title: PT boat

text: Meanwhile, in August 1915, the General Board of the United States Navy approved the purchase of a single experimental small torpedo boat that could be transportable. This contract for C-250 ended up going to Greenport Basin and Construction Company, of Greenport, NY. When it eventually was delivered and tested in the summer of 1917, it was not deemed a success, so a second boat (C-378) of the sea sled design was ordered from Hickman in either late 1917 or early 1918 (conflicting dates). Using his previous design from September 1914 and the previous unsuccessful bid for C-250, the new boat C-378 was completed and fully tested just in time to be cancelled by the Armistice. With a full loaded weight of , C-378 made a top speed of with , and maintained an average speed of in a winter northeaster storm with seas, which would still be considered exceptional even 100 years later. The Sea Sled did not surface again as a torpedo boat topic until 1939, but continued to be used by both the Army and Navy as rescue boats and seaplane tenders during the 20s and 30s. In 1922, the US Navy reconsidered using small internal combustion engine powered torpedo boats. As a result, two types and of British Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats were obtained for testing. The larger boat was used for experiments until 1930. In 1938, the U.S. Navy renewed their investigation into the concept by requesting competitive bids for several different types of motor torpedo boats, but excluded Hickman's Sea Sled. This competition led to eight prototype boats built to compete in two different classes. The first class was for boats, and the second class was for boats. The resulting PT boat designs were the product of a small cadre of respected naval architects and the Navy.


title: PT boat

text: On 11 July 1938 the Navy issued notices of competitions for the design of four types of boat: 165-foot subchaser, a 110-foot subchaser, a 70-foot motor torpedo boat, and a 54-foot motor torpedo boat.


title: PT boat

text: The winning designs would receive a prize of $15000 with $1500 for designs that reached the final part of the competition; to be given out on 30 March 1939.


title: PT boat

text: The larger boat was to not to exceed 80 feet and 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 and an operating radius of 275 miles at top speed (550 miles at cruising speed). The smaller boat was to weigh no more than 20 tons so that it could be easily transported by cargo ships. Its maximum speed was also 40 knots but specified radius was 120 miles at top speed and 240 miles at cruising speed. Armament was less - two torpedoes and depth charges, or .50-cal machine-guns and a smokescreen generator.


title: PT boat

text: By September 1938, 24 designs for the smaller boat and 13 designs for the 70-footer. Three designers and five designers were asked to submit detailed plans for the 54-ft and 70 ft boats respectively by 7 November 1938.


title: PT boat

text: On March 21, 1939, Sparkman and Stephens won the prize in the 70-foot class and Prof. George Crouch (for Henry B. Nevins, Inc.) had won the 54-foot class.


title: PT boat

text: Following the competition, contracts were placed for construction of boats: May 25, 1939, to Higgins Industries for two boats (PT5 and PT6) of the Sparkman and Stephens design, scaled up to an overall length of 81 feet; June 8, 1939, to Fogal Boat Yard (PT-1 and PT-2) and Fisher Boat Works (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. These last two boats were constructed mainly out of aluminum and had 4 engines.


title: PT boat

text: In an important note after winning the design competition for the smaller PT boat, George 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.


title: PT boat

text: Higgins built an additional "PT-6 "Prime"" redesigned by Andrew Higgins personally using his own methods. Later that same year, Higgins was to build "PT-70" (at their own expense) that incorporated slight improvements over "PT-6 Prime".


title: PT boat

text: Later, rigorous testing performed on each design as well as changes in armament revealed limitations or problems that had to be fixed before they could meet required performance specifications. As a result, the Navy ordered further investigation and refinement of the existing designs until a satisfactory working design could be obtained.


title: PT boat

text: 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 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".


title: PT boat

text: The final PT boat design competitor was Huckins Yacht Corporation of Jacksonville, Florida. On 11 October 1940, an agreement between the Navy and Huckins 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 boat (designated MT-72) later became "PT-69". Huckins reported a profit of $28.60 on this transaction.


title: PT boat

text: In March 1941, during a heavy weather run from Key West to New York by Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRON 2), Elco 70-footers pounded heavily in waves even at moderate speeds, and seas continuously broke high over the bows. Operating personnel reported extreme discomfort and fatigue. All boats suffered from some sort of structural failure: forward chine guards ripped away, bottom framing under bows broken, side planking cracked [indicating lack of longitudinal strength], and other weaknesses. In April 1941, MTBRON 1 reported enthusiasm over the 81-foot Higgins ("PT-6"), and with the Higgins showing such good seakeeping further purchase of Scott-Paine boats was unnecessary. In early 1941 the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships (BuShips) lent Packard engines to both Huckins and Higgins, which wanted to build competitive boats at their own expense.


title: PT boat

text: A Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) PT Boat Conference convened in May 1941 to discuss future PT characteristics. All PTs prior to the Elcos had been found defective, and it was probable the extended Elco would not be an improvement. This conference, including representatives from BuShips, BuOrd, MTBRONs, Interior Control Board, and CNO, recommended a series of comparative tests to evaluate what turned out to be five new designs of motor torpedo boats. The conference strongly recommended that no more Elco 77-footers be ordered until the tests had shown that they were indeed satisfactory.


title: PT boat

text: The Board of Inspection and Survey, headed by Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., conducted comparative service tests off New London, 21 to 24 July 1941, using the following boats:


title: PT boat

text: Each member of the Board conducted an independent inspection of every boat class, evaluating them for structural sufficiency, habitability, access, arrangement for attack control, and communication facilities.


title: PT boat

text: Boats were also evaluated under two conditions of armament loading: loaded and fully equipped with four torpedoes and sufficient fuel to operate 500 NM at 20 knots; and fully loaded with two torpedoes and ten depth charges with sufficient fuel to operate at .


