<< Didn't PT (Patrol Torpedo) boats have three V-12 Packard aircraft engines?
As such, I would expect them to require 115/145 octane aviation fuel. I'm not
aware of any of that stuff being refined any more. >>
It is my recollection that PT boats used a small Marine Diesel but I don't
know who manufactured it. These engines were reasonably reliable and efficient
once running but they were very difficult to start. It was a cardinal rule
amongst PT boat skippers that you never, ever shut off your engine in a combat
zone. Lt Jg. John F. Kennedy was nearly disciplined severely for doing just
this which contributed to his vessel being rammed and sunk by a Japanese
Cruiser, killing two crewmen and injuring several others including Kennedy. It
was decided however that his behavior after the fact was sufficently heroic to
cause him to be commended and decorated instead.
(It probably fell to his favor that his father was the US Embassador to
England as well.)
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