How Many PT Boats Still Exist and Where to See Them

Eric DawsonByEric Dawson Boats & Cruises

If you’re wondering how many PT boats still exist, at least four preserved boats are available to the public: PT-617, PT-796, PT-658, and PT-305. Soundings Online describes only two as fully restored and operational, with PT-305 among them; the National Park Service also identifies PT-658 as fully functional and afloat.

For a closer look, Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, displays PT-617 and PT-796. Portland, Oregon, is home to PT-658 at the PT-658 Heritage Museum, while The National WWII Museum owns and operates PT-305 in New Orleans. These survivors represent the small, fast U.S. Navy torpedo boats that served in World War II, most of which were stripped and burned after the war rather than shipped home.

How Many PT Boats Still Exist Today?

That minimum counts named public examples, rather than serving as a worldwide survivor census. Soundings Online makes a narrower claim about operating condition, reporting that only two fully restored, operational PT-boat hulls remain, with PT-305 identified as one of them. Counting preserved boats and counting operational boats therefore answers different questions.

Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, houses PT-617 and PT-796, which it describes as the world’s only restored pair of PT boats on public exhibition. Both belong in the count of preserved public examples. Their exhibition status is distinct from the operational status reported for boats elsewhere. Among these PT boat museum ships, PT-617 represents the 80-foot Elco design, while PT-796 is a 78-foot Higgins boat nicknamed “Tail Ender.”

PT-658 provides another public example. According to the National Park Service, this Higgins boat is fully functional and afloat, following restoration between 1995 and 2005. Its status makes it relevant to readers interested specifically in restored PT boats still afloat, rather than exhibition vessels alone. Preservation here includes a working boat, not simply a restored appearance, an important distinction when interpreting the survivor count.

New Orleans provides the other operational example discussed here, PT-305, owned and operated by The National WWII Museum. Built in 1943, the boat is a Higgins “78”. Restoration was completed in July 2016. Together, the Park Service’s descriptions of PT-305 and PT-658 support identifying these as operational examples, while Soundings Online supplies the broader claim that two fully restored, operational hulls remain worldwide.

Public exhibition, restoration, and operation describe different aspects of survival.

A visitor comparing surviving PT boats locations can therefore distinguish Battleship Cove’s restored exhibition pair from the functional boats associated with Portland and New Orleans. Each preserves a U.S. Navy World War II boat, but their display and operating status differ.

Surviving PT Boats Locations and Display Status

The other surviving boats are in Portland and New Orleans. Their display status differs.

Boat Builder and Type Documented Condition Museum Association and Location
PT-617 Elco, 80-foot PT-103 class Restored to World War II configuration; public exhibition National PT Boat Museum at Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts
PT-796 Higgins, 78-foot boat Restored public exhibit inside a World War II-era Quonset hut National PT Boat Museum at Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts
PT-658 Higgins Fully functional and afloat, as described by the National Park Service PT-658 Heritage Museum, Portland, Oregon
PT-305 Higgins “78” Fully operational, as described by the National Park Service The National WWII Museum, New Orleans

Beyond that, the Battleship Cove pair remains on public exhibition. PT-617 is the sole surviving example of that type on display. Alongside it, Higgins-built PT-796, nicknamed “Tail Ender,” is exhibited inside an authentic World War II-era Quonset hut. Both boats anchor the National PT Boat Museum’s collection, which Battleship Cove describes as the world’s largest collection of PT-boat artifacts and memorabilia.

Portland’s PT-658 belongs in the category of restored PT boats still afloat. Its setting is a custom-built boathouse at the PT-658 Heritage Museum, rather than the Quonset-hut display described for PT-796. Restoration took place between 1995 and 2005, and the vessel entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. For this comparison, the key distinction is the National Park Service’s description of a fully functional boat afloat.

New Orleans’ PT-305 combines operational restoration with a wartime combat history. Built by Higgins in 1943, it served with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 22 in Italy, France, and the Mediterranean.

U.S. Coast Guard seaworthiness tests and passenger sailings on Lake Pontchartrain followed. Those milestones describe its restoration and operating history, rather than promising a ride on any particular visit.

