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Granted, she's not an Elco eighty-foot PT-103 Class boat. Also, I'll concede that her engines are not Packards, which emit a throaty gurgling sound … and I'll grant you that her paint scheme and armament package is not exactly accurate and all that …
But, for someone who has loved PT boats all of his life and who has written about them, the opportunity to go for a ride aboard this boat was truly an experience of a lifetime and one that I will always cherish for the rest of my life.
I would like to share some photos of me on board PT-728.
PT-728 entering Hyannis Harbor on Cape Cod, MA (Tom Connelly photo)
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T. Garth Connelly on deck (Tom Connelly photo) |
Looking forward from abaft of the port turret (Tom Connelly photo) |
T. Garth Connelly, center -seated, his brother Tom, standing - left and his mother
Rita, standing - right. The emblem on the helmet is from the charitable organization
known as the Osterville Yacht Club which has donated over $250,000 to the
Cam Neely Foundation, but has no connection to the PT-728 or Fleet Obsolete
which owns and operates the boat. (Dan Walker photo)
T. Garth Connelly and Dan Walker, the cruise narrator
on board PT-728 (Tom Connelly photo)
I strongly recommend this experience to any of you who are students of PT Boat history.
T. Garth Connelly
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