My dad took me for an excursion on that converted PT boat in Jersey.
Because it would have been too costly to ship them home, many of the boats were destroyed after the war. I have the book they show on the e-bay ad and it has a picture of dozens of boats being burned on a beach.
While having three big airplane engines initially made them fly across the water, these boats were high maintenance. With double-planed mahogany hulls (not plywood) they were reasonable durable, but not up the the rigors of constant high-speed use. After a few months of service, many could not top 30 knots.
To me, they typify the American way: instead of building the steel hull ships we need, we'll save money by buying some wooden boats with three big airplane engines to sneak up on enemy ships, torpedo them and run away. A strategy that almost never worked. However, PTs served well: ambushing armed barges and small troop transports, picking up downed aviators, tangling with enemy planes and escorting landing craft.
I have a book published in 1942 called "They Were Expendable". It was written as though it was an interview of the survivors of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3--the group that was stationed near Manilla when the war broke out. It was commanded by Lt. Commander John Bulkley who garnered fame by getting MacArthur off Corrigador. Historians say there is a good bit of fiction in the book that was designed to stimulate national morale in the early days of the war, but there are enough facts to chill you. (And yes, the movie had even more fiction in it--some of the survivors of MTB-3 hated the movie.) When you read about what these men went through, you realize that your problems are small by comparison. What kind of a sailor volunteers to serve on a wooden boat loaded with high-octane aviation gas that will be sent into harm's way? The brave kind.
Joe
1977 28' Express
Twin 318s, raw water cooled
Ohio River