Comparing these PT boat museum ships therefore means keeping exhibition, flotation, and operation separate. A restored public exhibit offers a different encounter from a vessel described as operational, even when both preserve wartime configurations or machinery. Use the museum associations in the table to frame a visit around the boat that interests you. Treat the operating descriptions as vessel status, not as a guarantee of boarding access or scheduled departures.

PT Boat Museum Ships at Battleship Cove

Visitors to Battleship Cove can see the restored boats at the heart of its National PT Boat Museum. Beyond the vessels themselves, the museum presents what it calls the world’s largest collection of PT-boat artifacts and memorabilia. Their histories trace different paths through canceled wartime assignments, private ownership, postwar Navy experiments, and eventual preservation for public exhibition.

PT-617 belongs to the PT-103 class. Construction began on March 29, 1945, followed by its launch on July 28 and completion on September 21 that year. Assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 42 for intended Pacific Fleet service, the boat had that assignment canceled. Its Navy career ended quickly: it was placed out of service on January 28, 1946, and sold on October 23, 1947.

Private owners later used PT-617 as a yacht and a salvage and diving platform. Preservation began when PT Boats, Inc. acquired it in 1979 and restored it to its World War II configuration. Public display at Battleship Cove officially began on September 1, 1985. On December 20, 1989, the vessel joined the National Historic Landmarks program.

PT-796 was built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans. Work began on May 3, 1945; launch followed on June 23, and completion came on October 26. Those dates placed it too late to participate in World War II. Afterward, the boat served temporarily with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 1 in the Caribbean and off the East Coast, before taking on a different role in the Navy’s equipment-development work.

Stripped of its armament, PT-796 became a platform for high-speed towing experiments connected to equipment development for riverine operations. Another postwar assignment explains its connection to President John F. Kennedy: in 1961, it was repainted as PT-109 and towed as a float in his inaugural parade in Washington, D.C.

That appearance did not make it Kennedy’s original boat. His PT-109 had been struck by a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands during the war.

Decommissioned on July 7, 1970, PT-796 was dedicated at Battleship Cove on August 14, 1975. Today, visitors see it inside an authentic World War II-era Quonset hut. Together, they form the restored pair on public exhibition.

Restored PT Boats Still Afloat in Portland and New Orleans

Portland’s PT-658 and New Orleans’ PT-305 are restored PT boats described by the National Park Service as functional vessels, rather than solely stationary exhibits. Their histories offer a contrast: PT-658 never saw combat, while PT-305 fought in the Mediterranean. For visitors, the useful distinction is between a boat’s restored operating capability and a public passenger trip, which calls for its own booking arrangements.

Higgins built PT-658 in New Orleans in 1945 for intended service with Squadron 45 and the Pacific Fleet. Combat never became part of its Navy history. Following its sale to a private owner in the Oakland and Alameda area in 1958, the boat took the name Porpoise.

PT Boats, Inc. later purchased the vessel and restored it between 1995 and 2005. Today, the National Park Service describes PT-658 as fully functional and afloat in a custom-built boathouse at the PT-658 Heritage Museum in Portland, Oregon.

Across the country, PT-305 represents a different wartime story.

During that service, the boat sank a German Flak lighter, a German F-lighter, and an Italian MAS boat. Its preservation therefore carries the history of a combat veteran, in contrast to PT-658’s intended Pacific assignment and subsequent civilian ownership.

Ownership and operation belong to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, according to Soundings Online.

Measuring 78 feet long, PT-305 is a Higgins “78” type that the museum lists with a speed of 40 knots. Those specifications describe the vessel, while its post-restoration testing and passenger sailings document its return to operation beyond an exhibition setting.

Functionality and trip availability should remain separate considerations when planning a visit to either preserved boat. As of September 2026, Soundings Online lists PT-305 rides on Lake Pontchartrain lasting 90 minutes at $350 per person. Treat that listing as a starting point for arranging a sailing with the museum, and confirm the particular trip before planning around it. A description such as “fully functional and afloat” addresses PT-658’s restored condition; a passenger reservation addresses your visit.

How Many PT Boats Were Built?

The National WWII Museum states that 531 PT boats were built during World War II. However, the National Park Service gives incompatible builder figures: 399 boats from Elco and either 199 or 205 from Higgins alone. Those manufacturer counts exceed the museum’s stated overall total, so they should be presented as differing historical accounts rather than combined into a single reconciled production figure. Soundings Online also gives the total as 531.

