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Radar
United States WWII PT Boats were equipped with S.O. - Surface
Search Radar units built by Raytheon Manufacturing Company.
PT boat
operations were commonly conducted under the cover of darkness to avoid detection
from much larger enemy targets such as 300-foot destroyers and patrolling aircraft.
The installation of radar in the early stages of WWII gave the boats a great advantage
in offensive and defensive search, target tracking, and low-visibility navigation.
As beneficial as radar was it had to be used cautiously due to the fact that radar
signals could be detected by an enemy using radio direction finder (RDF) equipment.
PTs were also equipped with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment to help
avoid friendly fire.
P.T. Boat Communications
The primary
means of radio communications used by PT Boats was a Collins TCS - high frequency
transceiver station. Communication between PTs on patrol, aircraft and the Squadron
Commander at base were made using simple voice messages with code words incorporated
when security was required. The Radioman used very high frequency (VHF) to limit
transmission range to the horizon to help avoid enemy interception. Protocol dictated
that radio communications be kept to a minimum to avoid the enemy listening in
on strategic information or being located by radio direction finder (RDF) equipment.
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