The Giant Killers : The Story of WW2 ELCO US Navy PT Boats

[Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] almost as fast as a speeding bullet leaping waves of a single bound his amorphous is a fighting flying blue marlin half bird half fish it's the elko pt boat with enough dynamite to blow up a battleship and the speed to get away if the first ko punch misses they didn't happen as a little naval accident macarthur asked for 200 of them back in 1937 to defend the philippines he didn't get them because they weren't in existence even on paper at that time [Music] but when in 39 henry r sutman executive vice president of elko was approached by secretary of the navy charles edison he went to work he remembered several hundred motor launches built by elko for world war one this was another day they'd have to be new and better the best in 1940 the first squadron of pts numbered 10 to 17 was running deep seat tests for the navy between cuba and florida they hit the tail end of a hurricane took a beating and stood up not one of these 70-footers was lost the navy asked for more of these seaworthy sluggers and the british wanted some too the need for heavier armament brought out our 77-foot pt and this was the first to see action in the pacific [Music] one man erwin chase managing constructor of elko was the clearinghouse for all new ideas for 40 years a designer of small boats both wars found him immersed in his specialty the additional burden of combat specifications he took in stride but before an idea can be embodied it must have shape on paper dimensions and minute fractions of an inch proportions from every angle and description of material every single part must fit the drafting room workers spent thousands of man-hours on blueprints of everything from an 80-foot keel to a quarter-inch washer they had the answers before a saw-touched wood or a lathe-turn metal when the ideas had boiled down to a unit this 80 footer was the pt giant killer that went to guadalcanal the aleutians panama africa sicily and the channel ports there were hundreds and hundreds more of them how did they all get built we know the men who fought in them bulkley kelly cops the expendables but who made them where did they come from [Music] over the bayonne new jersey plant at the electric boat company elko the e flag presented by the united states government for excellence in war production has never been absent six times it has been given for ever-increasing efficiency the people come to work coveralls are supplied by the company and company washed whenever soiled no work stained wretches leave the plant at the end of a shift at elko they can go straight to a movie if they were mine there are 19 buildings comprising the elko plant big ones housing several departments and smaller ones containing a single operation some are as new as this war others antidate the first world war concrete roadways provide passage for heavy material on boats and wheels [Music] an enormous boat launching crane stands by the dock long pipes fitted with blowers and worm drives form the sawdust trail from every woodworking department they carry highly inflammable sawdust and shavings to the incinerator to lessen this is a ship shape factory no piles of dust on the floors no rubbish in the corners there's a lot of stuff to be moved from building the building the elko locomotive nicknamed gypsy handles large items rooted by rail over a system no bigger than an amusement park miniature railroad a train of torpedo tubes is on its way to storage there they pile up until installation on nearly completed boats dummy torpedoes are used for size and weight for you have to know what every pt will do with a full load but many of the hundreds of thousands of pieces that go into a single boat are moved like this on small hand drugs fill them and roland there's more where they came from more is needed where they go in the storeroom literally millions of parts are waiting aluminum bronze propellers are taken in threes three to a boat every part must be inspected for the perfection demanded by the utmost in dependability [Music] exhaust pipes are racked waiting for installation bronze struts to hold propeller shafts [Music] it's a wooden boat mahogany from africa and honduras white oak from jersey brazilian balsa maple fur burmese teak west coast cedar wisconsin birch alaska and canadian spruce ash poplar and heavy greenheart from the guianas a machine sizes and paints the strips of mahogany in a single operation and the hand of the woodworking craftsmen puts them to work hard mahogany from the gold coast of africa is laminated with a phenolic resin blue process mahogany that won't split under the pounding of the sea they shape the frames that will become the boat's ribs in a mold of standard form [Music] when it's all tightly locked together they carry mold and frame to the baking oven new gluing techniques able to withstand salt air and water represent a great advance in the building of wooden boats glued members are actually much stronger than the original wood when wood and glue have been baked at a temperature of 140 degrees they are bound together as strongly as if they were welded steel the frame will stay in the oven for two hours until the glue is as hard as the mahogany [Music] afterwards the frame is sawed in two making identical pieces at this point the many laminations can be seen easily [Applause] [Music] cleaning rollers smooth the surfaces and bring the width down to the precise specifications [Music] the girders intended to carry tons of engine weight and fuel supply deep in the boat are made differently each has two layers of hollowed mahogany plywood between and a plywood cover on either side this makes for maximum strength with the least possible weight glue binds it under pressure no heat is necessary [Music] after staying in the press 14 hours it's brought out rough edges where the glue hardened after being squeezed out are