were eating breakfast. These boats were in three nests of two boats each. The squadron duty officer, an Ensign named N.E. Ball said that he was standing with a Chief Petty Officer on the barge when the Japanese attacked. When he saw the first bombs explode, he gave the order to man the guns. The air compressors that ran air to the twin .50 caliber machine gun turrets were started and the guns were fired at the attackers. It has been confirmed that the PT boats were the first vessels at Pearl Harbor to fire back at the Japanese. It is claimed that PT-23 was responsible for shooting down the first Japanese torpedo bomber of the war. Witnesses are said to have seen the plane burst into flames and crash near Halawa. https://www.ptboatworld.com/PT_Boat_Info/pearlharbor.htm
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@davidmcintyre8145 true, but they're better targets out there for them to chase if they did. The resources would be better used in an anti-shipping campaign much like the Black Cat PBY.
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@davidmcintyre8145 And the PBY made quite a career of such ops...
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@gonebabygone4116 You are correct in that it was the anti-tank version used in that application. Later Crews would switch to the aircraft gun as Barge hunting became the main mission. Japanese barges for transporting supplies generally had a shallow draft. Thus rather than use deep running torpedoes ; they effectively slowly transformed into motor gunboats. They faced a similar situation in the Mediterranean. Eventually the larger 40 mm Bofors became the weapon of choice. Some more ambitious boats, mounting two of them. Of course these large guns added weight and cut into boats ability to make speed. 🛥
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@davidmcintyre8145 the answer to that question is , they had a enough trouble trying to avoid Friendly Fire. A number of boats were shot up by Allied aircraft. But trying to shoot a speeding boat at night is a bit problematic.🛩
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That situation never really seem to show up in European operations? Night Intruders chasing British or American Boats did not happen much in the Mediterranean or North Sea. So while the potential is there, doesn't seem to have worked out that way.
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@@UNSCForwardontodawnhey, it's taken us four years to get this one. It's coming...⏳
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@keithmoore5306 It's only a 5 minute guide...🤷🏽‍♂️ you could easily go into an hour dive into just American PT Boat operations and the different classes of them. And then add in operations in the Mediterranean, North Sea, Etc....
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@memeboy8207 The best is the Hornblower series. Following the exploits of the fictional Horatio Hornblower in his rise from midshipman to officer in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic era. You should be able to find some episodes here on YouTube.
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@bkjeong4302 they don't have fuel for either one...🤷🏽‍♂️ not the ship or the planes. So I don't really see a major change in outcome.
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@iananderson5050 they primarily had more of a role of interdiction of supply. Stopping barge traffic to support the island troops. They were more interested in stopping the supply lines. Stopping the food, Fuel and ammunition to the Island Outpost that the Japanese were holding. The ability to bombard targets ashore was limited, until the arrival of mortars and Rockets. You thus could sit offshore with a 60 mm or 81 mm mortar and lob shells. Getting into Machine gun range, usually meant dealing with coral reefs.🏝🛥
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@shadowwolf2608 the short answer is..... scouting. Warships such as Cruisers and battleships operated independently of carriers. And required their own aircraft to do reconnaissance spotting.
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@Primarch359 the surface search radars were crude; but were good for a few miles.
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