HMCo #420p BPT-32

"... April 12th [1943]: 20th MTB Flotilla (MTBs 291-298) allocated to the Mediterranean from U.S.A. construction. Four boats are now ready for shipment and four will be completed on May 15th. This was later changed, and MTBs 287-294 [all built by HMCo] are being allocated, half for the 18th and half for the 20th Flotillas. This was done because the latter four boats of the 20th will not be completed as early as expected. ..." (Source: Pope, Dudley. Flag 4: The Battle of Coastal Forces in the Mediterranean. London, 1988 (first ed. 1954), p. 79.)

"Building the Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB).
802 MTBs were built in the U.S. during the war to three basic designs; the 87-foot Higgins, the 81-foot ELCO, and the 71-foot Vosper. The Herreshoff yard built the Vosper that was developed as a private design in Britain and first delivered just before the war in 1939. The HMCo received two orders, the first eight in 1943 for transfer to Britain and twenty in 1944 for transfer to Russia.
The boats were powered with three-1350 hp Packard engines each driving through reduction and clutch to a propeller. The design speed was 40 knots and they carried aviation gas for a range of 1500 miles. Two smaller Ford engines provided quiet cruising. The boats were armed with four 50 cal. machine guns, two torpedoes, depth charges and smoke generators on the stern. They were crewed by two officers and eight men.
The MTBs were built in a production line with many pieces formed in quantity from molds and patterns. The keel was white oak and the ribs were built up of plywood and mahogany sawn to shape. The hulls were double-planked mahogany. The decks were mahogany-faced plywood. The hulls were fastened with 43,000 rivets. The contract price per boat was $103,000 and fully equipped they cost as much as a four engine bomber." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum. [Plaque on display at the museum.] Bristol, RI, no date [ca. 2005].)

"HM MTB-290 ex-BPT-32
BPT-32 was built for Great Britain
BPT-21 Class Motor Torpedo Boat:
Laid down 15 January 1942 as BPT-32 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol
Launched 6 April 1943
Completed 12 April 1943, transferred to Great Britain 13 April 1943 and named HM MTB-290
Returned to U.S. Navy 31 May 1945
Fate unknown.
Specifications:
Displacement 49 t.
Length 73'
Speed 40 kts.
Armament: Two 18" torpedoes, one 20mm mount and two .303 cal. Vickers machine guns
Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts." (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05925.htm, retrieved March 29, 2011.)

"[Item Description:] Booklet titled 'Detail Specifications For Building Motor Torpedo Boats Nos. BPT 21-52 [including the HMCo-built #417p BPT-29, #418p BPT-30, #419p BPT-31, #420p BPT-32, #421p BPT-33, #422p BPT-34, #423p BPT-35 and #424p BPT-36] incl. Vosper Type for The United States Navy'." (Source: Navy Department Bureau Of Ships (creator). Specifications Booklet. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.089-1. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder Torpedo/PT Boats. 1941-08-31.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #420p BPT-32 even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Reaper and #420p BPT32 (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

Year: 1943
E/P/S: P
No.: 420p
Name: BPT. 32
OA: 71'

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"Exported to England." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Transferred back to the US Navy in 1946." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. [Based on information in http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2450, retrieved March 20, 2009.] March 20, 2009.)

"[See also:] Detail specifications for building motor torpedo boats nos. BPT 21-52 Vosper type (1942). In: Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.88 (Torpedo/PT Boats), Box HAFH.6.2B." (Source: Hasselbalch, Kurt and Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin: Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997, p. 63-79.)

"Built in 446 days (setup to launch; equivalent to $195/day, 220 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displacement 49 [long or short?] t." (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05925.htm, retrieved March 29, 2011.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.