PT boat

English

Three PT boats underway.

Etymology

Initialism of patrol torpedo boat.

Noun

PT boat (plural PT boats)

1. (military, US) A type of fast motor torpedo boat used by the US Navy during World War II.
   • 1943, Lawrence Conant, quoting Charles Edison, “The PT Boats: Weapons of Opportunity”, in William Harrison Fetridge, editor, The Navy Reader:

     The PT boat is not merely a small boat for attack in rivers and inland seas. It is a deadly offensive weapon for use under the most trying conditions [...]