The Packard V-12 PT Boat Engine

My father worked at Packard machining harmonic balancers for these engines before he went into the Army in WWII.

Why does every PT boat story always use clips from They were Expendable?

45 degree V12. A little odd choice for interbank angle - 60 or 120 degrees would be more ideal for balanced running. The Merlin had 60 degrees. Also, the V10s used in F1 in the 2000s had a 72 degree angle and most auto V8s are 90 degrees.

With all 3 at wfo 500 gallons an hour

I was a commercial fisherman. Years earlier an older friend bought a PT right after the war for tuna jig fishing. When he first got the boat he put a few hundred gallons in the tanks and went joy riding with family and friends. In a few hours the engines started missing and then stopping. The Coast Guard towed him back. One of the coasties had been on PTs during the war and told him the engines burned 50 gallons per hour per engine at speed. He pulled the gas engines and put in 3 war surplus Detroit Diesels.

The Monkeys have no tail in Zamboanga..... i know that song well my Father was there MBS 611.... and taught me that song....Semper Fi Dad..........

When I was a young boy in the late 60s early 70s they had old PT boats in NJ that they would give you rides on, very fast and you would be drenched after you were done!

My dad was a WW2 PT Boat machinist in the Pacific. He served in the same squadron as Kennedy. The most hazardous naval duty in the war. He had three boats he served on sunk. On one, he was the only survivor. Needless to say, he suffered with PTSD. PT boaters are all heroes.

**** Star

I spent some time in the engine space aboard PT-658 while underway. It was every bit as awe inspiring as you could imagine. The throttle plates were just barely cracked open, as we were only doing about 15 knots. Conversation in the engine space was impossible, we just stood there with big stupid grins on our faces.

Good engine

Hi Les, great video! I am a crew on PT658 here in Portland OR. The purpose of the 5M-2500 engine aftercooler was placed on the engine in order to boost the horsepower up to 1850hp. Coupled with the larger diameter of the supercharger wheel and the higher speed of the supercharger give the increase in horsepower. The 4M-2500 has only 1500hp by comparison. One interesting problem that we have discovered with these engines is that we have inadvertently "snapped" 4 of these supercharger drive shafts. They are 1 inch diameter hardened steel splined shafts. What we found out was that when you either slow down or speed up the engine too quickly, the momentum of the supercharger in relation to the crankshaft is too high and the shaft can break very easily. So our new operating method is to slowly accelerate or decelerate when we go fast. We are taking the boat out here on 5-6-7 June 2024 for Portland Rose Festival Fleet Week, so it should be a lot of fun! All of your PT Boat related videos are very well researched and I am a fan. Thanks for these series of excellent videos! Jerry

I wish someone would mention about the Pacard Diesels. V16 used on US NAVY MINE SWEEPERS MSO’s. Aluminum block.

A message from the UK. My father served in the Royal Navy during WW2 and in particular LCAs (landing craft assault). He did commando raids, was at Dieppe as well as Operations Torch and Husky. He said that the LCAs with Packard engines were not as reliable as those fitted with Rolls Royce. It may have been national bias or experience; both packards in his LCA failed at Dieppe at a crucial moment!

Thanks for the content. Nice work.

Just learned they used a 24v system then and they’ve used it throughout the years even still today on their vehicles. All nato countries also use 24v systems. Honestly a pain because you can’t jump start one of those trucks with a truck on 12v system

they burned them at the end of the war. W O W

Excellent content 👌

I always expect to see Ernest Borgnine at the helm

I'm pondering if anyone built a Harleyesque, V twin out of the Mk1 engines indicidual cylinders. Would look and sound great.

Anything Packard is C00L , always has been and always will be . . . T/C/E

Don’t understand why they didn’t use diesel engines back then the gas ones we had so many hours until they needed to be maintained

All very informative screw the haters

Great video. Thanks for creating. An old Motor Torpedo Boat crewman I used to know told me the fuel consumption of these engines. It was something like 50 Imperial gallons per hour, per engine at high speeds.

Magaitinana! The Packard should have been given its due respect!

Why the negative tone of this discombobulated video? What was the purpose of this video?