trimmed and smooth wood and glue are made one in a single hard surface its measurements are as exact as those of bolt and nut when lowered to the bilge of a pt it will fit without additional planing the surfaces are sanded and finally it's peppered with rivets binding tight from either side another inspection follows as a matter of course no chances can be taken [Music] when these and a few hundred other primary constructions have been completed they are brought to the boat assembly floor in number 21 building 20 boats in various stages of completion 4 and six abreast move gradually toward the far exit men and women swarm over and into them nailing tapping riveting gluing fitting and painting carefully efficient methods and an infinite number of special skills carry the work forward parts which have been constructed elsewhere are now being brought together for final [Music] assembly a screed board is used in the fabrication of frames each form fits into its assigned place when folded together on the board they are in the perfect alignment established for each particular frame a completed pt takes 62 of them each slightly differing from all others with the frames assembled all present and accounted for the birth of another pt can be started their great lateral strength that they can be handled by a couple of men it's not unheard of for a woman to help carry a frame from spree board to the jig on the floor lies the wooden jig establishing the proper place for each frame frame after frame is set in place as the vessel begins to shape up a surprising fact is obvious defying common laws of boat construction it rests bottom side up this elko innovation permits easier assembly in the early stages and work on the hull from above rather than from a cramped position below at intervals among the frames seven watertight bulkheads are to be inserted they divide the boat into sections with small watertight doors for passage when the main bulkhead is put into the jig it's set at a certain angle of declining all the other bulkheads and frames are then brought into an exactly parallel position once the angle of declivity has been established throughout the first nails and screws are put in to keep them steady until other reinforcing parts have been added the stern or transom bulkhead comes on last the steam box is used to prepare wood for bending where the bottom meets the side long heavy pieces of white oak run the length of the boat these are called chimes while still hot moist and limber they are put into a mold corresponding to the shape of the boat at any given point later cooled out and dry they retain the shape the mold has given them but are still somewhat pliable here as elsewhere in a wooden pt there is a tough resilience not found in more rigid steel hulled vessels the backbone of any ship is the keel in a pt it's a massive molded 80 feet of bolted sitka spruce two expert scandinavian artists with the ads you all the keels to a pencil line accuracy 30 years on the job have given them the confidence and incredible skill necessary for this kind of work one bad stroke could ruin the labor of days but they never miss finished the surface is as smooth as plane and sandpaper could achieve at the bow the keel is sharp as a knife edge it's a long unwieldy member like a spine without ribs the pt still rests ignobly on its back like a helpless beetle [Music] men climb and pound the keel into place next the white oak shines and gunnels are set in place marking the division of bottom and side and side and deck they are the boat's wide flaring shoulders diagonal battens are fastened along the sides a first binding of cartilage over the bare ribs inner planking crosses the batons on the other diagonal the boat takes form as you watch a heavy coating of glue is spread all over this planking [Music] then they stretch and pack on it yards and yards of the finest airplane cloth glue and cloth are bound together by ironing hand irons or sections within easy reach long handled irons when an arm is too short the heat causes the glue to seep into cracks and impregnate the cloth already it would be impossible to spring a leak but there is more to come another planking goes on the outside this time the entire hull is nailed and riveted to eternity you wonder how there's room for so many nails rivets and screws they are brass copper monel stainless steel each best for its purpose one pt boat requires over 400 000 of them at noon the elko canteens provide a kind of food that heartens workers in essential war industry a cafeteria ministers to the desires of sit down eaters mr suffon the executive vice president can be found there too with some of his fellow executives and visiting naval officers an additional activity of the noon hour is apt to be a bond rally or morale building entertainment but more vital to the factory's main job is another noon custom the hull is now ready to be turned right side up a different employee is given the honor of presiding at each turning but the same crew of experts is always present they chose the noon hour so that workers on the hull would not be delayed during the operations the hull now weighs 12 tons a weight that must be handled cautiously despite the toughness that has been built into it it lifts and turns inch by inch this is the first of many times a pt boat will take to the air another will be at the launching and then still later when lifted aboard a ship to be transported oceans away but most frequently it will be one under its own power leaping the waves the hull sinks slowly into the steel cradle on wheels this will be its resting place for the remainder of the trip the length of the assembly room floor it will roll out of the big door and on to another building for additional fittings and finally it will go out to the launching crane and slip away waterborne from infancy into its own element [Music] soon the workers back from lunch are busy again inside top side and outside