Higgins 78-foot PT boat

The Higgins 78-foot PT boat was the patrol torpedo boat that Higgins Industries built in New Orleans for the United States Navy during the Second World War, in the PT-71, PT-235, PT-265 and PT-625 classes. It followed the 81 foot PT-6 and 76 foot PT-70 prototypes that Higgins built for the Navy trials of 1941, and the Navy chose a reduced version of the PT-6 design for production. The boat matched the 80 foot Elco boat in beam, full load displacement, engines and crew accommodation, and had a double-planked mahogany hull driven by three Packard engines. Higgins boats served in the Aleutians, in the Mediterranean and at the D-Day landings, and many went to the Soviet Union and Britain. Published counts of Higgins PT boats differ, from 199 to 216 depending on whether prototypes and export boats are included. Seven hulls survive, including the museum boat PT-305 in New Orleans.