Torpedoes in search of targets

PT 30 heads out

An undated photograph of PT 30 shows a boat bristling with torpedoes heading out to sea. With no radar tower or deck guns in evidence, my guess is that this photo was taken in the early days of the war. By the time Red Stahley was assigned to the PTs in 1944, the PTs were increasingly being transformed into heavily armed gun boats that were more reliant on deck mounted machine guns than torpedoes. Nevertheless, the PTs always carried those big torpedoes in the event that they came across an enemy warship, barge, or transport vessel that was in need of sinking. From the beginning of the war to the end, the PTs were always ready, willing, and itching for a fight–it was just who they were.