US Patrol Torpedo Boats: World War II (New Vanguard, 148)

In this Osprey Vanguard title "US Patrol Torpedo Boats: WWII", Gordon Rottman has given us a fairly good overview of this class of American vessels during WWII.The author gives the reader a well-organized and structured volume beginning with the concept of the small, cheap boat capable of delivering a ship-killing torpedo. From there, the book moves on to the design specifications, the different manufacturers. He spends a lot of time on weapons since the armament of these small boats changed greatly as the war went on and their prey changed from destroyers, cruisers and battleships to barges, coastal craft (in the Pacific), E-Boats and F-Lighters (in the Med and Channel).The author gives a good exposition on the units, bases, crew accomodations and a little of the combat history of these units. It's here that the book fails a little. There's no real battle history. There's no first-person accounts of combat or any kind of description of how these boats really performed in battle. I found the artwork to be a little crude, to be frank. There's nothing about the PTs that fought in the Phillipines and got MacArthur out. Nothing even about JFK and PT-109.After the war, these boats were cast aside and since their wood construction didn't allow them to be mothballed they were simply destroyed. There's very little left of them. I attach a pic of a twin-.50 cal mount and tub from a PT-Boat at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, Indiana.There's still a lot of good here for the history buff. The weapons complement evolution is particularly good. But, I wanted more and it didn't deliver in respect of their effectiveness in combat. Still, four stars.

"US Patrol Torpedo Boats, WW 2" is a follow-on small book to that on British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939-45. They are complimentary in tracing the history of design, development, building, and spectacular actions of the "Spitfires of the Sea". Developed pre-war for cross-channel attacks on German coastal shipping, the MTBs were fast, low silhouette, torpedo-armed, 50-ft. raiders in the narrow waters around the British coasts, with double planked wooden hulls to evade enemy mines, and low range to return before dawn to home bases in England. About 500 were built, later designs using Packard engines from the USA to extend their range and to ship heavier guns, and later to support D-day landings in Normandy. As a reciprocal gesture when the US entered the war after Pearl Harbor, the British design and the latest MTB was passed to American boatbuilders in New Jersey, New Orleans, and Florida. But the Pacific war required longer-range and bigger crews on boats of 100 feet or more capable of extended patrols in the widespread Pacific islands, hunting for enemy shipping, and to assist 'island-hopping' invasion operations planned by General Douglas MacArthur, and the legendary action by John Kennedy and his crew in PT 109. Production stepped up to over 2500 boats, and this book details designs and actions, even details of the original naval training school in Rhode Island, and right through to the Vietnamese war.

I purchased the Kindle version of this book (my first Kindle book) and am overall very happy. There are a couple of situations where the photo and the caption fall across the page break and the detailed line drawing is a bit frustrating but that is a critique of the format and not of the content.I got this after reading a couple of longer books covering the development and deployment of the PT and probably should have read this one first. As with any of the Osprey books the amount of information that is presented is limited by the format. Rottman did not waste space with long charts of minute detail changes and should be commended for that. There is enough information to help understand the differences between the types of boats and the modifications in weapons that occurred as the missions changed.You should have a good basic understanding of the unique qualities of the PTs and their operations after reading this book and it will whet your appetite to read more.

This work is a good starting point for those who wish to learn about and to a limited extent understand the operational use of US PT Boats in WWII.The book takes the technological route here and delves in to the process of design, weapons, crewing and tactics associated with these small craft. As is the case with most of these books on naval matters it does not deal with the operational history of these craft to any great extent. That would require a much larger work than this one.What this book does accomplish is, like the series of book and infantry tactics by the same publisher gives the reader a 'how and with what' look at PT Boats and will allow a greater understanding of the mechanics involved in their operational use.Simply put it casts a clear view of how the history was accomplished. This book is a worthwhile addition to any reader's library for this reason alone.

Rottman has produced a good book for those interested in PT boat and WWII history. He has also put together a book that is useful for the modeler and those who want to build small PT boats. The drawings and illustrations are wonderful and it was particularly fun to have them on my Kindle Fire and expand them for a close look. This book was so good I bought a real copy as well as had it on my Kindle.

As usual Osprey books deliver.

Great color plates for my many modeling projects, a wealth of modeling knowledge

This is a fairly thin book that features the three major classes of PT boats in WW2: Elco 80 footers, Higgins 78 Footers and the 76 foot Huckins boats which were used to train the officers and men of the PT squadrons. The book has excellent photos of the 3 classes and photos from the combat theaters. An easy read and enjoyable to leaf through.

I'm no seaman, you know, and I always thought ships as cramped, overcrowded, floating coffins, waiting to go down; well, I really DO appreciate the majesty and technology of big ships at sea but I really dislike crowded places... especially in the midst of the great blue!Yet I've always been fascinated by small, fast cruisers; I feel some kind of a "romantic involvement" especially for the PT Boats of the last world war... maybe I saw too many war movies on the subject, but when I think something "heroic" battling amidst the waves, my mind immediately goes to the fast patrol boats.This little book is a good general reference to a complex subject; it's absolutely no final guide on the matter, but does its job of recreating the life and worth of this arm of the navy during WWII.It's lavishly illustrated with photographs and line drawing (in full colours!), brief and to the point.I've only got to criticize on the fact that only ONE kind of the three main PT Boats in use by the U.S. Navy is fully described: the other two are mentioned in their differences with this first one.Another complaint regards the weaponry carried onboard: I know this is no weapons book but still I feel that something more regarding the firepower of this diminutive cruisers would do some good.All in all, is a good reading, not too challenging and it comes very cheap too!

A good book generally. Some detail photos for the modeller looking to model Italeri's outstanding 1/35 model. The historical references are very detailed, if biased towards Lt. J. Kennedy's PT 109. A few more colour plates of units in service could have been provided but most readers should be able to reference these online.Recommended for most readers, including modellers and historical references.

Pity it wasn’t thicker

Gives a very good insight into US Torpedo Boats of WW2. A must read for anyone interested in Coastal Forces of WW2.

nice book well written in the standard (new vanguard) layout. this is a good starter reference book to provide a kick off point for those who want to research further, whilst remaining a good stand alone reference.