One of my overall favorite movies.

My favourite engines!

Why didn't they use diesel engines? Seems safer than a boat full of avgas!

Opening scene is from "They were expendable". Absolutely great movie..

When I was a kid in Key West, the Navy was selling off PT boats surplus. As I recall, they had 3 engines and 2 props. All 3 engines drove a common transmission. The people buying them would either remove the center engine or the two outboard engines to save weight and fuel. One engine would run both props.

I dunno, if I were around during WWII, I'd have volunteered to be a PT-Boat driver or crewman!
They were just so badass! And that's not because of McHale's Navy!
I always loved fast boat, growing up in the Caribbean!
I sailed a lot with my Uncle Esmond, who was a Lanc. pilot for the RAF over Germany!
He taught me a lot, how to grow into a man!
I grew up in T'dad and Tobago. FYI

PT boats WERE NOT made of "plywood". PT hulls were constructed of "COLD MOLDED" layers of solid, al be it, thin African mahogany. A technique still in use today. The only real difference, today we have far superior adhesives!!

They would be faster with a LS in them ! 😂😅😂😅😅😂

I watch McHales Navy almost every night and even Raquel Welch was on in 1964. I was amazed there were 3 of those engines. I owned a 1950 Packard but it was the straight 8 and the Turtle body. I was unaware of the PT boats at the time , thanks for this informative video and the super editing with a history lesson, rv

So that is where that monkey line came from in Donovan's Reef when John Wayne and Lee Marvin keep fighting, great film

I used to build transmissions for V-Drive boats that were GM Hydramatic units T475

Wow think of one of these Packards powering a 6x6 Scammell Pioneer, go like shit off a shovel.

sounds like that engine was a major pain in the azz!!!!

The Rolls Merlin engines were as typical of RR built as 'bespoke' engines, not assembled on a production line but by a team of skilled technicians with parts 'fitted' as needed, this was not an issue of quality but this wasn't an engine that you couldn't build a lot of in a hurry. When Packard was approached to build these and the numbers involved, (Ford had turned it down) Packard was asked to build them (something that you really couldn't say no to at that time) they asked to review the design and quickly made changes that allow it to be mass produced on a production line with line workers and not trained aircraft engine mechanics. The resulting engine made less horsepower than the RR Merlin and burned more fuel doing it but I'll guess that Packard outproduced RR by a factor of about 10 to 1. P51s used as bomber escorts over Germany were refitted with genuine RR Merlins allowing them the range to cover the bombers for most of their flight over enemy territory something they couldn't do with the Packards. This is not to criticize either maker, yes the RRs were better but there'd be far far fewer flying if we had to wait for RR to make them. A key rule in quality management is to not let the perfect get in the way of the good, getting the job done on time and on budget is very important too.

My USNR Seabee father was called out to the eastern New Guinea Island of Woodlark ( Muyrua) to assist in a repair on a PT based there. He was rewarded with a fast ride around the lagoon and over the reef to the ocean. He syated that it threw a " rooster tail' of water.

A fine movie about PT boats is "They Were Expendable" (1945) starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and directed by John Ford

My uncle served on a 0T Boat. He was a motor machineist mate. He had 7 of the boat sunk in combat, one cut in half by a Japanese ship. He lost a lot of shipmatees, many to shark's while waiting to be rescued. We should never forget those brave men...

Tourque .

queue the theme to mcHale‘s Navy

The Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio has one of those PT boat engines on display.

Hall-Scott, which was sometimes not so fondly called "scalding hot" for their engine's tendency to leak hot oil from knuckle joints in the oil distribution lines. But good engines other than that one quirk.

Interesting subject ,But : Badley Edited !

I worked on the Packard 1D-1700 and 1D-850 diesels on Navy minesweepers. They required lots of love.

Yes, thanks for the clarification. My dad flew the P51 (B, C & D models) and had the most time in the Packard made Merlin V1650. He also flew the Allison V1710 for a short time. When I learned that PT boats were powered by a Packard V12 I assumed it was the 1650. Now I know they were not. Question... were any of the PT engines supercharged?