Higgins PT305

Higgins PT305 Restoration Project

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Welcome to the restoration of the PT305, a patrol-torpedo motorboat designed and built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans, Louisiana. Commissioned on 10th November 1943, the PT305 was one of twelve Higgins PT boats (PT302 - PT313) assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 22 under the command of LCDR Richard J. Dressling.

Deployed to the Mediterranean theater, MTB RON 22 saw action along the southern coast of France and the northwest coast of Italy. When hostilities in Europe ended RON 22 was sent to New York for refitting in preparation for transfer to the Pacific theater, but the war ended with the squadron still in the United States. MTB RON 22 was decommissioned on 15TH November 1945, and the PT305 was sold on 18th July 1948.

Heavily modified, the PT305 was operated as an oyster boat on Chesapeake Bay until 2001, when it was acquired by the Defenders of America Naval Museum in Galveston, TX, who transferred the boat to the National World War II museum in 2006. The PT305 returned to New Orleans in 2007, just over 64 years from the time her keel was first laid at the Higgins Industries City Park plant.

Working with original Higgins Industries plans and parts salvaged from several unrestorable
Higgins-built PT boats, our goal is to produce an historically accurate boat, fully functional except for the various armament systems, that will become a part of the museum's permanent collection.

After a few trial runs in Lake Ponchartrain.