Editing PT boat (section)

===Design competition===
On 11 July 1938 the Navy solicited design proposals for four separate types of boat: a 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat.<ref name="Bulkley p44">Bulkley, 1962 p44</ref>
The winning design proposals would each receive a prize of $15,000 with $1,500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition each to be given out on 30 March 1939.

The larger boat proposal was not to exceed 80 feet and was to carry at least two 21-inch torpedoes, four depth charges, and two .50-cal machine guns. The performance specification was to achieve 40 knots with an operating radius of 275 miles at top speed (550 miles at cruising speed). The smaller boat proposal was to weigh no more than 20 tons so that it could be easily transported by larger cargo ships. Its maximum top speed was also to be 40 knots, but specified operating radius was to be 120 miles at top speed and 240 miles at cruising speed. Equipped armament for the smaller proposal was to be either two torpedoes and two depth charges, or .50-cal machine guns and a smokescreen generator.<ref name="Bulkley p44"/>

By September 1938 the U.S. Navy had received 24 design proposals for the small boat and 13 design proposals for the larger 70-footer. Of those proposals submitted, three 54-ft designs and five 70-ft designs were of interest, and the designers were asked to submit more detailed plans for both the 54 and 70 foot boats by no later than 7 November.<ref name="Bulkley p44"/> On 21 March 1939 [[Sparkman & Stephens]] won the prize in the 70-foot class, and [[George Crouch]] (for [[Henry B. Nevins, Incorporated|Henry B. Nevins, Inc.]]) had won the design proposal for the 54-foot class.<ref name="Bulkley p44"/> After winning the design competition for the smaller PT boat, Crouch wrote that Hickman's sea sled design would be far superior "in either rough or smooth water to that of the best possible V-bottom or hard chine design". Earlier when sea sleds were specifically excluded, Crouch had informed the Bureau of Ships that the sea sled was the best type of vessel for the job.

[[File:PT-9 torpedo boat Washington DC 1940.jpg|thumb|''PT-9'' in June 1940]]

Following the competition, contracts were placed for construction of boats: 25 May 1939 to [[Higgins Industries]] for two boats (PT5 and PT6) of the Sparkman & Stephens design, scaled up to an overall length of 81 feet; 8 June 1939 to [[Miami Shipbuilding]] (PT-1 and PT-2) and [[Fisher Boatworks]] (PT-3 and PT-4) for the Crouch design; to the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] (PT-7, PT-8) for 81-foot boats designed by the Bureau of Ships.<ref>Bulkley p44-45</ref> These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines. Higgins built an additional ''PT-6 "Prime"'' redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. Later that same year, Higgins built ''PT-70'' (at their own expense) that incorporated slight improvements over ''PT-6 Prime''.

Later, testing revealed shortcomings that had to be fixed before the designs could meet performance specifications. As a result, the Navy ordered further investigation and refinement of the existing designs until a satisfactory working design could be obtained. At the same time, Henry R. Sutphen of [[Electric Launch Company]] (Elco) and his designers (Irwin Chase, Bill Fleming, and Glenville Tremaine) visited the United Kingdom in February 1939 at the Navy's request to see British motor torpedo boat designs with a view to obtaining one that could be used as a check on the Navy's efforts. While visiting the [[British Power Boat Company]], they purchased a {{convert|70|ft|m|adj=on}} private venture [[motor torpedo boat]] (MTB) design—PV70, later renamed ''PT-9—''designed by the power boat racer [[Hubert Scott-Paine]]. ''PT-9'' was to serve as the prototype for all the early Elco PT boats. After the initial competition, in late 1939 the Navy contracted Elco to build 11 copies of ''PT-9''.<ref name="Bulkley p44" />

On 11 October 1940 an agreement between the Navy and [[Huckins Yacht Corporation]] was finalized. The Navy would provide engines and Huckins would build a PT boat at their own expense, with the caveat that the boat (upon completion) would be offered to the Navy for a later sum. This {{convert|72|ft|m|adj=on}} boat (designated MT-72) later became ''PT-69''. Huckins reported a profit of $28.60 on this transaction.<ref>Frank Huckins,''Address Before the Great Lakes Cruising Club'', Chicago (21 April 1944) contained in ''Huckins, The Living Legacy''</ref>