ELCO 80-Foot PT Boat on Deck Color Series. Say ""PT Boat"" and the image that comes to mind is that of the 80-foot patrol torpedo boat built by the Electric Launch Company (ELCO) in Bayonne, New Jersey. These nimble warships - which by the end of WWII could deliver the same firepower as early-war destroyers had done. A trio of Packard marine engines, delivering 1200 to 1500 horsepower each, gave the PT Boats speeds of 40 knots. Three hundred twenty-six of the 80-foot wooden wonders were built, with 296 of them seeing service in the US Navy; the remainder went to the USSR under Lend-Lease. The PT-565 class boats were the final and hardest hitting ELCO 80 - PT-617, the boat featured in the book, is the sole surviving intact example. Packed with over 200 photographs, plus color art and profiles. 80 pages.

By David Doyle