Elco’s production numbers require another distinction: the 326 boats built to its 80-foot design represent that design, not the company’s broader PT-boat output. By contrast, the National Park Service’s figure of 399 covers Elco production through the end of World War II. Earlier Elco work included a 70-foot prototype based on Hubert Scott-Paine’s British design and subsequent 77-foot boats, before wartime orders for the new 80-foot version, the longest wartime PT boats.

Higgins presents a separate counting issue, with the National Park Service retaining both 199 and 205 as possible production figures. A count of 199 also appears for the Higgins PT-71/PT-235, PT-265, and PT-625 classes. Neither figure should be silently substituted for the other when describing the Park Service’s account. Its history also says roughly a dozen manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain supplied PT boats to the Navy during the war.

Design development helps explain the variety behind these production figures. During 1938, the Navy sought proposals for both 70-foot and 54-foot motor torpedo boats, pursuing a highly mobile attack craft.

Builders paired planing-hull advances from offshore powerboat racing with lightweight, powerful aircraft-derived marine engines. Small size, speed, maneuverability, and inexpensive construction defined the concept. Typical wartime boats used three Packard gasoline engines, with torpedoes and machine guns forming their principal offensive equipment.

Operationally, the Navy organized these vessels into Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons, abbreviated MTBRONs. According to the National Park Service, it formed 43 PT squadrons during World War II, each with 12 boats. Squadron organization describes how the boats were grouped for service; production figures describe construction. Their missions included short-range ocean scouting, cutting enemy supply lines, and attacking warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans.

1938 PT Boat Design Competition and the Boats Seen Today

The 1938 PT boat design competition set the path for the fast attack craft represented in surviving displays today. It brought competing hull forms, builders, and engine arrangements before the Navy as it sought a highly mobile attack boat.

By September, it had received 13 proposals for the 70-foot boat and 24 for the smaller design, showing how broad the early field was before wartime production concentrated among roughly a dozen manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.

Trials separated the competing approaches. Six boats completed the first open-ocean trial, while three withdrew because of structural damage or engine trouble. The board recommended Packard engines as the standard for future PT boats, while judging the Huckins 78-foot PT-69 and a reduced Higgins 81-foot PT-6 suitable for immediate construction.

Elco’s 77-foot entries were fast, but all seven suffered structural damage during the first trials, and severe pounding prompted a redesign recommendation. The competition therefore helps explain why PT boats seen in museum settings, including PT-796 at Battleship Cove, stand for a wartime program shaped by demanding open-ocean testing as well as speed.

Why so Few PT Boats Survive

Few PT boats survive because most were stripped of useful materials and burned after World War II, according to Battleship Cove. Bringing them home from overseas was prohibitively expensive, so postwar disposal destroyed boats that had survived the fighting. Soundings Online describes hundreds of boats being stripped of armament before their mahogany-planked hulls were burned on site rather than shipped back to the United States.

Disposal after the war was separate from losses during active service. The National WWII Museum reports that 69 PT boats were lost in wartime service. Those losses belong to a different part of the story from the much larger postwar destruction described by Battleship Cove. Survival through combat therefore did not mean a boat would return home, continue serving in the Navy, or eventually become a museum exhibit.

PT-617 illustrates how preservation could follow years of civilian reuse rather than continued naval service. Its intended Pacific Fleet assignment was canceled, and the boat was placed out of service on January 28, 1946. Sold on October 23, 1947, it later served privately as a yacht and a salvage and diving platform. PT Boats, Inc. acquired the vessel in 1979 and restored it to its World War II configuration, with public display beginning in 1985.

Another survivor, PT-658, also passed through private ownership before restoration.

That history connects its preserved condition to a restoration effort, not simply to uninterrupted operation as a Navy boat.

Preservation took a different course for PT-796, which remained in service until its decommissioning on July 7, 1970. Battleship Cove dedicated the boat on August 14, 1975. Together, these histories show distinct paths from naval vessels to restored PT boats: civilian reuse and later recovery, retirement into exhibition, and restoration followed by a return to passenger operation.

How to Plan a PT Boat Museum Visit

Choose a named preserved PT boat, then contact its museum to confirm viewing arrangements before traveling. Match your plans to the experience you want: seeing a restored exhibition boat or visiting a vessel described as operational.