title: PT boat

text: Lastly, there was a demonstration of seakeeping qualities and hull strength by making a run at maximum sustained speed in the open ocean. An accelerometer was installed in the pilot house of each boat to record "pounding". Conducted on 24 July 1941, this open-water trial, at full throttle, would forever after be referred to by PT personnel as the "Plywood Derby". The course started from the mouth of New London Harbor, to Sarah Ledge, then led around the eastern end of Block Island, then around Fire Island Lightship, finishing at Montauk Point Whistling Buoy.


title: PT boat

text: At the time, only the Elco 77-footers were loaded with armament. The other competitors had copper ingots added topside (mostly in the turrets) to make up the difference. This resulted in severe conditions for several of the boats during the trial and accounted for the transverse failure in "PT-70"s deck and subsequent hull failure as the copper fell into the hull.


title: PT boat

text: Nine boats participated in the trial. Six boats completed the trial, while three withdrew: "PT-33" suffered structural damage off Block Island; "PT-70" was damaged by loose copper ingots; and "MRB" developed engine trouble at the start of the run.


title: PT boat

text: By class, "PT-20", an Elco 77-footer, came in first with an average speed of ; followed by "PT-31", with an average speed of ; "PT-69", the Huckins boat, was third with an average speed of ; "PT-6", the Higgins 81-footer, with an average speed of was fifth; and "PT-8", the Philadelphia Navy Yard boat, was last, at . The other two Elco boats, "PT-30" and "PT 23" (standby boat), followed "PT-31", placing before "PT-69".


title: PT boat

text: The accelerometers ranked the boats as follows: first was the Philadelphia Navy Yard "PT-8" with the least pounding, second was the Huckins "PT-69", third was the Higgins "PT-6", and last were the Elco 77-footers.


title: PT boat

text: Due to the problem with ingot loading, a trial with the PTs fully fitted out was conducted on 12 August 1941. Four boats - "PT-8", "PT-69", "PT-70", and MRB - returned and Elco sent two new boats, "PT-21" and "PT-29". During this trial, boats faced heavier seas, as high as . All except the Huckins ("PT-69") completed the run. The Huckins withdrew due to bilge stringer failure. The Higgins 76-footer ("PT-70") completed the entire run but also suffered structural failures, attachments between planking and web frames pulling loose, and deck fastenings in the neighborhood of engine hatches showing extensive failures. "PT-21" suffered minor cracks in the deck in the same location, but not to the same extent, as previously observed in "PT-26", "PT-30", and "PT-33". "PT-29" was assigned as a pace boat with "PT-8" in order to generate a pounding comparison.


title: PT boat

text: The average speed results from the course were: Elco 77-footer ("PT-21"), ; Higgins 76-footer ("PT-70"), ; Higgins MRB and Philadelphia Navy Yard boat ("PT-8"), . Accelerometers were again installed in the pilot house of each boat, but the readings were incomplete because the violent motion of the boats made observations extremely difficult and in some cases necessitated abandonment of the observing stations. Further, many of those taken were beyond the normal range of the instruments and were considered inaccurate. Elco boats were found to pound heavily and confirmed previous reports of crew discomfort.


title: PT boat

text: The Board also had the following opinion on structural sufficiency: "During the first series of tests (21–24 July) the Huckins design (PT-69), the Philadelphia design (PT-8) and the Higgins design (PT-6) completed the open sea endurance run without structural damage. The Higgins 70' (British) boat did not complete this run because of engine trouble. The Higgins 76' (PT-70) and boats of the Elco 77' (PT-20 Class) developed structural failures even under moderate weather conditions prevailing. In the interval between the first and second test periods the PT-70 was repaired and an effort made to eliminate the causes of the structural failures. However, during the second endurance run, which was made in a very rough sea for this size boat, structural failures again occurred in PT-70. PT-69 and PT-21 experienced structural failures during the second run though these were much more ]localized as compared with those found on PT-70. The Board is of the opinion that certain changes in design are required to enable PT-69 and boats of the PT-20 Class to carry safely their military loads in rough weather."


title: PT boat

text: The Board results provided very important benchmarks in the infancy of PT boat development. This type of craft presented design challenges that were still issues decades after, but there are some significant conclusions from the above recommendations and their order of merit. Those are:


title: PT boat

text: The newly designed Elco Naval Division 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 boats were built (326 in all) than any other type of motor torpedo boat. While comparable in size to many wooden sailing ships in history, these beam wooden-hulled craft were classified as boats in comparison with much larger steel-hulled destroyers, destroyer escorts, and corvettes. Though often said to be made of plywood, they were actually made of two diagonal layered thick mahogany planks, with a glue-impregnated layer of canvas in between. Holding all this together were thousands of bronze screws and copper rivets. This type of construction made it possible for damage to the wooden hulls of these boats to be easily repaired at the front lines by base force personnel. Five Elco Boats were manufactured in knock-down kit form and sent to Long Beach Boatworks for assembly on the West Coast as part of an experiment and as a proof of concept.


title: PT boat

text: the plywood landing craft vehicle personnel (LCVP) used so successfully in the beach landings at Normandy in the Atlantic and the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific – produced 199 boats of the "PT-71"/"PT-235", "PT-265" and "PT-625" classes. The Higgins boats had the same beam, full load displacement, engines, generators, shaft horsepower, trial speed, armament, and crew accommodation as the Elco boats. Many Higgins boats were sent to the Soviet Union and Great Britain at the beginning of the war, so many of the lower-numbered squadrons in the U.S. Navy were made up exclusively of Elcos. U.S. Navy PT boats were organized into motor torpedo boat squadrons (MTBRONs). The first Higgins boats for the U.S. Navy were used in the battle for the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) as part of Squadrons 13 and 16, and others (MTBRON15 and MTBRON22) in the Mediterranean against the Germans. They were also used during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.


title: PT boat

text: Even though only half as many Higgins boats were produced, far more survive (seven hulls, three of which have been restored to their World War II configuration) than the more numerous Elco boats. Of the Elco boats, only three hulls (one restored) were known to exist as of 2016.


