PT boats are often called plywood boats, but their hulls weren’t really made of plywood sheet. They used layers of mahogany planking laid diagonally, with glue-impregnated fabric between the layers, fastened with large numbers of screws and rivets. Most wartime boats were built by two companies: Elco at Bayonne, New Jersey and Higgins Industries at New Orleans, Louisiana. Huckins in Jacksonville, Florida built a smaller number.
Were PT boats really plywood?
The construction was closer to a laminated wooden hull than to plywood as we know it today. The general method:
- Thin mahogany planks laid in two diagonal layers, crossing each other
- A layer of fabric soaked in glue between the planking layers
- Thousands of fastenings holding everything to the frames
This produced a light, strong hull that could take high speeds in rough water. It also made the hull flexible, but vulnerable to fire, rot and wear. Few boats were kept after the war for those reasons.
Plywood did have a place in some boats, though. Modelers who have researched late-war Elcos report that their decks were solid plywood rather than visible planks. This explains part of the nickname.
The “Plywood Derby”
The name also stuck after the US Navy’s competitive sea trials in 1941, known informally as the “Plywood Derby”. Prototype boats from several builders, including Elco, Higgins and Huckins, were run hard in open water off southern New England and Long Island to test speed and durability. The results shaped which designs went into mass production. The “plywood” in the nickname was more slang than a description of how the hulls were built.
Where PT boats were built
| Builder | Location | Main type |
|---|---|---|
| Elco | Bayonne, New Jersey | 77 ft and 80 ft Elco boats; the largest number built |
| Higgins Industries | New Orleans, Louisiana | 78 ft Higgins boats |
| Huckins | Jacksonville, Florida | A small number of 78 ft boats |
Other yards built boats to a British Vosper design, mostly for supply to Allied navies. Elco and Higgins produced the great majority of PT boats that served with US squadrons.
Where you can see the wooden construction today
A handful of boats survive in museums, and some still run. Seeing one in person is the best way to understand how the hull was built and finished. We list the main survivors and where to see them in are there still PT boats?
What it means for modelers
- Hull surfaces: The real hulls were painted, and planking seams weren’t visible at normal model scales. Keep the hull smooth rather than scribing planks.
- Decks: Many kits mold planking lines into the deck. If you’re modeling a late-war Elco, some builders sand these off to match the plywood decks described above. Check photos of your specific boat first.
- Weathering: Wooden boats in the tropics took a beating. Light wear, faded paint and grime around hatches suit most wartime subjects.
For kit choices, see our PT boat model kits guide. For the engines that drove these wooden hulls, see what motors PT boats had.