At the beginning of American involvement in the Second World War the United States Navy developed a new class of vessel that had a tremendous impact during World War II. This vessel was the Patrol Torpedo boat. Originally designed to conduct torpedo attacks on enemy surface vessels, the PT boat successfully adapted multiple roles in addition to being a torpedo attack craft. The versatility of the Patrol Torpedo boat during World War II serving in these various roles and as an element of the US Navy has not been recognized by recent scholarship. Using primary sources from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and secondary sources this paper demonstrates that the Patrol Torpedo boat was a weapon that exemplified economy of force. A small inexpensive naval vessel was able to replace larger ships and work with different elements of the fleet to deny the use of coastal waters to the enemy.
","abstract_html":"<p>At the beginning of American involvement in the Second World War the United States Navy developed a new class of vessel that had a tremendous impact during World War II. This vessel was the Patrol Torpedo boat. Originally designed to conduct torpedo attacks on enemy surface vessels, the PT boat successfully adapted multiple roles in addition to being a torpedo attack craft. The versatility of the Patrol Torpedo boat during World War II serving in these various roles and as an element of the US Navy has not been recognized by recent scholarship. Using primary sources from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and secondary sources this paper demonstrates that the Patrol Torpedo boat was a weapon that exemplified economy of force. A small inexpensive naval vessel was able to replace larger ships and work with different elements of the fleet to deny the use of coastal waters to the enemy.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Schick, Joshua J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Allan Millett","Robert DuPont","Andrew Goss"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z","subjects":["Patrol Torpedo boat, Motor Torpedo Boat, Torpedo Boat, Naval Warfare, World War II, Coastal Warfare, Higgins, Elco","Military History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1602","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Allan Millett","Robert DuPont","Andrew Goss"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Schick, Joshua J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Patrol Torpedo boat, Motor Torpedo Boat, Torpedo Boat, Naval Warfare, World War II, Coastal Warfare, Higgins, Elco","Military History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1602"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["At the beginning of American involvement in the Second World War the United States Navy developed a new class of vessel that had a tremendous impact during World War II. This vessel was the Patrol Torpedo boat. Originally designed to conduct torpedo attacks on enemy surface vessels, the PT boat successfully adapted multiple roles in addition to being a torpedo attack craft. The versatility of the Patrol Torpedo boat during World War II serving in these various roles and as an element of the US Navy has not been recognized by recent scholarship. Using primary sources from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and secondary sources this paper demonstrates that the Patrol Torpedo boat was a weapon that exemplified economy of force. A small inexpensive naval vessel was able to replace larger ships and work with different elements of the fleet to deny the use of coastal waters to the enemy.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Firing Point: Patrol Torpedo Boats during World War II"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Allan Millett","Robert DuPont","Andrew Goss"],"dc:creator":["Schick, Joshua J"],"dc:description.abstract":["At the beginning of American involvement in the Second World War the United States Navy developed a new class of vessel that had a tremendous impact during World War II. This vessel was the Patrol Torpedo boat. Originally designed to conduct torpedo attacks on enemy surface vessels, the PT boat successfully adapted multiple roles in addition to being a torpedo attack craft. The versatility of the Patrol Torpedo boat during World War II serving in these various roles and as an element of the US Navy has not been recognized by recent scholarship. Using primary sources from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and secondary sources this paper demonstrates that the Patrol Torpedo boat was a weapon that exemplified economy of force. A small inexpensive naval vessel was able to replace larger ships and work with different elements of the fleet to deny the use of coastal waters to the enemy.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1602"],"dc:subject":["Patrol Torpedo boat, Motor Torpedo Boat, Torpedo Boat, Naval Warfare, World War II, Coastal Warfare, Higgins, Elco","Military History","United States History"],"dc:title":["Firing Point: Patrol Torpedo Boats during World War II"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z"}