title: PT boat

text: Frank P. Huckins and his innovative Quadraconic planing hull design were latecomers to PT boat design. Not invited to participate in the original design competition, by late 1940, Huckins had a meeting with Captain James M. Irish, Chief of Design of BuShips, and offered to build a "planing seagoing hull" PT boat, on the condition the Navy loan Huckins engines and agree to look at the Huckins boat. In early July 1941, the Navy accepted "PT-69". After obtaining excellent testing results at the Plywood Derby, the Navy awarded Huckins Yacht Corporation a contract in 1941 for 8 boats, and later added 10 more. The design was enlarged and modified to meet the new requirements. The first three of the new design ("PT-95" through "PT-97") were initially kept in the Jacksonville area for testing, resulting in several important modifications to the overall design (these boats were later assigned to Squadron 4 in 1942). Huckins ended up building just two squadrons of PT boats during World War II. Five boats were assigned to Squadron 14 ("PT-98" through "PT-102") which was commissioned in early 1943; and ten boats assigned to Squadron 26 (PT-255 thru PT-264) which was commissioned in mid 1943. They were assigned to specific outposts in the Panama Canal Zone, Miami, Florida, the Hawaiian Sea Frontier at Pearl Harbor and Midway, and a training center in Melville, Rhode Island.


title: PT boat

text: Although not used in any other PT boat design, Huckins licensed the use of his patented Quadraconic hull in his PT boat construction. He also granted permission for Elco, Higgins, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to use his patented laminated keel, which increased hull strength, although neither Elco nor Higgins ever chose to use it on their boats. Most probably due to the lateness in joining the PT boat program and unlike Elco and Higgins, the Huckins yard was never provided any government support to construct a larger facility prior to the war. The handcrafted Huckins PT was produced at their civilian facility at a speed of one per month. The success and ruggedness of the Huckins' 78-foot seagoing design is demonstrated by Squadron 26's constant ready-boat operations and Fleet torpedo boat training in the oceans around Midway and Hawaii during the last two years of the war.


title: PT boat

text: During World War II, Vospers of Great Britain arranged for several boatyards in the United States to build British-designed motor torpedo boats under license to help the war effort. The boatyards were located in Annapolis, Bristol, City Island, Miami, and Los Angeles. 146 boats, armed with torpedoes, were built for Lend Lease, and exported to Allied powers such as Canada, Britain, Norway, and the Soviet Union. These boats were never used by the U.S. Navy, and only about 50 were used by the Royal Navy; most were passed to other countries. The Canadian Power Boat Company produced four Scott-Paine designed PTs for the U.S. These were to be provided to the Dutch forces under Lend Lease but were re-requisitioned to the USN as PT 368–371 after the fall of the Netherlands to German forces.


title: PT boat

text: PT boats offered accommodation for three officers and 14 enlisted men. Crews varied from 12 to 17, depending upon the number and type of weapons installed. Full-load displacement late in the war was 56 tons.


title: PT boat

text: The hull shape of the Elco and Higgins PT boats were similar to the contoured "planing hull" found in pleasure boats of the time (and still in use today): a sharp V at the bow softening to a flat bottom at the stern. A common characteristic of this type of contoured hull is the "rooster tail" in the wake. Unlike the actual "planing hull" Huckins, which planed at 10-11 knots, the Elco and Higgins PT boats were intended to plane at higher speeds (PT 71 and PT-103 classes at around 27 knots, and the PT-265 and 625 classes at around 23 knots). The Elco, Higgins and Huckins companies used varying lightweight techniques of hull construction which included two layers of double diagonal mahogany planking utilizing a glue-impregnated or lead painted canvas layer between inner and outer planks. These planks were held together by thousands of copper rivets and bronze screws. The overall result was an extremely light and strong hull which could be easily repaired at the front lines when battle damage was sustained. According to Robert McFarlane, the US Navy built the hulls of some PT boats partially from 3,000-year-old white cedar logs recovered from sphagnum bog in New Jersey.


title: PT boat

text: As a testament to the strength of this type of construction and watertight bulkheads, several PT boats withstood catastrophic battle damage and still remained afloat. For example, the forward half of future President John F. Kennedy's "PT-109" (Elco) stayed afloat for 12 hours after she was cut in half by the Japanese destroyer "Amagiri". "PT-323" (Elco) was cut in half by a "kamikaze" aircraft on 10 December 1944 off Leyte, yet remained floating for several hours. "PT-308" (Higgins) had her stern sheared off by a collision with "PT-304" during a night mission in the Mediterranean on 9 March 1945 and yet returned to base for repairs. "PT-167" (Elco) was holed through the bow off Bougainville on 5 November 1943, by a torpedo which failed to detonate; the boat remained in action and was repaired the next day.


title: PT boat

text: In 1943, an inquiry was held by the Navy to discuss planing, hull design, and fuel consumption issues. This resulted in the November 1943 Miami test trial between two Higgins and two Elco boats, but no major additional modifications were made before the end of the war. During the war, Elco came up with stepped hull designs ("ElcoPlane") which achieved significant increase in top speed. Higgins developed the small and fast "Higgins Hellcat", which was a slight variation on their original hull form, but the Navy rejected them for full production due to increased fuel consumption and other considerations.


title: PT boat

text: After the war, Lindsay Lord, who was stationed in Hawaii during the war, recorded the Navy's planing hull research and findings in the book "Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls". It covers PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis of the various PT boat designs.


title: PT boat

text: The primary anti-ship armament was two to four Mark 8 torpedoes, which weighed and contained a TNT warhead. These torpedoes were launched by Mark 18 steel torpedo tubes. Mark 8 torpedoes had a range of at . These torpedoes and tubes were replaced in mid-1943 by four lightweight Mark 13 torpedoes, which weighed and contained a Torpex-filled warhead. These torpedoes were carried on lightweight Mark 1 roll-off style torpedo launching racks. The Mk13 torpedo had a range of and a speed of .


