Doyle, David PT Boats. The US Navy's Fast Attack Patrol Boats in World War II

Patrol Torpedo - or PT boats - captured the public's imagination during WWII due to the daring exploits of their crews. Built not of plywood, as many believe, but rather of mahogany planks, and powered by a trio of Packard marine engines, these vessels operated in every theater, often facing opponents many times their size. The use of PT boats to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and his family from the Philippines, a story dramatized in the movie "They Were Expendable", put the PT boats and their crews in the public forefront, as did John F. Kennedy's loss of PT-109 and the subsequent rescue of him and his crew. This book looks at all the PT boat configurations used by the US Navy during WWII through rare archival photos, augmented by images of the few remaining vessels of the type. Part of the "Legends of Warfare. Naval" series.

The use of PT boats to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and his family from the Philippines, a story dramatised in the film "They Were Expendable", brought PT boats and their crews into the public eye, as did John F. Kennedy's loss of PT-109 and the subsequent rescue of him and his men. This book describes all PT boat variants used by the U.S. Navy during World War II, supplemented by contemporary photographic material and images of the few surviving boats of this type.