PT Boat Era | Huckins Yacht Corp.

PT Boat Era

Huckins' entry into the PT development program came after initial efforts had been made by various boat builders to construct a PT boat that would satisfy the Navy’s varied requirements. Twenty PT’s were in service and others building before Frank Huckins secured a meeting with the Navy Bureau of Ships. With the world of boat building rather small, it was not surprising that Frank Huckins learned that the boats then in service were having severe problems. He reasoned that with the experience of Huckins in the 1920’s and 1930’s in building the "fastest seagoing boats in the world", he could build a fast PT boat, and also provide a platform for the armament requirements of such a boat.

Huckins began the task in December 1940 without much additional help from the Navy and no help from competitors. It was literally building from the ground up. "We knew that we could do it, but we also knew it would take a little time and patience on our part", Frank stated

About this time, the fall of 1940, the Navy believed the PT’s then built, now part of Squadron 1 and 2, should receive more testing and ordered two squadrons to Florida for the winter to conduct "shakedown" cruises. Squadron 1, composed of experimental boats that had been constructed as the result of a design competition, never left Miami, and Squadron 2, composed of the seventy-foot Elcos, did carry out cruises to Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The shakedown experience of the two squadrons proved less than satisfactory and the commanding officers each met with the Bureau of Ships, the Bureau of Inspection and Survey and the Internal Control Board on May 19, 1941. There was a general agreement that all PTs developed to date were defective either in military components or construction. The conference recommended comparative service tests be conducted on PTs built or under construction by Elco, Higgins, Huckins and the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Until such tests were completed, no more PTs were to be built.

Fortunately, the PT boat under construction at Huckins was nearing completion. Delivered to the Navy July 1941, it was run through trials by the Navy Trial Board and accepted with enthusiasm as PT 69. Frank Huckins’s $100,000 gamble paid off, but with only a net profit of $28.60.

The comparative trials that had been ordered in May were scheduled for July 21 - 24, 1941, and this exercise came to be know as the "Plywood Derby." After the running of the Plywood Derby, the Huckins and the Elco boats made the best showing, with Huckins edging the Elco seventy-seven-footer in speed, turning circle, and pounding factor. Time Magazine and some newspapers reported these results, which drew rebuttals from Elco. The most important part of the report, however, was the Trial Board’s concluding recommendations:

A. That the Huckins 72’ (PT 69) be considered acceptable for immediate construction. B. That the Elco 77’ design be considered for future construction provided changes in lines are made to reduce tendency to pound in seaway and the structure is strengthened in a manner acceptable to Big Ships.