Use the relevant boat name when making inquiries so your questions concern the vessel rather than general museum admission.

  1. Pick your boat and destination. Decide whether an exhibition visit meets your interests or whether you specifically want to see a restored boat afloat.
  2. Contact the museum responsible for that vessel. Ask about viewing arrangements on your intended travel date, including any restrictions affecting the boat itself.
  3. Confirm its expected display or operating status. Request clarification about what your visit would include, such as viewing from outside, boarding, or an advertised excursion.
  4. Check access and booking requirements. Explain any mobility needs and ask about the boarding route, reservations, admission arrangements, and requirements for accompanying visitors.
  5. Verify ride details before paying. For an advertised PT-305 outing, confirm the departure location, duration, price, cancellation terms, and whether the trip is expected to operate.

Soundings Online describes PT-305 rides on Lake Pontchartrain, making that experience worth asking the museum about directly. Treat the advertised excursion as a separate booking question rather than assuming that a museum visit includes time aboard an operating boat.

Before departure, reconfirm the arrangements that matter most to your trip. Keep any reservation confirmation and the museum’s contact information handy, especially if boarding or a ride is your main reason for traveling. Build your itinerary around the specific experience the museum confirms, rather than around the boat’s restored or operational designation alone.

During a long weekend in Pittsburgh in 2022, I was reminded that a plan can sound complete long before the practical details are settled, which is usually where my optimism starts billing itself as organization. For a PT boat museum visit, I would reconfirm whether admission includes boarding or a ride and keep the booking details handy; “museum visit” is not a substitute for the actual arrangement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the Four Documented Public PT Boats the Only Survivors Worldwide?

The four documented boats represent preserved public examples: PT-617, PT-796, PT-658, and PT-305. That group includes restored exhibition vessels and operational boats, with locations in Fall River, Portland, and New Orleans.

Which Preserved PT Boats Are Described as Operational?

Beyond that, the National Park Service describes PT-658 in Portland as fully functional and afloat, and PT-305 in New Orleans as fully operational. Soundings Online reports that two fully restored, operational PT-boat hulls remain, identifying PT-305 as one of them.

Where Can Visitors See PT-617 and PT-796?

Visitors can see PT-617 and PT-796 at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, home to the National PT Boat Museum. PT-617 is restored to its World War II configuration, while PT-796 is displayed inside an authentic World War II-era Quonset hut.

Is PT-796 the Same Boat as John F. Kennedy’s PT-109?

PT-796 is a different boat from John F. Kennedy’s PT-109. Built by Higgins and completed in October 1945, it arrived too late to participate in World War II. For Kennedy’s inaugural parade in 1961, PT-796 was repainted as PT-109 and towed as a float through Washington, D.C.

Can Visitors Book a Ride Aboard PT-305?

Soundings Online describes passenger rides aboard PT-305 on Lake Pontchartrain, operated by The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As of September 2026, the publication lists rides lasting 90 minutes at $350 per person.

Why Do Published PT Boat Production Totals Differ?

Published accounts present different overall and manufacturer-level figures. The National WWII Museum gives a wartime total of 531 PT boats, while the National Park Service lists 399 Elco boats and either 199 or 205 Higgins boats. Those figures do not reconcile into the same total, and the Park Service explicitly retains the uncertainty surrounding Higgins production.

Preserved PT boats offer a direct connection to the small, fast vessels that served the U.S. Navy during World War II. At Battleship Cove, PT-617 and PT-796 anchor a collection of PT-boat artifacts and memorabilia.

Portland’s PT-658 and New Orleans’ PT-305 represent operational preservation. Together, these four public examples show both restored wartime configurations and functioning boats, keeping the history of torpedo attacks, coastal operations, and their crews tangible for visitors.

References

Sources read in September 2026.

Eric Dawson

I'm Eric Dawson, and I write The Money Watch from north Columbus, Ohio. Most of what I cover comes from my own life: renting, a 2014 Honda Fit, parking, computers, food and the bills behind all of it. I spent four years in an apartment-property office and eleven on a distributor's operations desk, reading leases and invoices. Where you need real information, I research the maker's or agency's own page and independent sources and report what they publish. I don't give tax, investment, legal or medical advice.