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PTF-26 Liberty
Rio Vista, California - Circa 2004
Filming the "Walk-On" portion of the Fear Factor military episode at the USS
Hornet
The PTFs were directly derived from the World War II PT Boats. The first two PTFs built were post WW II PT Boats, the next twenty were 80 foot wood boats, known as the "Nasty" class, and the last four PTFs were 95 foot aluminum boats known as "Osprey" class. Today, of the four Osprey class boats, only 2 survive, PTF-23, and of course, Liberty, PTF-26. Liberty was designed with nine separate watertight compartments, and can withstand holes in two compartments below the waterline without sinking. Furthermore, all openings to the outside can be completely sealed to prevent water from entering. The stack houses the air intake for the engine room, so, even in very rough seas, the engines are protected from waves and spray. There were originally two l8-cylinder Napier Deltic diesel engines, each of 3100 Bhp, which, during a time trial in the 1970s, brought Liberty to a top speed of 51 knots. The two tall antennas visible in the photograph above are SSB (single-side band) antennas that are approximately 45 feet off of the water.
See the Images page for more photos!
Text and images (c) 2003-2008 Liberty Maritime Museum unless otherwise stated. |
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