Devil Boats: The PT War Against Japan [Paperback]

William B Breuer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1995

The U.S. Navy's PT boats became the scourge of Japanese coastal shipping in the World War II Pacific.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891415866
• ISBN-13: 978-0891415862
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of PT Boat Stories, September 26, 2000

By 

Rory Aylward "Resident of Frank's World" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devil Boats: The PT War Against Japan (Paperback)

Historian William Breuer has produced a popular, anecdotal history of the PT Boat in WWII. It's a good, enjoyable read that gives the reader a broad overview of what the boats did and what kind of people manned them. If you are interested in PT Boats, this is an excellent place to start, but keep in mind you are skimming the surface.

Highly recommended as a companion book is Victor Chun's pictorial history of American PT Boats in WWII.

For more detailed PT stories, try Dick Keresey's "PT-105" or track down a copy of "At Close Quarters."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ivy leaguers and jocks trade in their daddy's yachts., May 29, 2007

By 

Ryan Fisher (Santa Maria, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Devil Boats is a chronicle, albeit not a voluminous one, of the exploits of the men of the PT "Devil" boats of WWII.
William Breuer tells the highlights of the adventures of these Ivy league, jock sailors who traded their yachts and sports careers for the dangers of the Pacific Theater.
Breuer's story follows the course of PT boat action from Pearl Harbor and MacArthur's escape to the sad days at war's end when a indifferent U.S. Navy burned and scuttled much of what remained of the storied boats.
Devil Boats also recounts the legacies of many of the crews of the PT squadrons who in later life would go on to fill the highest offices in government and civilian realms.
Not the scholarly work that researchers often seek, Devil Boats remains however and iconic book reminiscent of most WWII stories published in the few decades that followed.
Overall, a fun and short read.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS.

4.0 out of 5 stars Daring Marauders of the South Pacific, February 7, 2011

By 

John E. Nevola "Author" (Mount Olive, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Devil Boats: The PT War Against Japan (Paperback)

What could an 80-foot plywood boat accomplish, with only 4 .50 caliber machine guns and 4 torpedoes, in the vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean? A great deal if they got the right mission and were crewed by adventurous skippers and daring, well trained crews.

As the Japanese expanded down the Solomon Island chain through the thousands of small islands throughout the Bismarck Archipelago, their challenge was to both supply and protect the forces they deployed to the furthest reaches of their newly acquired empire.

Working close to the myriad of islands and patrolling the often-used sea-lanes, mostly at night, The PT Boats became the scourge of the seas to Japanese supply and combat ships. Able to reach speeds of 45 miles per hour with their 3 Packard engines, they were designed to strike hard and run fast. Speed was their only defense since PT Boats had no armor whatsoever.

Devil Boats takes you to back to the beginning and chronicles the evacuation of General Douglas MacArthur from the Philippines and the sinking of John F. Kennedy's PT-109. It describes the genesis, evolution and tactics of the craft and why the blue-water navy held the PT Boat in such disdain. While covering mostly the early years of the War, Devil Boats is a tribute to the 212 boats and their crews who served with such distinction through the War.

The book contains numerous photos and is an interesting if short history of this unique battle-craft.

John E. Nevola
Author of The Last Jump - A Novel of World War II