SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Restoring PT-658

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I originally stated I met Mr. Fletcher, I meant Flesher.

Bio from website:

Quote:

Franklin A. Flesher

http://www.nationalmilitaryheritagem...ts/flesher.jpg

Franklin A. Flesher, NMHM Executive Director, entered the United States Army as an enlisted soldier in 1952. He was commissioned in 1958 and retired with the rank of Lt. Colonel. During his career he was Ranger and Jump certified saw 2 tours in Viet Nam. He was stationed at Ft. Benning, Ft. Hood, the Pentagon, the Air Force Staff College and has attended the University of Akron and Missouri Western State University. Frank is also the founder of the NMHM.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lt. Colonel Frank Flesher USA (Retired). Ranger and airborne qualified, he gave 28 years of service to the United States Army and 18 plus years of selfless dedication to the National Military Heritage Museum and Society.

I don't want to jack your thread, just wanted to let you know you inspired me to go out and volunteer :salute:

update: made lots of progress on the boat friday. We move the 2 gun-tubs to their correct location and painted the exterior of the chart house "pt-boat gray". BTW maritime grade paint does not wash off your hands:oops:. On monday, they fired up the engines for a bit, and one guy almost passed out from CO poisening:oops:. I don't know the details on that, it is a ventalated compartment.:-?

I also signed up for my deck duty; lineman. 3 days off pt-boat duty the first week of June, sailing the boat. Can you say pt-boat sleepover:yeah::woot:

Update-end of May. The boat is cleared for sea: Na Manner, alles klar? They fired up the engines today!:rock: OMFG it was so freakin' cool, I can't wait to get underway next week. I spent the day installing all of the windows on the boat. The we went to lunch an bitched obout odufus, then back to the boat for.... Oh-ficial Coast Guard training!:woot:
The CG dudes pulled up behind us and we went over "man-overboard" training. I also learned how to run the emergency pumps:woot: And patch a serious leak/ stop flooding:arrgh!:

I'll be back saturday to take pichures of the work. It actally looks like a PT-boat again.:salute:

Sounds like you're have a grand time repairing the old girl. Enjoy!

So I hadn't shown my face at the boat for awhile:oops:. So last week I showed up down at the boat house and there were a lot of people down there, and all dressed up. As it turns out, we were getting ready to shove off for the Portland classic boat show:o, which I thought was the following week.

There were no volunteers to stay with the boat overnite during the show, so i volunteered for duty. We were moored next to a seafood resturaunt:woot:. It was really cool to watch the full moon go over the city. i got some nice pictures, that I'll post when I get home if I remember.

Oh, and my reward for guarding the boat for the weekend...
I got to be at the helm for a good portion of the trip back to the barn.:ahoy:

edit, look what I found:
http://www.savetheptboatinc.com/summer_fall10.htm

Night watch duty! Did ya stand by the plank asking friend or foe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk (Post 1458213)

Night watch duty! Did ya stand by the plank asking friend or foe?

The thing that drove me crazy were the people that had to come by and knock on the hull and ask if the boat is made of wood.:damn:

We had our last hurrah for the summer. We took Rear Admiral Little and onterage out for a ride. It was cool, because my son got to sit by the Admiral:woot:.
Tomorrow, we start part II of our major refit of the boat. We will be replacing the deck aft of the gun tubs, which means we gotta lift everything off.:o

Current state of boat, as of 10/6:

(monster-ass picture)
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...23#post1510223

Link does not take me to the picture. :wah:

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk (Post 1510290)

Link does not take me to the picture. :wah:

try this:
http://www.savetheptboatinc.com/ptbull201001.jpg

Any war history you can tell us about the old girl Niki ?

She looks great. You worry about rot. We worry about rust.

Niki she looks great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikimcbee (Post 1458883)

The thing that drove me crazy were the people that had to come by and knock on the hull and ask if the boat is made of wood.:damn:

Wait wait wait, I know you did some repair with plywood, as seen with previous posts, but the hull is made of wood as well? :o

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREWALL (Post 1510438)

Any war history you can tell us about the old girl Niki ?

To answer your question:

Quote:

PT-658 was built at Higgins Industries Boatworks, New Orleans LA. Her keel was laid down 24 Feb 1945, she launched on 14 Feb 1945 and was completed on 30 Jul 1945. The boat was originally slated to be part of Squadron (RON) 45, which was never placed in commission. It was to consist of 11 Higgins PT's (649-660), and 11 Elco PT's (773-784) and assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Near the war's end in mid-1945, RON45 was scheduled to be "Lend-Leased" to the USSR. Several boats in the group (649-656) were already shipped to Russia when the transfer was halted, just before PTs 657-660 were to be sent over. The Elco construction contract was also canceled at this time. PTs 657-660 had been moved from New Orleans to Seattle on an LST, where they would be piggybacked onto a transport ship bound for Russia. When the war ended August, 1945 the shipment was stopped and the boats returned to Port Hueneme, CA. Then all four boats were reclassified as "Small Boat" C105342, 3, 4 and 5 (Crash Rescue Boats) in August 1946, and assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics as "Remote Controlled Targets" at Naval Air Facility, Pt. Mugu, CA. (ex-PT-660 was actually sunk as a target by a "Bullpup" missile off Port Hueneme in the early 1990's.) PT-658 was reclassified again as "Floating Equipment" in Dec 3, 1948. Ten years later, on June 30, 1958, PT-658 was sold off as "war surplus" by the U.S. Navy to a private owner. PT-658 was acquired from the estate of one of these private owners (Mr. Orlando Brown of Oakland, CA) in 1993, who had intended on using her as a private pleasure craft. Very soon after the group acquired the boat, PT-658 broke loose from her moorings at Treasure Island Naval station and ran aground on a jetty, which pushed the starboard (right) rudder up through the hull and also created several holes in the transom. Soon after, the boat was refloated and transferred up to Portland Oregon by transport ship. Since 1994, PT-658 has been in the process of being restored by a dedicated group of PT Boat veterans and volunteers as part of "Save the PT Boat, Inc." at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center Pier.

bibliography:
http://www.hnsa.org/ships/pt658.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 1511017)

Wait wait wait, I know you did some repair with plywood, as seen with previous posts, but the hull is made of wood as well? :o

The hull is 100% wood with a couple of internal metal support beams inside.:o

Update: we've got the entire aft torn apart. Everything has been removed and we're pulling (slowly) off the deck. Don't slip or fall:o.

What are ya doin to the aft?