title: PT boat

text: PT boats were also armed with numerous automatic weapons. Common to all US PT boats were the two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Early PT boats (Elco PT20 through PT44) mounted Dewandre plexiglas-enclosed hydraulically operated rotating turrets. Almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dewandre turrets were replaced on the entire PT boat fleet with open ring twin mounts. The ring mount was designed by both Elco and Bell, and designated Mark 17 Twin 50 caliber aircraft mount. Part of the Mark 17 Mod 1 and Mod 2 ring mount consisted of the Bell Mark 9 twin cradle. Another automatic weapon commonly mounted on PT boats was the 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. On early series of boats, this cannon was mounted on the stern. Later in the war, several more of these 20 mm cannons were added amidships and on the forward deck.


title: PT boat

text: Forward of the chart house of some early Elco boats (PT20 through PT44) were twin .30 cal (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns on pedestal mounts. Beginning in mid-1943, some boats were fitted with one or two .30 cal Browning machine guns on the forward torpedo racks on pedestal mounts.


title: PT boat

text: Occasionally, some front line PT boats received "ad hoc" up-fits at forward bases, where they mounted such weapons as 37mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's "PT-109", which was equipped with a single-shot Army M3 37mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost. The larger punch of the 37mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats, the M4 (and later M9) cannon was installed at the factory. The M4/M9 37mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large magazine (30 rounds). These features made it highly desirable due to the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese "Daihatsu"-class barges, which were largely immune to torpedoes due to their shallow draft. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons.


title: PT boat

text: The installation of larger-bore cannons culminated in the fitting of the 40mm Bofors gun on the aft deck. Starting in mid-1943, the installation of this gun had an immediate positive effect on the firepower available from a PT boat. The Bofors cannon had a firing rate of 120 rounds/min (using 4-round clips) and had a range of . This gun was served by a crew of 4 men, and was used against aircraft targets, as well as shore bombardment or enemy surface craft.


title: PT boat

text: In the Solomon Islands in 1943, three PT boats, "PT-59", "PT-60", and "PT-61", were converted into "PT gunboats" by stripping them of all original armament except the two twin .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun mounts, then adding two 40mm and four twin .50 cal (12.7 mm) mounts. Lieutenant Kennedy was the first commanding officer of "PT-59" after its conversion. On 2 November 1943, "PT-59" participated in the rescue of 40 to 50 Marines from Choiseul Island and a foundering landing craft (LCP(R)) which was under fire from Japanese soldiers on the beach.


title: PT boat

text: Towards the end of the war, beginning in 1945, PTs received two eight-cell Mark 50 rocket launchers, launching spin-stabilized flat trajectory Mark 7 and/or Mark 10 rockets with a range of . These 16 rockets plus 16 reloads gave them as much firepower as a destroyer's guns (albeit without their accuracy). By war's end, the PT boat had more "firepower-per-ton" than any other vessel in the U.S. Navy.


title: PT boat

text: PT boats also commonly carried between two and eight U.S. Navy Mark 6 depth charges in roll-off racks.


title: PT boat

text: Additionally, a few PT boats were equipped to carry naval mines launched from mine racks, but these were not commonly used.


title: PT boat

text: With the exception of the experimental PT boats, all U.S. PT boats were powered by three marine modified derivations of the Packard 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled, gasoline-fueled aircraft engine. Improvements upon Packard's World War I Liberty L-12 2A engine, the successive "M" for "marine" designated 3M-2500, 4M-2500, and 5M-2500 generations all featured slight changes and more power. Their superchargers, intercoolers, dual magnetos, and two spark plugs per cylinder reflected their aircraft origins.


title: PT boat

text: Packard's licensed manufacture of the famed Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine alongside the marine 4M-2500 has long been a source of confusion. Only the British built "PT-9" prototype boat brought from England for Elco to examine and copy featured a Merlin.


title: PT boat

text: The 4M-2500 initially generated . It was subsequently upgraded in stages to , allowing a designed speed of . The 5M-2500 introduced in late 1945 had a larger supercharger, aftercooler, and increased power output of . It could push fully loaded boats at . However, subsequent additions of weaponry offset this potential increase in top speed.


title: PT boat

text: Fuel consumption of any version of these engines was exceptionally heavy. A PT boat carried of 100 octane aviation fuel, enough for a 4M-2500 equipped boat to conduct a maximum 12-hour patrol. Some an hour were consumed at a cruising speed of , increasing to per hour at top speed. Hull fouling and engine wear could both decrease top speed and increase fuel consumption materially.


title: PT boat

text: PT boats operated in the southern, western, and northern Pacific, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel.


title: PT boat

text: Originally conceived as anti-ship weapons, PT boats were publicly credited with sinking several Japanese warships during the period between December 1941 and the fall of the Philippines in May 1942 – even though the Navy knew the claims were all false.


title: PT boat

text: The exaggerated claims by Bulkeley about the effectiveness of the PTs in combat against larger craft allowed him to recruit top talent, raise war bonds, and caused overconfidence among squadron commanders who continued to pit PTs against larger craft. The reality was his claims that PTs had sunk a Japanese cruiser, a troopship, and a plane tender in the Philippines were untrue.


title: PT boat

text: Compounding the difficulty with the early torpedoes, attacking at night PT boat crews may have sometimes failed to note a possible torpedo failure. Although the American Mark 8 torpedo did have problems with porpoising and circular runs, it could and did have success against common classes of targets. The Mark 3 and Mark 4 exploders were not subject to the same problems as the Mark 6 exploders on U.S. submarines' Mark 14 torpedoes. In spite of Bulkeley's claim that introduction of the Mark 13 torpedo to PT boats in mid-1943 all but eliminated the early problems that PT boats had with their obsolete Mark 8s, difficulties remained. In the August 1943 engagement in which PT-"109" was lost, fifteen boats shipping 60 torpedoes fired over half without a single one hitting an enemy vessel.


