Production totals alone obscure the useful wartime service of the less famous PT-boat designs. Higgins boats served with squadrons in the Aleutian Islands, operated against German forces in the Mediterranean, and took part in the D-Day landings. Huckins boats of Squadron 26 performed ready-boat duties and fleet torpedo-boat training around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war. Their sustained work at sea supports the view that the design was rugged, even though the small civilian yard could build only about one boat per month. The comparison separates operational value from the industrial capacity that made Elco numerically dominant.
Notable Point · 58:17-1:00:59
Where Higgins and Huckins PT boats served
Higgins PT boats fought from the Aleutians and Mediterranean to D-Day, while rugged Huckins boats supported training and readiness around Midway and Hawaii.