Hooligans!

[Subdeacon Joe]

The Hooligan Navy of WWII

 

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The officers’ wardrooms of the pre-world war II US Navy were modeled after the wardrooms of the Royal Navy, especially in capital ships. Everything was very formal, if not downright stuffy, with dress uniforms required at all times, sterling silver tableware, seating strictly by rank or even lineal number, and full table service provided by stewards. All that changed after the Pearl Harbor attack, or at least the amenities did. Attitudes, not so much. The Navy remained a hide-bound, rigidly autocratic service, afflicted with the ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ aversion to change, any change, from naval operations to naval traditions. All the ships that were sunk at Savo Island in 1942 went to general quarters to the sound of a bugle being played over the ship’s announcing system. Lord Nelson would have recognized the sound – and probably the actual notes.

So, when new concepts and equipment came along, be they related to tactical maneuvers, engineering, ordnance, or communications, there was always resistance. Such was the case with the deployment of the Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) or, simply, PT boat, to the Solomons theater. Torpedo boats had been around since the invention of the Whitehead torpedo, back in the 19^th century. Originally small launches, they evolved over time to formidable craft like the German E-boats of WWII, which other navies copied. (Interestingly, an entire type of warship, the destroyer, had been developed to combat them. The term, destroyer, originated from their original mission as Torpedo Boat Destroyers.)  The German E-boats were small but very fast and armed with torpedo tubes as well as guns. They would swoop out of the North Sea mists and fall upon convoys or even regular naval formations, sinking merchant ships and throwing a line of capital ships (cruisers and battleships) into disarray because they could launch torpedoes. In 1944, two E-boats killed hundreds of Allied soldiers practicing for the D-Day invasion at a place called

When the American navy deployed to the Solomon Islands, the American version of the E-boat came with them, right after the landings on Guadalcanal. The problem was that they arrived with no agreed combat doctrine, no formal command structure, no common radio equipment, and no logistical support. The regular navy had all of the above and was not of a mind to absorb these new boats into their operations. It wasn’t until the regular navy had its haughty posterior handed to it on Japanese plates did this attitude come somewhat into question. After the defeat at Savo Island, there wasn’t any regular navy left around Guadalcanal. To add insult to injury, the high-command had withdrawn all the transports, the carriers were pulled out of the immediate theater of operations, and the Marines on Guadalcanal were reduced to eating the rice they’d picked off the bodies of dead Japanese. 

The German Schnellboot (“E-boat”) S 204 flying a white flag of surrender at the coastal forces base HMS Beehive, Felixstowe, Suffolk (UK), on 13 May 1945.
This work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain via Wikicommons.

At that moment, someone finally came up with a mission for the PT boats. Like their German ancestors, our torpedo boats were small, 80 feet or so, wooden-hulled, very fast, and they carried four torpedoes along with cannons and machine guns. With the Guadalcanal cruiser force on the bottom, the general commanding the Marines ashore told them, as only a Marine could, get out there and raise some hell. And they did. For the next six months, they swarmed out of jungle coves and river inlets and ran full power out into the night, searching for Japanese warships or supply ships. At that time, late 1942, the common wisdom was that the Japanese owned the night, the Americans the day because they now had an airbase on Guadalcanal. The Imperial Japanese Navy was intent on rectifying that situation, which led to the campaign for the Solomon Island Chain. That lasted well into 1943, and the PT boat squadrons were in the thick of it.

The regular Navy’s attitude towards ‘unorthodox’ naval warfare concepts, such as the PT boats, had not changed, however. The MTB squadrons were more like pirates than naval personnel. They lived on their boats or in dugout bunkers on the beach, ate what they could forage from passing ships, made midnight-requisition runs to nearby naval supply points, where they ‘liberated ‘most of what they needed, because there was still no formal logistical chain for them. When ashore at one of their jungle bases, they walked around in khaki bathing suits, a Marine T-shirt, and sandals, while they careened their boats to clean the hulls. The officers congregated every evening when not out on a mission for ‘evening prayers’, where they imbibed a brew called a Screamer, made from the grain alcohol that powered their torpedoes and canned grapefruit juice. Regular navy transports learned quickly to post a guard if a PT boat showed up alongside, innocently asking for some fuel and food. While everyone was focused on the refueling operation, a team of thieves from a second, stealthy boat, would climb aboard and steal food, ammo, spare parts, and medical supplies. This was how they gained the name of Hooligan Navy.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Adding insult to injury, the torpedoes were absolute crap.  Crews had to get knife fight close to launch one that rarely ran true and likely wouldn’t explode if it did. 
 

They had three Packard engines that required aviation grade fuel to meet designed performance. Not only was that unavailable, but regular gas was in such short supply that they often ran only just two engines. 
 

While next to useless against shipping in terms of tonnage sunk, they did disrupt enemy operations. They also provided invaluable service on scouting and intelligence ops plus local transport between islands. 
 

These guys were awesome. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Navy General Board

9h · 

PT-810 running ger trials in the Chesapeake Bay in 1951.

PT-810 was an experimental design that took in various lessons from the Second World War.

She was more rugged compared to previous wooden PT boats though still lightweight thanks to her aluminum construction. Her light weight coupled with four 2,500 motors allowed her to reach speeds exceeding 40 knots.

She was heavily armed with two power driven 40mm Bofors guns and two twin 20mm Oerlikon mounts. She also carried a single .50 caliber machine gun and an 81mm mortar. She was designed to carry four torpedoes as well, but so far I have never seen a photo of them actually being carried.

Though an advanced warship, PT-810 had a relatively short career of eight years. She was briefly brought back into service in 1962 as PTF (Fast Patrol Craft)- 1 in 1962 until being sunk as a target in 1965.

Photo scanned from Norman Friedman's Small Surface Combatants. If you are interested in America's torpedo boat history, a very excellent work that I highly recommend buying.