title: PT boat

text: PTs would usually attack at night. The cockpits of PT boats were protected by armor plate against small arms fire and splinters. Direct hits from Japanese guns could and did result in catastrophic gasoline explosions with near-total crew loss. Crews feared attack by Japanese seaplanes, which were hard to detect even with radar, but which could easily spot the phosphorescent wake left by PT propellers. Bombing attacks killed and wounded crews even with near misses. There are several recorded instances of PT boats trading fire with friendly aircraft, a situation also familiar to U.S. submariners. Several PT boats were lost due to friendly fire from both Allied aircraft and destroyers. Enemy forces would use searchlights or seaplane-dropped flares to illuminate fleeing PT boats.


title: PT boat

text: Initially, only a few boats were issued primitive radar sets. U.S. Navy PTs were eventually fitted with Raytheon SO radar, which had about a range. Having radar gave Navy PTs a distinct advantage in intercepting enemy supply barges and ships at night. As more PTs were fitted with dependable radar, they developed superior night-fighting tactics and used them to locate and destroy many enemy targets. During the Guadalcanal and Solomon Island campaigns in 1942–1943, the PT boats of Squadrons (MTBRON) 2, 3, 5 and 6 would lie in wait to ambush a target from torpedo range, generally about .


title: PT boat

text: During some of these nighttime attacks, PT boat positions may have been given away by a flash of light caused by grease inside the black powder-actuated Mark 8 torpedo tubes catching fire during the launching sequence. In order to evade return fire from the enemy ships, the PT boat could deploy a smoke screen using stern-mounted generators. Starting in mid-1943, the old Mark 18 torpedo tubes and Mark 8 torpedoes began to be replaced. The new Mark 1 "roll-off" torpedo launcher rack (loaded with an improved Mark 13 aerial torpedo) effectively eliminated the telltale flash of light from burning grease, did not use any form of explosive to launch the torpedo, and weighed about less than the tubes.


title: PT boat

text: The effectiveness of PT boats in the Solomon Islands campaign, where there were numerous engagements between PTs and capital ships, as well as against Japanese shipborne resupply efforts dubbed "The Tokyo Express" operating in New Georgia Sound (called "The Slot" by the Americans), was substantially undermined by defective Mark 8 torpedoes. The Japanese were initially cautious when operating their capital ships in areas known to have PT boats, knowing how dangerous their own Type 93 torpedoes were, and assumed the Americans had equally lethal weapons. The PT boats at Guadalcanal were given credit for several sinkings and successes against the vaunted Tokyo Express. In several engagements, the mere presence of PTs was sufficient to disrupt heavily escorted Japanese resupply activities at Guadalcanal. Afterwards, the PT mission in the Solomon Islands was deemed a success.


title: PT boat

text: Some PT boats served during the Battle of Normandy. During the D-Day invasion, PTs patrolled the "Mason Line", forming a barrier against the German S-boats attacking the Allied landing forces. They also performed lifesaving and anti-shipping mine destruction missions during the invasion.


title: PT boat

text: Perhaps the most effective use of PTs was as "barge busters." Since both the Japanese in the New Guinea area and the Germans in the Mediterranean had lost numerous resupply vessels to Allied air power during daylight hours, each attempted to resupply their troop concentrations by using shallow draft barges at night in very shallow waters. The shallow depth meant Allied destroyers were unable to follow them due to the risk of running aground and the barges could be protected by an umbrella of shore batteries.


title: PT boat

text: The efficiency of the PT boats at sinking the Japanese supply barges was considered a key reason that the Japanese had severe food, ammunition, and replacement problems during the New Guinea and Solomon Island campaigns, and made the PT boats prime targets for enemy aircraft. The use of PT boat torpedoes was ineffective against these sometimes heavily armed barges, since the minimum depth setting of the torpedo was about 10 feet (3 m) and the barges drew only 5 feet (1.5 m).


title: PT boat

text: To accomplish the task, PTs in the Mediterranean and the Pacific (and RN and RCN motor torpedo boats in the Mediterranean) installed more and heavier guns which were able to sink the barges. One captured Japanese soldier's diary described their fear of PT boats by describing them as "the monster that roars, flaps its wings, and shoots torpedoes in all directions."


title: PT boat

text: Although their primary mission continued to be attack on surface ships and craft, PT boats were also used effectively to lay mines and smoke screens, coordinate in air-sea rescue operations, rescue shipwreck survivors, destroy Japanese suicide boats, destroy floating mines, and carry out intelligence or raider operations.


title: PT boat

text: After the war, American military interviews with captured veterans of the Imperial Japanese Navy, supplemented by the available partial Japanese war records, were unable to verify that all the PT boat sinking claims were valid. Like many other victory claims by all parties involved (aircraft pilots, surface ships, submarines) this unclear verification was due in part to the Japanese military's policies of destroying military records.


title: PT boat

text: In 1944, several Higgins boats ("PT222", "PT-283", "PT-284", "PT-285", and "PT-282") were converted, releasing "PT-59", "PT-60", and "PT-61" for transfer back home to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, for use in training in hull repair techniques.


title: PT boat

text: PT boats lacked a large capacity refrigerator to store sufficient quantities of perishable foods. While docked, PT boat squadrons were supported by PT boat tenders or base facilities which supplied boat crews with hot meals. As PT boats were usually located near the end of the supply chain, their crews proved resourceful in bartering with nearby ships or military units for supplies and using munitions to harvest their own fish.


title: PT boat

text: According to the book ""At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy"" 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II were lost to various causes.


title: PT boat

text: At the end of the war, almost all surviving U.S. PT boats were disposed of shortly after V-J Day. Hundreds of boats were deliberately stripped of all useful equipment and then dragged up on the beach and burned. This was done to minimize the amount of upkeep the Navy would have to do, since wooden boats require much continuous maintenance, and they were not considered worth the effort. The boats also used a lot of high octane gasoline for their size, making them too expensive to operate for a peacetime navy. Much of this destruction (121 boats) occurred at PT Base 17, on Samar, Philippines, near Bobon Point.


