Badass diesel gunboat from the 50's

[pcrussell50]

Apologies if this has been seen already

50 knots, (58mph), not bad for 43 tons, and half a century old. Under way, you hear nothing but turbine noise. Sounds like gas turbine engines but they're not. Even has that fine mist you see when a fastboat is hauling.



-Peter

[Scream And Fly]

That thing is pretty cool, and surprisingly fast!

[rock]

43 tons plowing at 58 mph. That is some serious torque.

Rock

[Greg G]

Apologies if this has been seen already

50 knots, (58mph), not bad for 43 tons, and half a century old. Under way, you hear nothing but turbine noise. Sounds like gas turbine engines but they're not. Even has that fine mist you see when a fastboat is hauling-Peter

Holy Chit, please confirm that 43 Tons is accurate?

[Bodhi]

I like when diesel trucks smoke...but watching boats roll coal leaving the dock is badass!

[powerabout]

how fast were PT boats?

[nitro_rat]

I think about the same. In fact they are the same class of boat. PT is “Patrol Torpedo.” The US PT boats had 3 1,500 hp gas engines IIRC. Allison and Packard engines were used, maybe others.

[powerabout]

PT boats would be a good repower with 1650 Mercs

[nitro_rat]

I don’t think they’d hold up to the weight! Those engines they used were low compression and low RPM, around 3,000 tops. You’d kill a 1650 Merc trying to spin up the big props! Kinda like putting a Big block Chevy in a Peterbilt. Same horsepower or more than the Cat diesel but at too high an RPM and not enough cooling capacity. Those PT’s are 77-80 foot vessels!

If you want to repower a big boat with multiple 1650’s, do four in a Cary 50 please!

[Greg G]

I'm still amazed those things can go 50mph. I would not want to be the poor bastard who sees that monster coming at him off in the horizon!

[powerabout]

I'm still amazed those things can go 50mph. I would not want to be the poor bastard who sees that monster coming at him off in the horizon!

you might see the torpedoes first...

[HStream1]

https://archive.hnsa.org/ships/t56.htm

Holy Chit, please confirm that 43 Tons is accurate?

[powerabout]

I guess MTU's would be the thing to put in them but that would admit defeat of course.

[jembost]

Very cool. Not in the same class, but when I was a kid in the 60"s my dad had a Coast Guard Picket boat he converted into a dive boat. Although it's top speed was reportedly 20-25 knots, it felt fast to me. Pics of similar boat, not his.

[nitro_rat]

Many of the PT boats were converted to work boats or motor yachts after the war. I think many were converted to twin engine from triples for civilian use.