deep in the hull they are fitting girders into place the hollow construction and comparatively small size enable a couple of men to handle them with ease but they are still capable of performing the double function of supporting the major weights to be installed later and strengthening the hull bottom against stresses from that direction when heavy seas and distant oceans apply their twisting crushing force these girders stand firm in the heart and bowels of the high jumping pt their laminated strength is absolute insurance against any structural failure outside paint is sprayed on marking the water line one kind of paint above and another below there's still camouflage to come on the deck there are installations to be made before the decking arrives metal strengthening straps distribute the stresses and strains of the torpedo tube installation torpedo and tube weighing close to two tons on a plunging bt must be anchored deep in the boat structure at this time the covering board is laid on the deck beam there's always plywood arriving one minute and being used the next its advantage in many portions of the boat is greater strength and lightness in many special constructions elko does its own lamination as with girders but standard plywood can also be used for less vital parts the deck for instance is an elko job two 80-foot strips must be glued from sheets of mahogany plywood scarfed together to make them strongest at the point of joining every inch of the surface is sanded a crew of able-bodied men is required to move it to the assembly room remind you of a zoo's attendance preparing to feed a reluctant python once aboard the pt however the deck lies down quiet as a rug [Music] a few thousand screws keep it there [Music] the jointer shop and other of the many woodworking sections of the plant sees the construction of major sub-assemblies most of the superstructure of the boat comes out of this shop ready for its final fitting a cabin trunk is being put together whether in the endless cold winds of the aleutians or the sudden tropic storms of the south pacific it must be snug and snug it is no leaks no holes no errors [Music] the chart house is also constructed here soon it will be moved to a flat top pt on the assembly floor the sheath of veneer around a machine gun parrot are protection against wind and wave bullets are another question but they have to catch you first a pt is as hard to hit as its fast-moving wooden sister of the air a mosquito bomber the installation of turrets and deck houses is delicate work the clearances have to be like those of a piston in the cylinder that's where the woodworkers of the jointer shop and those who brought the hull and deck openings to precise measurements join in elko teamwork wood fibers from opposite ends of the earth have been shaped to a strange transfiguration in an american factory elko does not pretend to be a steel mill or an iron boundary but many of the purposeful alterations of unshaped material take place in our metal shop we bend the sheets of metal we hammer them into place there's grinding to be done and pipes must be bent a hundred routine changes are made for the special uses of this intricately fitted boat [Music] there's also welding not up to the massive fusions of a brooklyn navy yard but enough to make the part hole tight come hell exploding shell or high water and a girl welder with her dark glasses and blue flame is doing what used to be a man's on to a single job the main item is protective paint zinc promate [Music] at one side of the fast million dollar war constructed assembly room is the machine shop here rough castings are ground machined polished threaded and shaped to precision measurement [Music] a turret lathe is rarely idle performing several operations with a mere shift to the tool in use it's a jack of all trades in turning metal to variable uses the magnetic chuck surface grinder holds its object with electrical force small parts must also be plain smooth a propeller shaft has to be tapered with an accuracy no human hand could achieve and it must fly straight and true now they drill a hole in the tight hull three propeller shafts have to come out in the open [Music] and struts must be attached to keep the whirling shaft secure as they whip up a monstrous weight that will spring together dash high and boil away behind a pt's nervous system the electrical wiring connects engine room chart house day room galley and torpedoes to a central board these assemblies are wired in advance and installed when complete [Music] the packard marine engine is hauled out of the crate as you might suspect looking at its small size in relation to great power there is aviation as well as marine history behind it a distant ancestor was the liberty motor of world war one more recent forebears were power plants of a miss america racing boat on a basis of pound per unit of horsepower it compares favorably with the great airplane engines currently in use it's built for maximum power minimum weight and bulldog endurance exactly like each tough fighter boat that houses three of them plugged to the assembly floor on dolly's they are carefully installed in a pt engine room there's just enough room for them to line up the two on the outside have v drives reversing the direction of crankshafts facing forward the middle one has a direct drive to the propeller it's a very compact engine room but big enough for a competent engineer to make adjustments and repairs if they should ever be necessary at full speed the engines make a noise that discourages conversation but engineers are less dependent on small talk than those who sing cowboy diddies on deck and now the pt with engine superstructure and deck aboard is ready for its first run in the open a 220 crawl on dry land the big doors are open and the boat is pulled outside it moves very slowly because there's not too much space for maneuvers besides any boat on wheels is not really at home