title: PT boat

text: A few (one 80' Elco, one 72' Vosper, and three 78' Higgins) were cut up and destroyed between 1998 and 2008, leaving (a known) total of 12 PT boats, and 2 experimental PT boat hulls in various states of repair, surviving today in the U.S.:


title: PT boat

text: "PT-48" is possibly the last surviving Elco PT boat. In July 1942, "PT-48" (nicknamed "Prep Tom" and "Deuce") was assigned to MTBRON 3(2). This second Squadron 3 was the first to arrive in the Solomons and saw heavy engagement with the "Tokyo Express". PT 48 was one of the first 4 boats to arrive at Tulagi, on 12 October 1942. On the night of 13/14 October 1942, PT-48 engaged a Japanese destroyer at . This Squadron saw action in the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and Funafuti. "PT-48" is today in need of major restoration, after having been cut down to and used as a dinner cruise boat. Because of this boat's extensive combat history, having survived 22 months in the combat zone at Guadalcanal (more time in combat than any other surviving PT boat), a preservation group, "Fleet Obsolete" of Kingston, New York, acquired and transported it to Rondout Creek in 2009 for eventual repair.


title: PT boat

text: One of two fully restored and operational PT boats and the only combat veteran of the two, "PT-305" ("Half Hitch", "Barfly", "USS Sudden Jerk") is a Higgins boat, assigned during the war to MTBRON-22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. Squadron 22 was operating with the British Royal Navy Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. In June 1945 the squadron was shipped to the U.S. for refitting and transfer to the Pacific, but the war ended while still in New York. "PT-305" was cut down to for use as an oyster seed boat in Crisfield, Maryland. "PT-305" was acquired by the Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM), and then sold in May 2007 to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. After a lengthy restoration "PT-305" has been restored to a seaworthy, operational vessel. It was relaunched in March 2017, and the museum is booking rides on Lake Pontchartrain on Saturdays, or static tours other days of the week.


title: PT boat

text: A Higgins, PT-309 ("Oh Frankie!") was assigned during the war to MTBRON 22, and saw action against the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron was operating under the British Coastal Forces, and saw action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France. In April 1945 the squadron was shipped to the U.S. for refitting and transfer to the Pacific, but the war ended while still in New York. Coincidentally, the "PT-309" ("Oh Frankie!"), was named in honor of Frank Sinatra, with whom the boats' Commanding Officer met at a nightclub shortly before MTBRON 22 left New York for the Mediterranean Theatre. "PT-309" is located at the National Museum of the Pacific War / Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas, and was restored by the (now defunct) Defenders of America Naval Museum (DOANM). "PT-309" is restored (but non-operational) in a static diorama display without engines installed. Her external restoration was completed by the Texas group in 2002, and is to a high standard.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-459" ("Mahogany Menace") a Higgins boat, was assigned to MTBRON 30 on 15 February 1944. MTBRON 30 saw action in the English Channel as part of the Invasion of Normandy. In late June 1945 the squadron was shipped to the U.S. for refitting and transfer to the Pacific, but the war ended while still in New York. After the war, the ex-PT459 was cut down to and highly modified into a sightseeing boat and fishing trawler. She was acquired by Fleet Obsolete in June 2008 and moved to Kingston, New York, for possible restoration.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-486", an Elco boat, was placed in service on 2 December 1943. It was used in the training squadron MTBRON 4 in Melville, Rhode Island, during World War II until it was placed out of service 16 January 1946. Along with PT-557, the vessel was purchased from BFM Industries (Brooklyn, NY) by Capt. George C. Sinn of Wildwood Crest, NJ on 9 October 1951 for $1,015.00. The vessel was sold in 1952 to Otto Stocker who operated the "Sightseer" as an excursion vessel from Otten's Harbor in Wildwood, New Jersey. The business was later sold to Capt. Charles Schumann in the 1980s. He named the vessel Schumann's "Big Blue" and ran the business until 2002. Remarkably, the PT486 was sold to the son of the original owner, Capt. Ronald G. Sinn, who in 2012 sold the boat to "Fleet Obsolete" of Kingston NY. Plans are for restoring the vessel to recreate the World War II appearance.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-615", an Elco originally assigned to MTBRON 42, was commissioned after the war ended. "PT-615" was returned to Elco after being sold and was heavily modified into a yacht, which was leased to actor Clark Gable. He named the boat "Tarbaby VI", and used her through the 1950s. The boat was serviced and stored by Elco. She was sold several times, and moved to Kingston, NY for possible restoration.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-617" is an Elco boat located at the Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was obtained from the backwaters of Florida and moved to its current location by JM "Boats" Newberry, the founder of PT Boats Inc. "Boats" along with the team at Battleship Cove Museum restored her during 1984–89, inside and out, at a cost of US$1 million. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee.


title: PT boat

text: The quality of the restoration was extremely high, and the boat is on display inside a weatherproof building, on blocks out of the water. She is available for public viewing, and has portions of her hull cut away to display the cramped interior of the crew's quarters. General visitors are not allowed inside the boat in order to help preserve her historic integrity.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-657", a Higgins boat, has been converted into a charter fishing boat. She is located in San Diego and is now named "Malihini".


