Page 33: of Marine News Magazine (December 2017)

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BOATBUILDING were very passionate, marshaling the troops to pull togeth-

PT-305 is transported on the Mississippi er resources to help out this project.”

River in New Orleans to begin sea trials

Newmar donated a package of four Phase Three-series at SeaBrook Harbor & Marine. battery chargers for the vessel’s port and starboard 24V battery banks and its 12V generator start bank. To pro- tect the boat’s 1943 design and outward appearance, the

Foster said Harold Halter, the founder of Halter Ma- chargers and related modern systems were mounted out of rine, and Higgins Industry were united through the his- sight in the boat’s ammunition locker. The chargers were tory of their shipyards. Higgins operated yards in the New installed by volunteers and electricians at the PT-305 res-

Orleans area and employed over 20,000 people at its peak toration site, Giannini said. until WWII, she said. The shipyards were mostly closed The company’s chargers were added to meet U.S. Coast by 1963. “But the main yard became Equitable Shipyards Guard requirements that passenger-carrying vessels have in 1967 and part of the Halter Marine Inc. group of ship- communications, alarms, pumps and safety equipment, building companies,” Foster said. That’s one reason that he said. Newmar’s PT-series units have smart circuitry to

VTHM has been active in the PT-305’s restoration. do three-stage charging for fast recovery and condition- ing. These ABS-approved chargers can also be used as a

SeaBrook Harbor & Marine power supply for DC or direct current loads. For its part,

SeaBrook Harbor & Marine is the largest, dry-stack fa- Newmar has made electronic-power products and acces- cility in Louisiana, with deep-water access, an 85-ton Trav- sories for over 45 years in on-site facilities that do its major elift and a large-capacity, indoor paint booth. After Ka- production work, allowing quality control. trina struck in 2005, SeaBrook retooled its entire yard and brought 300 storm-damaged boats back into service. The Moore Industries company offers storm-protected storage for 200 boats, “We contributed products to the restoration and are from 20 to 40 feet long. very proud to have been included in this historic project,” “We contributed volunteers and machinery to the proj- Tom Watson, corporate marketing manager at Moore ect,” Jeffrey Montz, CEO of SeaBrook Harbor & Marine in Industries-International, Inc. in North Hills, California,

New Orleans, said last month. “Our major contribution has said, “Because the boat’s master monitoring and control been picking up and moving the boat to our yard on France electronics panel couldn’t be restored, a modern Program-

Road to do repairs.” The PT-305 underwent sea trials in mable Logic Controller was installed.” That’s where Moore

January at SeaBrook, located on the Intracoastal Waterway. Industries’ THZ3 Dual Input Smart HART temperature “This project is living history, and that’s a big reason transmitters came into play.

why we’ve participated,” Montz said. “A personal reason “Many sensors monitoring the boat’s engine and other is that my grandfather during WWII put engines in these parameters, such as strain gauges, thermometers and torque

PT boats. It’s cool to be included in something he was in- sensors, use older analog circuits and instruments that pro- volved in, and it is wonderful work to be a part of.” vide non-linear resistance (ohms) outputs,” Watson said. “Since our THZ3 can build up to a 128-point custom

Newmar Power input curve, these resistance signals can be linearized and “We supplied battery chargers to the PT-305 through converted to linear 4-20mA signals and sent to the PLC.” our distributor Donovan Marine in Harahan” in Jefferson Because of the THZ3 HPP’s small size and encapsulated

Parish, Brian Giannini, marine sales manager at Newmar electronics, it could be integrated into panels on the Sudden in Huntington Beach, California, said. “At Donovan, they Jerk. “One particular monitoring unit is near the PT-305’s

PT-305 Fast Facts

Vessel: Motor Torpedo Boat Length: 78’-00” Hull material: wood

Hull type: hard-chine planing Beam: 20’-08” Top Speed: 41 KT

Fuel Capacity: 3000 gallons (AvGas) Draft: 6’-00” Cruise Speed: ~25 KT

Propulsion: 3 x 1,500 HP enginesRange: >500nm @ 25 KT (250 nm @ 41 KT)Loaded Displacement: 49 LT (*) Data: Courtesy Mark Masor, naval architect at Gibbs & Cox, Inc. and museum volunteer. www.marinelink.com

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