![]() It was recommended that the overall length be increased to accommodate the standard U.S. ![]() Not withstanding the short comings of these initial 70 foot boats, the Navy was convinced that they had a real need for this type of small attack craft. torpedo versus the shorter British torpedo. It was also realized that the boat's designed length was not sufficient to utilize the longer U.S. Upon completion of these boats, Navy test trials revealed that these new boats were too lightly constructed to withstand the rigors of open seas. The contract specified some minor to moderate changes however, which included changes to upper deck structures and replacing the engines with the newly designed 1200 h.p. During preliminary testing the Navy was impressed enough to award ELCO a contract to build 10 PT boats ( PT-10 through PT-19) based on the PT-9design. This boat was subsequently shipped to the United States and numbered PT-9 by the Navy. In the mean time the Electric Boat Company (ELCO) purchased a British 70 foot boat, designed by Hubert Scott-Paine. Unfortunately, by the time most of these boats were built and readied for testing, their design and performance was found to be inadequate. Eight boats ( PT-1 through PT-8) were built from these designs. Navy seriously took on the challenge to create their own Patrol Torpedo Boat program.The United States originally developed three designs, two from distinguished naval architects and one from the navy. However it wasn't until the late 1930's that the U.S. It was the British, French and Italian navies who led the way in development and deployment of this specialized craft. Motor Torpedo Boat development had its beginning in the early 1900's culminating with actual combat use in the first world war. National Archives photo 80-G-53855 from the collection of Joseph N.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |