PT Boats in Action

PT boats loom large in the popular imagination of World War II. In March 1942, a PT boat evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family, and top staff from the Philippines, which inspired the war movie They Were Expendable, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.

Of all the great naval stories of WWII, none are more compelling than those of the brave men who sailed aboard the PT boats. The heroic story of John F. Kennedy and PT 109 is celebrated along with the rescue of General Douglas MacArthur from the Phillippines by Lt. John D. Bulkley's PT boat. Known as the Mosquito Fleet, the small, fast and heavily armed PT boats did much to turn the tide in the Pacific, in the Mediterranean and in the English Channel during WWII. But the whole story of the PT boats has remained largely unknown, until now.