Motor torpedo boat PT-658 is a PT-625-class Higgins 78-foot (24 m) PT boat, built for the United States Navy during World War II. PT-658 is a prime example of US Navy motor torpedo boat development during World War II. PT-658 was in the last group of four boats delivered from the 36-boat contract NObs-1680, October 1944 for PT-625 to PT-660. Delivered and accepted on July 31, 1945, she was fitted with all of the latest armaments and design modifications as a result of lessons learned from previous contracts and battlefield experience. In this way, PT-658 is a showcase of the final form that motor torpedo boats would take by the end of World War II. PT-658 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 2012.[1][2] Of three PT boats listed on the National Register, she is one of 2 maintained in operating condition
Restoration[edit]
A dedicated group of PT Boat veterans formed the organization Save the PT Boat, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The group restored PT-658 to her original 1945 configuration between 1995 and 2005. PT-658 is now fully functional and afloat, one of only two restored US Navy PT Boats that are operational today.[3][7]
(The second, PT-305, was the beneficiary of some leftover parts collected by the PT-658 restoration team.[8])
PT-658‘s restoration includes (non-functional replicas of) a full armament of four Mark 13 Torpedoes, two twin .50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns, a 40 mm Bofors cannon, two 20 mm Oerlikon cannon, two eight-cell Mark 50 Spin Stabilized 5 inch Rocket Launchers, two Mark 6 300 lb (140 kg) TNT depth charges, and a 60 m M2 mortar.[9] She has three working 1,850 hp (1,380 kW) Packard Model 5M-2500 V12 gasoline engines.
PT-658 Heritage Museum is located in Portland, Oregon at the Swan Island Industrial Park. She is moored to Pier 307 of Vigor Industrial Shipyard as of October, 2013. Visitor access is provided via the marked Gate 18 at 5555 N. Lagoon Avenue. The PT-658 Heritage Museum is open to the public every Monday, Thursday and Saturday 9am to 4pm for visitors. She has been moved into the new boathouse and the group continues to raise money for ongoing projects such as deck replacement, charthouse repair, and bottom replacement. Money is also being raised for final boathouse improvements and to build a PT-658 Heritage and Education Center. In May 2010, replacement of the deck was completed in time for various summer festivals and shows.
Funding raised for additional restoration work included a $14,000 grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, awarded in July 2010.[10]
When originally launched in 1945, PT-658 wore a camouflage paint scheme, (specifically, Camouflage Measure 31-20L) and this was restored in early 2011.[11] In July 2011, two Mark 50 eight-cell rocket launcher mounts were added to the port and starboard bow. In May 2012, an original SOA Radar mast (obtained on loan from PT Boats Inc. of Germantown, Tennessee) was installed along with an appropriately sized radar dome, signal generator and waveguide. Simultaneously, the 40mm Bofors cannon mount was improved with the addition of an ammunition clip holder/loader handrail to the rear of the mount, along with adjustable seats and authentic aerial spider type gunsights. Further equipment additions added by the crew in 2014 include authentic IFF dipole antennae on the chart house and radar mast, and a US M2 60mm mortar on the starboard side of the bow.[
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