superchief Posted September 16, 2018 Share #1 Posted September 16, 2018 Before the days of the all weather helicopter a downed flight crew relied on a "Crash Boat" sent from shore. The boats of the USAF program had their origin during WWII under the USAAC. The Pacific War had many an aviator ditch at sea near shore only to await a "crash boat" sent out by the air base. The boats at first were a non standard group of vessels but by war's end were standardized by size and sea keeping ability. Both stateside and overseas, the 63' boat was the rescue work horse, powered by gas engines and equipped with AA guns for defense. At the wars end the Service found itself with overseas air bases still requiring some sort of rescue boat. A study was undertaken in the late 1940's and two 94' crash boats were built for evaluation. If successful these boats were to be mass produced and delivered to coastal air bases in the United States as well as bases in Korea and Japan. But the new Air Force wanted a lot of bang for the buck and the higher ups were thinking they were procuring aircraft rather than a vessel. Surplus P-51 Merlin aircraft engines were installed, along with radar and electronics used in aircraft. Not being Navy grade equipment the sea air seem to degrade some of the radio and range finders. And for armament surplus 50cal machine guns from the US Army were used for boat defense. After some failures the Service decided it would put it's money into helicopter development as a rescue platform. The crash boat program was phased out in the late 1950's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superchief Posted September 16, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted September 16, 2018 I forgot to mention the model is the old 1950's era Lindbergh kit, gray plastic and the wrong guns. I did a bit of kitbashing/scratchbuilding to get this model squared away. The paint scheme was the "Stateside Paint" meant to be HI-Viz for rescue work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted September 16, 2018 Share #3 Posted September 16, 2018 Interesting information and sharp model! Thanks for showing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted September 16, 2018 Share #4 Posted September 16, 2018 Museum quality build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiziwater Posted September 16, 2018 Share #5 Posted September 16, 2018 I've been reading about WWII for 60 years and there's no end to learning something new. Very interesting bit of history. I guess the Air Corp didn't want to impose on the Coast Guard. Thanks for the article and showing off that beautiful crash boat model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted September 16, 2018 Share #6 Posted September 16, 2018 I used to visit a guy who lived on one of these at the free anchorage in San Diego Bay about 40 years ago: it had been modified with a larger superstructure as a live-aboard yacht. I don't think the owner could afford to start the engines the way they sucked down fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastersMate Posted September 17, 2018 Share #7 Posted September 17, 2018 An interesting look at a restoration of one of these crash boats. A minor aside note, about 25 years ago I did a two week relief hitch on a small cruise vessel in Alaska as relief capt. when Jerry wrenched his shoulder. When I found what he did in hiss off time, decided to keep an eye out on the progress. Well Done.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/konabish/sets/72157628921761401/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtyScout Posted September 17, 2018 Share #8 Posted September 17, 2018 Hey SuperChief, You have done a wonderful job on that rescue boat. As FiziWater commented, you DO learn new things about WWII. Semper Fi. Manny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestoncohunter Posted September 17, 2018 Share #9 Posted September 17, 2018 Very nice model. Here is a pic my FIL took while on Guam that members here determined to be a Rescue Boat after I posted it assuming it to be a PT boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted September 17, 2018 Share #10 Posted September 17, 2018 Excellent built and a very interesting background story! Thanks very much for sharing another awesome project. What's the scale of the kit, please? Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skautdog Posted September 17, 2018 Share #11 Posted September 17, 2018 Very interesting history and great model. Thanks for sharing. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted September 18, 2018 Share #12 Posted September 18, 2018 Great model always fun to see the unusual builds by forum members Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted September 18, 2018 Share #13 Posted September 18, 2018 Chief, That model is spectacular as are all your other models. You do incredibly fine work. Thanks for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superchief Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share #14 Posted September 18, 2018 Lars The box states it's 1:72 scale but I measured it against a Revell 1:72 PT109 and it's about 1:88 scale. Remember this is a 1950's kit era and many model companies made the model "fit the box", i.e. box scale. Revell was notorious for box scale, their B-36 bomber fit in the same size box as their Super Sabre fighter. But as a kid I didn't care, would build the kits as fast as I could... And thank you all for the nice comments, they're appreciated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R Posted September 18, 2018 Share #15 Posted September 18, 2018 Very cool!! The Germans did something similar in World War II. The air-sea rescue personnel were all subordinate to the Luftwaffe. In fact, they even kept their Navy ranks but were controlled by the Air Force - you'll see examples where it was Luftwaffe personnel who who drove sea-craft in the English Channel to pick up airmen who ditched or were shot down during the Battle of Britain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted September 18, 2018 Share #16 Posted September 18, 2018 Three thumbs up! Very nice research & narrative. I never knew these boats carried a Quad .50 mount. Interesting read. Beautiful build. I've never seen inside the Lindbergh box but given its age, I know it took some skill and perserverence to produce such a beautiful finished model. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted September 19, 2018 Share #17 Posted September 19, 2018 Great looking model. There's a few topics on this floating around, like this one, which is on this in WWII, that's how far back it goes, with the Air Corps. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/300289-usaaf-crash-boat-p-749/ And one regarding one of their unit patches, the 22nd Crash Boat Squadron. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/67557-usaf-22nd-crash-rescue-boat-sq/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MECHINF-A15 Posted September 19, 2018 Share #18 Posted September 19, 2018 Super job! Most impressive! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superchief Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share #19 Posted September 19, 2018 Hi All Here are photos of the crash boat under construction, 1950's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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