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Island Hopping In the Pacific: America s PT Boats in World War II
Fast-moving, heavily armed U.S. Navy PT boats harried enemy forces in the Pacific and European Theaters in World War II.
Here s What You Need to Know: During the island hopping in the Pacific, PT boats blocked enemy vessels shelling U.S. positions and intercepted Japanese vessels transporting troops to islands.
Late in the day on October 24, 1944, all of the available 39 patrol torpedo (PT) boats of the U.S. Seventh Fleet were traveling at high speed into the Mindanao Sea just south of Leyte Gulf. By dusk they had taken up position in a patrol line. The journey of the boats from New Guinea to Leyte Gulf, which was approximately 1,200 miles, presented a difficult problem for the U.S. Navy. The distance was considered too far for the boats to complete in one hop, even if they were escorted by tender, so the Navy set to work to devise a more viable plan.