HIGGINS 78ft P.T BOAT
Test run for the kit of the Higgins 78ft P T boat at last.
A cold blustery day and the lake level was very high, but we have been waiting a long time for some decent weather to test run her. A mile down the road it was brilliant sunshine ?.
see her here on You Tubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2sR2Ta_nrA
Kit is to 1/24th scale powered by 2 falcon 5 motors running on 3800 6v nicads on 32.5 mm nylon props. Higgins boats played a large roll in the Mediterranean Sea area combating enemy shipping. Including duels with German E-boats or S-Boats (Schnellbooten) and heavily armored and armed barges known as F-lighters. During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans. As gunboats they could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armoured barges used by the Japanese for inter-island transport. Several saw service with the Philippine Navy, where they were named "Q-boats", most probably after President Manuel L. Quezon. Primary anti-ship armament was four 2,600 pound (1,179 kg) Mark 8 torpedoes. Launched by 21-inch Mark 18 (530 mm) torpedo tubes, each bore a 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead and had a range of 16,000 yards (14,630 m) at 36 knots (66 km/h). Two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns were mounted for anti-aircraft defence and general fire support. Some boats shipped a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. Propulsion was via a trio of Packard 4M-2500 and later 5M-2500 supercharged gasoline-fueled, liquid-cooled marine engines. Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" – and "devil boats" by the Japanese – the PT boat squadrons were heralded for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century.
