PT Boats

[cverbrug]

Just did some basc research on the more simple japanese barges. They seem to have had diesel engines capabilities.
See this link:
http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/barges.html
Ref. "Japanese Use of Military Barges"; Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 43, January 27, 1944.

The article states: ....A 60-horsepower gasoline or heavy-fuel motor installed aft gives a speed of 8 knots, equivalent to about 9 miles per hour....

so for the japanese using subs to refuel would then not be gamey i suppose?
Gallo

[CaptDave]

If you're looking for information on real life PT operations, here's a good book from one of the usual sites.

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/CloseQuarters/index.html

One of the first things I noticed was the contradiction to one of the common house rules: PT operations were normally conducted using two or three boats at a time.

[KPAX]

ORIGINAL: cverbrug

Just did some basc research on the more simple japanese barges. They seem to have had diesel engines capabilities.
See this link:
http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/barges.html
Ref. "Japanese Use of Military Barges"; Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 43, January 27, 1944.

The article states: ....A 60-horsepower gasoline or heavy-fuel motor installed aft gives a speed of 8 knots, equivalent to about 9 miles per hour....

so for the japanese using subs to refuel would then not be gamey i suppose?
Gallo

My pontoon boat has this size engine [8D]


Well, it is a people/drinking barge of a sort.

[jmalter]

i'm w/ Bullwinkle - i'd've never expected that subs could provide a refuel-at-sea capability to another TF. apparently only for tiny ships like PTs - has anyone tested SS ability to refuel landing craft? i'm looking forward to using the USN SST boats as 'milch cows'.

kudos to Grollub for discovering this.

[LargeSlowTarget]

From http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/ptboat/PT-48.html:

PT 48: One of three PT Boats transported aboard two USN oilers and arrived September 19, 1942 at Noumea. Unloaded and towed by the USS Bellatrix and tender Jamestown to Espiritu Santo. Finally, towed by USS Hovey and USS Southard to a point 300 miles off Tulagi and then proceeded under their own power, arriving at dawn on October 12, 1942 at Tulagi to become the first PT Boats in the Solomons.

Deploying PTs was hampered by the fact that Noumea was not equipped with cranes strong enough to lift PT boats off the deck of the ships that had ferried them.

From http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Buildin ... es-24.html:

Noumea had a large harbor, but servicing facilities were meager. Nickel Dock, 800 feet long with a 24-foot water depth, could take one large vessel. The wharf was equipped with three 7-ton cranes, but it had little storage area. Le Grand Quai, 1400 feet long, with water depth of from 20 to 26 feet, had some 68,500 square feet of space in transshipment sheds, but had no crane.

It was even discussed to sink the ships so the PTs could float free. Eventually floating cranes on pontoon barges were assembled to help unloading PTs, landing barges and planes.