Class: 791 Series
Type: Motor Torpedo (PT) Boat
Launched: June 23, 1945
At: Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
Completed: October 26, 1945
Length: 78 feet, 9 inches
Beam: 20 feet, 1 inch
Draft: 5 feet, 3 inches
Displacement: 48 tons
Armament: Two 22.4-inch diameter Mk13 torpedoes on roll-off racks; two twin .50 cal. machine guns; one 40 mm gun; one 37 mm gun; one 20 mm gun; smoke generator; two Mark 50 5-inch rocket launchers.
Information:
PT Boats Headquarters and Archives
P.O. Box 38070
Germantown, TN 38183
Phone: (901) 755-8440
Email: ptboatsinc@gmail.com
http://www.ptboats.org
PT Boats, Inc.
Physical Address:
Battleship Cove
5 Water Street, P.O. Box 111
Fall River, MA 02722-0111
(508) 678-1100
Fax: (508) 674-5597
Email: battleship@battleshipcove.org
http://www.battleshipcove.org
Latitude: 41.7055504972, Longitude: -71.1634575367
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PT-796, nicknamed “Tail Ender,” patrolled the Caribbean and East Coast waters and was temporarily part of Post War Squadron 1. She initially carried full armament; however, her assignment changed and armament was removed. Assignments included the Navy Operational Development Force and Naval Ship Research Development Laboratory in Panama City, Florida, where she performed high-speed towing work to develop specialized equipment for use in Vietnam riverine warfare operations. In 1961, she joined her present berth-mate, Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. in Washington, DC, where each participated in President Kennedy’s inaugural celebration. Although she is a Higgins boat, PT-796 was painted with the hull number “109” and towed as a float in the President’s inaugural parade. She was actively used until she was decommissioned on 7 Jul 1970, and signed over to J.M. “Boats” Newberry, founder of PT Boats, Inc. After resting in a cradle in Memphis, Tennessee for several years, PT-796 was restored by PT Boats, Inc. and brought to Battleship Cove on August 14, 1975.
PT-796, PT-617, and the National PT Museum on board battleship Massachusetts represent the world’s largest collection of PT artifacts and memorabilia. The world’s only restored pair of PT Boats, PT-617 and PT-796 are two of five National Historic Landmarks on exhibit at Battleship Cove, the world’s largest collection of historic naval ships.
PT-796 is owned by PT Boats, Inc., headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee.
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