“GIANT KILLERS” WWII ELCO NAVAL DIVISION PT BOAT PROMO FILM ELECTRIC BOAT BAYONNE, NJ XD49334

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This late 1940s color film pays tribute to the Elco patrol torpedo boat (or PT boat), which helped secure Allied victory in World War II. A look behind the scenes at the Elco factory in Bayonne, New Jersey shows men and women at work in the production of a wood-bodied naval craft (TRT: 30:17). Opening titles: “Electric Boat Company, Elco Naval Division Presents, Giant Killers, The Story of the Elco PT Boats, Photographed and Directed by Wallace Van Nostrand, Film Compiled and Edited by the Princeton Film Center, Narrated by Van Deventer” (0:06). An Elco PT Boat barrels toward the camera in a montage from several angles (0:45). Henry Sutman, Executive Vice President of Elco at a desk with model ships (1:18). PT-10 and PT-13, early 70-ft test models (1:36). Irwin Chase, Managing Constructor of Elco. A busy office of draftsmen and engineers (2:03). PT boats speed across water, splashing waves in their wake (2:42). U.S. Army and Navy flags fly outside Elco. Employees file in to work at the Bayonne, NJ factory. A panorama of 19 buildings (3:06). A large boat-launching crane. An Elco locomotive, nicknamed “Shifty,” pushes a large railcar. Torpedo tubes in storage (4:04). Hand trucks navigate the busy warehouse. Aluminum bronze propellers. Quality inspection. Parts awaiting installation (5:13). A machine sorts and paints mahogany, forming reinforced “ribs” (6:11). The lacquered and glued wooden parts are loaded into an oven. A saw splits laminate (6:53). Girders prepared with layers of plywood and mahogany bound with glue in a press (7:38). Women riveters bind girders. The boat assembly floor shows 20 boats in various states of completion. Men and women work on the structures (8:35). Boat frames are carried by men and women onto a jig, where the vessel begins to take shape (9:40). Inside the hull, bottom-side up (10:20). A steam box and shaping mold is used to bend wood (11:16). A Scandinavian workman with an adze hews the spruce keel of the boat (11:58). The keel of the upside-down boat. Diagonal battens are inserted and glue is applied to planking, then covered in cloth, ironed. Another layer of planking is applied (12:26). Lunchtime at the Elco canteen cafeteria. A crowd of workers applaud at a war bond event (13:54). Preparing to turn the 12-ton boat upright using cranes and pulleys (14:30). Upright, the ship is lowered onto a steel bed. Workers (15:17). Painting, applying metal strengthening straps. A covering board is laid upon deck beams (16:14). Sheets of plywood are unloaded, formed into a deck, carried away (16:44). Installing the deck, applying screws. The joiner shop constructs a cabin trunk and chart house. Sheets of veneer are applied to a machine gun turret (17:20). Installing turrets (18:26). Bending, grinding, welding sheets of metal (18:58). “A girl welder, with her dark glasses and blue flame, is doing what used to be a man’s job” (19:35). The machine shop. Precision turret blades turn metal. A magnetic grinder. Planing small parts and a propeller shaft (19:53). Electrical wiring. Women assemble wiring harnesses (21:08). A Packard marine engine is unloaded and installed (21:19). A tractor pulls the PT boat out of an Elco Naval Division factory building. Rapturous narration applauds the near-finished product (22:32). Installing metal parts and gas tanks (23:26). Backing into the dockside launching crane. The boat is lowered and launched (24:18). Gunrails and secret weapons are installed (25:25). Leaving the wet basin for the main basin. Test trials (26:12). Cruising Newark Bay. Racing under the Bayonne Bridge. Pushing the throttle and steering through Long Island Sound. Men check stopwatches and instruments (27:08). Long shots of passing PT boats in montage. Lights spell “Elco.” End titles: “The End” (29:02). Elco Naval Division PT boats were developed in the early 1940s and were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy during WWII. The Elco name was short for the Electric Launch Company, which operated from 1893 to 1949 and from 1987 to present.The Elco boats were the longest of the three types of PT boats built for the Navy used during World War II. By war's end, more of the Elco 80 ft (24 m) boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. They were made of two diagonal layered 1 in (25 mm) thick mahogany planks, with a glue-impregnated layer of canvas in between. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit