December 20, 2015 | Volume 3, Issue 5
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Now Hear This!
To all volunteers and contributors,
With March just three months away, activity here has been shifted to high gear. The first two engines have been installed and are soon to be followed by the third engine. The aft fuel tanks, including the diesel tank, are installed. The two AC 13.5 Kw generators
are installed into the storage compartment.
Captain Dale Casey commenced the safety training of volunteer crew members. Although no exact date for launch is set, preparations for it are progressing.
Shane J. Guidry of Harvey Gulf International Marine reassured us the former Higgins shipyard, now Trinity Yachts in New Orleans, will welcome us and provide launching assistance.
To all hands—stand fast!
—Bruce Harris
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Timmy DiVincenti (top picture) painting boat numbers on the windshield, and Robert Bateman installing electrical connectors to the Packard engine.
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Here is Engine No. 2 being lowered down the engine hatch to take its place as the inboard engine.
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Arthur A. Smith is a Higgins PT Boat Motor Machinist and saw combat in the Pacific Theater. He lives in the New Orleans area and was shown around the boat during his recent visit.
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Previously to engine installation, they were all three test-run on a dynamometer or "dyno" for short. We thank Peter Ledet at
NRE Power Systems, Belle Chasse, Louisiana.Peter test-ran and coordinated the test cell activities. We also thank Jason B. Bourgeois for also testing engines at
Quality Diesel Service, Morgan City, Louisiana. |
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Recently, Chuck Duncan and Gary Zagorski with
Panduit visited the engine room. Panduit provided all of the terminals, lugs, ground/bonding bars, wire markers, and Ethernet cable, making the electrical and instrumentation installation possible. Shown left to right are Chuck Duncan, Jim Buchler, and
Gary Zagorski. |
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The National WWII Museum had a booth at
The International Workboat Show earlier this month. We were there to thank the firms and individuals we met at the show for their support. The museum's Victory Belles were a hit at the show.
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The boat's custom–made diesel tank is awaiting installation. It will supply three contemporary diesel engines, two of which power alternating current generators and one fire pump. We appreciate Atlantic Coastal Welding, Inc.,
Speedy Tanks for their contribution.
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The National WWII Museum in conjunction with the PT-305 crew would like to extend an invitation to come and visit us for a personalized tour.
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IHS Haystack Gold
Restoring a 72-year-old Patrol Torpedo Boat is a daunting task because suppliers around 1943 produced much of the items are no longer in business. Although there are a very few classic marine products which are still available today, the components to restore
PT-305 required one to search for artifacts that are still around.
Restoration specialists have the internet to search parts, but there exists information gaps making the search labor intensive. This project utilizes IHS
Haystack Gold to reduce the time to search, identify components or vendors; especially electrical connectors.
Haystack Gold certainly helped us locate items and get to a point where we can get a quote in a short amount of time, said Museum volunteer Robert Stengl. For example, we had to find a qualified Coast Guard approved manufacturer of mattresses. This boat requires
custom mattresses that have the navy look. Haystack delivered a list of manufacturers in which led to a qualified supplier.
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Timmy DiVincenti finished the crew's mess table to a beautiful luster. Volunteers Del Rio and Lester Guarino built the table early in the project.
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Another milestone reached when the aft fuel tanks were installed. The view above gives a glimpse of a 700-gallon fuel tank.
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Left to right: Larry Saunders, Jim Buchler (in ammo locker), and Mike Bourlet are instrumental with our AC wiring in-kind donations of key electrical equipment.
Saunders and Bourlet are with
Eaton Corporation and were key Eaton personnel for in-kind donation of Isolation Transformer, Enclosed Circuit Breakers, Panelboards, Surge Suppressers, Motor Starter for the 1HP AC Bilge Pump. They were also instrumental in getting us the Heinemann Circuit
Breakers for the DC Switchboard. |
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Crews for
The Hiller Companies have returned to update changes to the fire suppression system. Should a fire alarm be activated, the suppression system will flood the engine compartment with carbon-dioxide gas. Safety on this vessel is priority.
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Thanks to the
PT
Boats, Inc-Museum at
Battleship Cove, in Fall River, Massachusetts, we now have an original PT boat radar mast. The mast original construction was actually plywood and hollow thereby very light but a strong structure.
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We sent our volunteer historians to Washington, D.C., to research PT boats at The National Archives Building to discover facts about the about the original shake-down voyages of Squadron 22 (Ron 22). PT-305 was attached to Ron 22 during the war.
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With sponsorship from
KeyBank, we had a booth at the International Workboat Show in New Orleans. We were able to thank all the suppliers we met over the years at this show. The Victory Belles were very popular!
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Local television news organization WWL-TV produced a short segment about the PT-305 restoration progress. The Bill Capo video segment may be viewed by clicking the link above. Thank you Bill and WWL-TV.
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Once again, we want to thank
all individuals and companies
who have donated so much to this project
and for their continued support.
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The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion was funded in part by the Office of the Secretary of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
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