PT 305
PT 305 is an exhibit that’s part of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. She is the only combat-veteran PT Boat still operational.
PT 305
PT 305 now resides in a custom boathouse on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
PT 305
She’s a stirring sight when you first see her snug in her slip, fresh and new as the day she was launched.
PT 305
A close-up shot of the bow, including the yellow-painted bow deck that identified PT 305 as friendly to allied aircraft passing overhead, gives an idea of the diagonal planking of her hull.
PT 305
In the bow, quarters for the crew include berths along the sides (up high) as well as benches that could double as berths as needed. During World War II, her crew lived on board, as on other Navy ships.
PT 305
A standing helm is located behind the cowling while the small windows on the house below lent natural light to the chartroom.
PT 305
The refit of PT 305 strove to preserve her authenticity, but practical matters added a genset and a Raymarine chartplotter on the helm.
PT 305
PT 305 is powered by three 1,500-horsepower Packard V-12 engines that run on 100-Octane aircraft fuel.
PT 305
While the crew wears historically accurate uniforms, the inflatable lifejackets make sense.
PT 305
When the hull was brought to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, she had seen a hard life as a commercial fishing vessel, and her stern section had been removed so she could skirt crew requirements.
PT 305
The National World War II Museum is based in New Orleans largely because one of its founders, the late historian Stephen Ambrose, learned that U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower said that boatbuilder Higgins Industries won the war by manufacturing landing craft and PT Boats here.
PT 305
The hull was stripped of its rotten planking and the refit recreated the boat as closely as possible to how she was when new.
PT 305
Tom Czekanski, senior curator and restoration manager for the National World War II Museum, inspects the hull of PT 305 early in the refit process.
PT 305
After PT 305 was refit, she was trucked through New Orleans to a barge that would take her to her new home, a custom boathouse on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Her historically accurate camouflage pattern seemed to do little to mask her presence.
PT 305
PT 305 takes to the water again!
PT 305
A historical photo shows PT 305 in her heyday in the Mediterranean, with a couple of badges on her cowling showing confirmed kills.
PT 305
The PT boats had low profiles and were quite small and flimsy by warship standards, but they could deliver a ship-sinking sting and get away fast, which is why they were nicknamed the Mosquito Fleet.
PT 305
During World War II, the torpedoes carried by the PT boats would only travel on a straight trajectory, thanks to contrarotating props, so the crews had to aim with the bow of the boat from about a half-mile away, launch the torpedo and then turn and run at speeds better than 40 knots.
PT 305
One concession to modern times, the lifelines all around the deck allow for the museum to offer rides on PT 305 on Lake Pontchartrain.
PT 305
PT 305 fairly gleams in her fresh paint, which volunteers were touching up in between rides for media and donors.
PT 305
This test crew gets into their ride, taking battle stations with some of the realistic-looking but nonworking deck armament.
PT 305
Capt. George Benedetto at the helm with his hand on the throttle levers. The lower control levers signal forward-neutral-reverse to crew in the engine room who would shift the transmissions. Today’s crew watch rpm and exhaust pressure and temperature closely and stay in touch via radio headsets.
PT 305
The decks of PT 305 carried journalists from a variety of media outlets, showing off the results of the 10-year restoration.
PT 305
Hanging in her boathouse today, a copy of some of the original plans for the 78-foot Higgins Patrol Torpedo Boat that Ike said helped win the war.
PT 305
The brave men who sailed on PT Boats had little more than guts, speed, and seamanship to protect them in their mission. We must never forget the sacrifices they made.
