Another Packard Engine

[THE PILGRIM]

Besides building the well known Merlin aircraft engine,
Packard built another high performance engine.
That would be the 4M -2500 PT Boat engine.
It was a Supercharged V-12, an updated version of the WWI Liberty Aircraft engine.
Depending on the version, it put out 1200, 1350 or 1500 Horses.
It used 100 octane Gas, and it used a lot!
The PT Boats had three engines.
Running at a top speed of 40 Knots they burned 474 gallons an hour!
Fuel load was 3000 gal, for a 6.3 run time available.


PT Boat Info - PT Boat - Pakard V-12 Marine Engine

 

[rockquarry]

That works out to about 11.5 gallons per mile!

 

[BigBill]

My uncle was in ww2 on the other boats. Sad but true after the war they beached the boats, stripped them and burnt them.
I read somewhere they used compressed air under the bow and the bottom of the boat to reduce friction from the water that's why they were so fast.

 

[DWalt]

Just as most of the Higgins boats were destroyed after the war. And a huge number of aircraft. It's been over 10 years since I visited the D-Day Museum in New Orleans, but I seem to remember the Higgins boat there was one that had to be built from the original drawings as there were none of the originals left to put on display. Is that true?

 

[S&W ucla]

They took an original Higgins PT boat that was damaged and converted to fishing boat and restored it. You can go for a ride!
The Higgins landing craft is on display at the museum. Not sure if it is replica or original.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfRq_ET5ykY[/ame]

 

[rockquarry]

My uncle was in ww2 on the other boats. Sad but true after the war they beached the boats, stripped them and burnt them.
I read somewhere they used compressed air under the bow and the bottom of the boat to reduce friction from the water that's why they were so fast.

I'm no expert, but I think the compressed air was used to eject the torpedoes from the tubes into the water.

 

[DWalt]

The Higgins boat I was referring to was the landing craft on display inside. As I remember, it looked like a newly built one then. If it was restored, it was brought back to original perfect condition. I think you could walk inside it to feel what it was like. I didn't know about the other one.

I had heard that the Landing Craft "drivers" during WWII were Coast Guardsmen. Does anyone know? Not a job I'd want.