[ARC5] PT-658

[Robert Eleazer]

Note the torpedoes used on PT-658.  

I wondered for years why some PT's had torpedoes in tubes and others just out on the deck.  I recently read a great book on the development of US torpedoes in WWII, "Hellions of the Deep."  

Turns out that initially PT's used torpedoes made by the Govt Torpedo Factory in Rhode Island, manned by govt civilians which turned out pretty much junk, and not nearly enough of it to boot.  The USN then turned to academia and industry to build torpedoes and they designed both totally new ones and also fixed some of the older designs as well.  

After they built new air launched torpedoes those were put on PT boats, since they were both lighter and more effective.  And since they were designed for air launch they did not need torpedo tubes.

The USN closed the Rhode Island factory after the end of WWII.

Wayne