[Charles Martel]

With the number of veterans and civilian supporters of the military here on FreeRepublic, I thought this would be a good place to share this story. Be advised, this URL links to a page that has a kickstarter sales pitch. The restoration team is well on its way to the financial goal.

THE IMPORTANT PART -> The museum is seeking WWII U.S. Navy veterans of PT Boat service and would like them to be part of the launch ceremony. If you know of any such veterans, please pass along the information so they can participate.

For years, I thought this boat was going to be a static display in the museum, like the Higgins landing craft that they started out with. Surprisingly, they're going to get a USCG certification and run PT-305 regularly on Lake Pontchartrain (where it was test-run before going off to combat in the Mediterranean). Ride aboard a restored PT Boat? Definitely an item for the bucket list.

[Gaffer]

Made from PLYWOOD, these were the original fast-boats, and armed with torpedoes and 50s.

John Wayne so liked them he had one upgraded and fitted for his personal use.

Perhaps the best PT movie I remember is “They Were Expendable.”

[jjotto]

Seems surprising today that they had wooden hulls.

[smokingfrog]

I'm going to be in NO in a couple months and will have to check this out.

[smokingfrog]

http://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit/exhibits/restoration-pavilion.html

[skeeter]

Splinters from bombs & shell explosions would slice right through these. Gotta hand it to the sailors who fought in em.

[central_va]

Don’t let anyone named Kennedy near the helm.

[PUGACHEV]

When I was a child in the ‘50s my father used to rent a small boat with an outboard and we’d go fishing in the in the waterways behind Atlantic City. Every now and then a surplus PT boat bought by a civilian would cruse by and raise a huge wake. We think of PT boats as being small because they are when compared to other warships, but they are by no means small when one goes by you in a 10’ skiff.

[Cold Heart]

Not sure how they qualified the “fully” restored but PT658 in Portland is a restored and operating PT boat.

[Jeff Head]

Thanks for posting this to FR!

I have a Flickr Album all about this boat...and PT Boats in General. See:

US NAVY PT BOATS AND THE RESTORATION OF PT-305

Lots of nice shots there. Here are a few:

Restoration:

During World War II:

I have a good write up on PT-Boats in general and on the history of PT-305.

We built over 530 PT Boats during World War II. We lost 99 of them to all causes...40 of which were directly related to enemy action.

[Retain Mike]

Here a couple links about another restored PT boat. That one is only about 2.5 hour away, but I am to involved in vet affairs in Eugene to be a volunteer.

Higgins PT 658 is shown dockside at its berth at the Navy and Marine Reserve Center in Portland, Oreg
http://warboats.org/pt_658.htm

A Brief History of the Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat PT658
http://savetheptboatinc.com/history.htm

[ro_dreaming]

a $3.3 million restoration effort and more than 100,000 hours of work by a dedicated corps of over 200 volunteers,

I wonder how many that much money and man hours would have bought, originally.