I've had a "thing" about PT boats since I was a kid and got a book called "Peter PT" --which I still have in storage.
Anyhow, I love watching "McHale's Navy" because it's about PT boats and I like the premise: that a small-time shipper working in the Pacific Islands got called into the Navy as a commander of PT-73 because of his knowledge of those islands. Hence the frequent reference to "McHales' Island" and Urulu. I also love the canned shots of a PT boat roaring along at 45 -50 mph.
But I get irked when one of the plot devices is that PT-73's engine quit for one reason or another, resulting in the plot pickle for that episode.
Must be three or maybe four episodes that had "the engine quit" ploy.
I guess everybody in the world knows that PT boats had three engines except the writers:
"With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all US PT boats were powered by three marine-modified derivations of the Packard 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boatShows the 3-engine layout:
https://conceptbunny.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/PT_boat-768x500.jpgMaybe the writers were referring to some single mythical 36 cylinder engine.
Just irks me.
Terry, 230RN
REFs ("Peter PT" book and the persistent legend):
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/rest-and-relaxation/toys/Peter-PT-book.html"Nicknamed 'the mosquito fleet"'and 'devil boats' by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft." --Wiki