title: PT boat

text: "PT-658" is a Higgins boat and one of two 100% authentically restored and operational U.S. Navy PT boats afloat today. Relaunched after hull restoration from 1995 to 2005, it is located at Pier 308, Vigor Shipyard in Portland, Oregon's Swan Island Lagoon. Maintained by an all volunteer group, it is powered by the three Packard V12 5M-2500 gas engines and includes all weapons, electronics, equipment and accessories restored to appear as they did the day the US Navy accepted the boat, 31 July 1945.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-724", a surviving Vosper built at the Annapolis Boat yard in Maryland, has been used as a yacht, and has since been acquired by the Liberty Aviation Museum to be restored back to original Vosper configuration.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-728", a surviving Vosper boat built under license at the Annapolis Boat Yard in Maryland, was restored in Key West, Florida. Her deck house was reconfigured to partially resemble an Elco instead of its original Vosper 70 ft configuration. "PT-728" was acquired by Fleet Obsolete and moved to Kingston. There "PT-728" allows up to 49 tourists the chance to ride on a "PT boat". This boat is the only U.S. Coast Guard regulation-approved PT boat licensed to take passengers for hire, and the only surviving U.S.-built Vosper design. In spring of 2012, "PT-728" was acquired by the Liberty Aircraft Museum of Port Clinton, OH for further restoration.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-766" is an Elco boat that is a private yacht ("Finished Business") located in Washington D.C. She represents the final class of Elco's with significant updates to the superstructure and radar and was intended for MTBRON 44, but was cancelled due to the end of the war.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-796" ("Tail Ender") is a Higgins. After the war ended PT-796 was used in the Key West/Miami area for experimental purposes. She was retired from service in the late 1950s. Shortly after her retirement from service, the "PT-796" was used as a float during President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade to represent "PT-109", with the "PT-109" hull number painted on the bow, and several of "PT-109"'s surviving crew members manning the boat. Today, "PT-796" is located at the Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts, in a Quonset hut-style building, protected from the weather, and up on blocks. The boat is owned by PT Boats, Inc., a World War II PT veterans organization headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee.


title: PT boat

text: Two of the experimental PT-Boats also still survive, "PT-3" (built by Fisher Boat Works) in New Jersey and "PT-8". "PT-3" was designed by George Crouch and employed lightweight planing hull construction methods. A barrel-back (which provided increased strength to the sides and deck), a unique double longitudinal planked (mahogany outer planking and Port Orford cedar inner planking) lightweight hull on bent laminated oak framing, she was the "featherweight" of transportable PT boat design, but was later rejected by the Navy during trials in 1941 after being deemed too short to carry 4 torpedoes, as well as being able to only launch torpedoes stern first, which was a procedure considered too dangerous by BuOrd. PT-3 and PT-8 were both part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 1 (MTBRON 1) during the testing period. After testing was completed, PT-3 was transferred to Canada in April 1941 under lend-lease. PT-3 served with the RCAF Fleet as the RCAF Bras d'Or M413 (B119) based at Eastern Air Command in Halifax. She was transferred back to the United States in April 1945. Now located in a New Jersey boatyard in awaiting restoration.


title: PT boat

text: "PT-8" (built at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard) in Louisiana was built entirely from aluminum but did not pass the speed acceptance criteria for use as a PT boat for the U.S. Navy due to its weight. She was reclassified as a harbor patrol boat (YP 110) for the duration of the war. PT-8 was stored in a yard for several decades in Baytown, TX, but has since moved.


title: PT boat

text: The two Vosper boats in England were built by Vosper itself, and the first is in fairly good condition at Portsmouth. The second UK built boat is in private hands, floating on a canal north of London and being used as a private residence, though it is remarkably intact in its World War II configuration.


title: PT boat

text: Ten Higgins boats were delivered in 1948 for use by the Argentine Navy during the late 1940s up until the late 1970s. All of these boats are now retired from naval use, with two still in civil use today as sightseeing boats on Mar del Plata: the "Leonardo da Vinci" and the "Mar de la Plata". The other six boats are in various states of disrepair, sunk or scrapped.


title: PT boat

text: The PT boat design was also exported after the end of the Second World War as an unarmed air-sea rescue launch for use by the South African Navy.


title: PT boat

text: Prior to starring in the television series this boat was purchased as war surplus by Howard Hughes and was used as the camera chase boat when the "Spruce Goose" made its only flight. The stern of the Vosper boat is visible in the footage of that event.


title: PT boat

text: In John Ford's 1945 war film, "They Were Expendable", two Elcos were used during filming along with four former MTBRON 14 78-foot Huckins.


title: PT boat

text: For the 1962 movie "PT-109", several USAF crash rescue boats were converted to resemble 80-foot Elcos when the few surviving boats were found to need too much work to make them seaworthy for use during the film.


title: Homogenic

text: Homogenic is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylistic change, focusing on similar-sounding music combining electronic beats and string instruments with songs in tribute to her native country Iceland.


title: Homogenic

text: "Homogenic" was originally to be produced in her home in London, but was halted due to media attention from Björk surviving a murder attempt by a stalker. She later relocated to Spain to record the album. It marked the first of several production collaborations between Björk and Bell, whom she would cite as a major influence on her musical career.


title: Homogenic

text: Upon its release, "Homogenic" received widespread critical acclaim. It topped the Icelandic albums chart, peaking at number 28 on the US "Billboard" 200 and number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The album produced five singles—"Jóga", "Bachelorette", "Hunter", "Alarm Call", and "All Is Full of Love"—and was further promoted with the Homogenic Tour (1997–1999). Retrospectively, "Homogenic" has continued receiving critical acclaim, being listed among the best albums of all time by numerous critics.


title: Homogenic

text: After an extensive tour in 1996, Björk returned to her home in Maida Vale with an urgent need to write new songs as a form of therapy. Björk would let audio engineer Markus Dravs into her home studio to start creating new songs. The sessions with Dravs and Björk were casual, with Björk allowing Dravs freedom with the album. Björk only left the studio to cook meals for the both of them. One of the first songs created during the sessions was "5 Years" which Dravs created the fast beat for. The progress of "Homogenic" in these sessions was halted due to a media sensation caused by the suicide of Björk's stalker Ricardo López. To deal with the stress of being at home during this incident, Björk imagined herself as the protagonist in a Spanish soap opera. The character's image inspired a song titled "So Broken" which she sang to herself in her kitchen. The song was later included on the Japanese import of the album.


