HMCo #609p PT 439

"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].)

"Laid down 7/22/1943, launched 3/29/1944, completed 2/27/1944, delivered to USSR 10/1944." (Source: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mandm/list.htm, retrieved April 3, 2007.)

"PT-439
PT-439 only served in the Soviet Navy
70' Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat:
Laid down 22 July 1943 as PT-439 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, CT
Launched 29 March 1944
Completed 27 February 1944
Transferred to the Soviet Union in October 1944
Fate unknown.
Displacement 39 t.
Length 72'
Beam 19'
Draft 4' 9"
Speed 40 kts.
Complement 13
Armament: Two 21" torpedoes, one 20mm mount and two twin .303 cal. or .50 cal. machine guns
Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts." (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05439.htm, retrieved December 21, 2011.)

"[Item Description:] Dimensioned sketch in ink of 'Canvas Boot' 'for muffler control'. Note in upper right corner '600 Class' [#600p, #601p, #602p, #603p, #604p, #605p, #606p, #607p, #608p, #609p, #610p, #611p, #612p, #613p, #614p, #615p, #617p, #616p, #619p, #618p (Vosper Torpedo Boats)]." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Detail Sketch. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.085. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder 600 Class Torpedo/PT Boats. 1944-02-02.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #609p PT 439 even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

Year: 1944
E/P/S: P
No.: 609p
Name: PT 439
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.

"[See also:] Sketch of canvas boat [sic, i.e. boot for muffler control] (2/2/1944). In: Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.85 (600 Class [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.)

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

"Built in 251 days (setup to launch; equivalent to $412/day, 413 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"[Displacement 47 metric tons.]" (Source: http://www.warshipsww2.eu/lode.php?language=e&period=2&idtrida=824, 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.