but there will never be a better chance to fall in love with the shark lifted vowel the long descending sweep of the chime and the bulbous flare the gunnels notice the complexity of the air and water riding bottom and the beautifully curving lines that run from stem to cern there's class all over her you can see it in the outer shape you know it's been built with infinite care it's a proud boat and purposeful you see it the men who made her feel it in the number 16 building smaller pieces are added propellers are put in place screwed up exactly to avoid vibration three rudders generating plant batteries and wiring are installed the ventilating system is completed firefighting equipment is put aboard preparations for placing armament are made and don't forget those gas tanks powerful engines need plenty of gasoline the three big tanks of a pc are carried a midship under the day room the fact that a pc of action rides on top of the water exposes the tanks to enemy gunfire despite their position in the build this leads to another parallel with airplanes the tanks are self-sealing so that a bullet passing through is only another hole without a leak now she's ready to make her final move on dry land as one boat comes out of the 16 building on the way to the water another takes its place at top production no space can be left idle they pass each other at the door the arrival going in stem first and the other being hauled out backwards the momentary indignity of backing into the launching crane is soon passed days and nights of glory are in the office a giant dockside crane lifts the boat and its cradle into the air powerful machinery tightens under the dead weight of tons the boat is moved out high over the water of the basement gradually it's lowered until at long last the boat floats free of the deep sunk eleven and a half ton cradle a creature born for the water has come into her own element she rests there passive at home but not yet ready to live a small launch pulls her away from crane cables and into the roof wall wet basement the still powerless pt moves quietly behind final fittings are made in the wet basin guard rails that prevent a gun from shooting away its own deck house or mask are put in place guns are installed here and so is other equipment too secret to be mentioned then forward ass in the turret they sprout all over and each must be installed with ultimate precision for these are no toys no games no playthings they are literally a matter of life and death and how does she take all this new equipment will she carry it lightly will she ride high fast and handsome as ever these are questions that must be answered without any lingering doubt [Music] but the time has come when the engines will sound alive alternately muttering and roaring their response to a throttle shoved forward with the heel of a hand the first trial is to be run they're ready to prove that she can do the main and simple things for which she has been built she'll handle in the water she'll run fast and run slow but first she moves out slowly leaving the wet basin first she's brought to the main basement the engines are started up for dock trials after an hour they're ready instruments and triplicate show they're delivering the engineer throws his levers meshing power to the propellers and the shaft turns slowly this the builder's first trial run is one of many when the builder has been wholly satisfied the navy will take charge and try it all over again newark bay sees the new boats come out week after week at first they crawl through waterways too crowded for racing speed and now they change their pace they slide easily under the high arch of the bayonne bridge after crossing new york harbor they speed up the east river falls well below shove the throttles a little more swing around that barge that's the hellgate bridge we just passed and out in long island sound she begins to run warming up for the measured mile her speed is caught with stopwatches calculations are made and always the telltale instrument panel managing constructor erwin chase comes along to see his blueprints in action armament needs testing too keep that airplane high or maybe there's a submarine to start those shops are only testing but they could mean business they call them sea hornets devil boats and green dragons they can turn on a dime lean into a curve or jump the waves like a jackrabbit their best work is done at night so there's not much photographic record of their world-famous exploits these are the babies commander buckley used to carry macarthur out of the philippines they fought out of tulaki at guadalcanal at sicily and salerno on the shores of new guinea in the dirty weather of the aleutians and they helped guard the panama canal they bought e-boats and were out in front of the invasion they came back to the philippines at leyte they're the little pt boats with a load of dynamite on either shoulder and they'll tackle anything that floats they represent the newest combat weapon produced by this war and they have been expertly used by our navy the story of the pts would be incomplete without a well-deserved tribute to the brave men who fight them like every man of war the pts were made for only one purpose to meet the enemy and destroy him wherever he can be found be it on or under the sea on the land or in the air the pt men have done just that from barge to battleship submarine to airplane the pt men have acquitted themselves with honor reflecting the highest credit upon the united states naval service [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Battleship Cove - America's Fleet Museum

Views: 704,637

Keywords: elco, pt, pt boat, patrol torpedo, torpedo, melville, kennedy, ww2, world war 2, world war ii, pt-617, pt-796, battleship, battleship cove, museum, memorial, national pt memorial, navy, usn, us navy

Id: JBgK4VFV6JU

Length: 30min 5sec (1805 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 11 2021