title: Homogenic

text: To record in privacy away from the sudden unwanted media interest, Björk's tour drummer Trevor Morais offered his studio in Spain. Björk went to Málaga and arranged to meet with flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador. Björk had originally intended to stay in Málaga only briefly, but later decided to record the entirety of "Homogenic" there. Björk made a final trip out of the country before staying in Spain. As she had done since moving to London, Björk returned to Iceland for Christmas. While there, she wrote more new songs for "Homogenic", including "Jóga". Before returning to Spain to record, Björk was sidetracked by a two-week worldwide press tour for the promotion of her remix album "Telegram", which had just been released. After returning to the studio in Spain in late January, Björk decided to end work with producer Nellee Hooper, who had produced both "Debut" and "Post", as she felt they had "stopped surprising each other". Björk had intended to produce the album alone, but sought collaborators including Dravs, Howie B, Guy Sigsworth and LFO's Mark Bell. Howie B had worked with Björk on "Debut" and "Post" and Sigsworth had played harpsichord on "Post". The American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan almost contributed to the production of "Homogenic", but were unable due to their production on the album "Wu-Tang Forever", which had taken longer than planned. Most of the melodies on the album were created by Björk, who then composed string sections on a Casio keyboard and brought them to programmers who would add rhythmic patterns. Björk had wanted to have Mark Bell contribute to her albums "Debut" and "Post"; Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "Pluto", "Alarm Call", and the bassline in "Jóga". Björk stated that she "trusts and respects what [Bell] does for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell". Other unorthodox methods of recording were used during the production, including Björk wanting to record outside on the porch and using non-professionals to help with production, such as Rebecca Storey, who was hired as a babysitter but added to the production staff after showing interest in the equipment.


title: Homogenic

text: String arrangements were added late in the recording process. Björk had friend Eumir Deodato conduct, transcribe and compose original pieces for the few songs that Björk did not arrange for herself. To keep with the Icelandic theme of the album, Björk ordered the services of the Icelandic String Octet. By June 1997, the album was behind schedule and Björk was uncertain of the final track listing and unhappy with some of the recorded vocals.


title: Homogenic

text: "Homogenic" is an electronica, trip hop, art pop, glitch and experimental album. Before production began on "Homogenic", Björk wanted to create an album with "a simple sound" and "only one flavour". Heather Phares of AllMusic described the sound of "Homogenic" as a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica". The album differs from her previous two releases stylistically, and Neva Chonin of "Rolling Stone" stated the album was "certain to be rough going for fans looking for the sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases". As with other Björk releases, it has been difficult for critics to classify "Homogenic" within a musical genre. "Tiny Mix Tapes" considered that "Björk has managed to create something so refreshingly unique that trying to categorize and label the music is rather dubious." Writing for "Beats Per Minute", Cole Zercoe felt "Homogenic" represented a pinnacle work of trip hop, forming part of "a sort of holy trinity of this musical aesthetic" along with Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" and Portishead's "Dummy".


title: Homogenic

text: Björk wanted "Homogenic" to have a conceptual focus on her native Iceland. Producer Markus Dravs recalled Björk wanting it to sound like "rough volcanoes with soft moss growing all over it..." In an interview for "Oor", Björk explained that "in Iceland, everything revolves around nature, 24 hours a day. Earthquakes, snowstorms, rain, ice, volcanic eruptions, geysers... Very elementary and uncontrollable. But at the other hand, Iceland is incredibly modern; everything is hi-tech. The number of people owning a computer is as high as nowhere else in the world. That contradiction is also on "Homogenic". The electronic beats are the rhythm, the heartbeat. The violins create the old-fashioned atmosphere, the colouring."


title: Homogenic

text: Björk's vocals on "Homogenic" range from primitive-sounding screams to a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men, a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song "Unravel". The majority of songs on "Homogenic" have lyrics about love and failed relationships. The song "Jóga" was written as a tribute to her best friend and tour masseuse of the same name. Björk called "All is Full of Love" a song about "believing in love" and that "Love isn't just about two persons. It's everywhere around you". "All Neon Like" contains snippets of a poem Björk wrote called "Techno Prayer" in 1996. The song "5 Years" appeared in live form a few weeks after her breakup with musician Tricky and music journalists considered it a response to it. "Bachelorette" was originally written for director Bernardo Bertolucci for his film "Stealing Beauty". Björk later faxed Bertolucci, informing him the song would be used for her album instead. "Bachelorette" and "Jóga" were written with Icelandic poet Sjón, because Björk wanted to use epic lyrics. "Immature" was written about mistakes in past relationships, shortly after the breakup with Goldie. Björk described "Pluto" as about "being plastered, that need to destroy everything so you can start again". "Unravel" is a song about lamenting love, with brief flashes of hope.


title: Homogenic

text: The album's production began with the working title of "Homogeneous", but Björk changed it to "Homogenic" shortly afterwards. Björk wanted to create an album with "a simple sound" and "only one flavour", hence the title. The title has also been speculated to be suggesting the concept of home, which Björk had said to be incorporating into "Homogenic" in an interview with Jam!:


title: Homogenic

text: The themes of "Homogenic" are reflected in the album cover designed by Alexander McQueen. According to McQueen biographer Andrew Wilson, Björk approached McQueen after seeing the futuristic image of model Devon Aoki in the February 1997 edition of Visionaire. Dressed by McQueen and photographed by Nick Knight, who shot the "Homogenic" cover as well, Aoki wears a pink funnel-necked dress with her skin cast in a blueish metallic hue, one eyeball blankly white, a large safety pin closing a slash through her forehead, and her hair pulled into tight buns as she challenges the camera with a direct gaze.


title: Homogenic

text: Björk explained her vision for the "Homogenic" cover, which carries a resemblance to "someone who is put into an impossible situation, so impossible that she has to become a warrior. A warrior who has to fight not with weapons, but with love. I had 10 kilos of hair on my head, and special contact lenses and a manicure that prevented me from eating with my fingers, and gaffer tape around my waist and high clogs so I couldn't walk easily."


title: Homogenic

text: The album was released later than One Little Indian Records had intended. Björk was behind schedule and the album's cover design by Nick Knight needed a reshoot. Towards the end of August 1997, One Little Indian delayed the album by a month. "Homogenic" was released on 22 September 1997 on One Little Indian in the United Kingdom and on September 23 Elektra Records in North America on compact disc and cassette. The album was later issued on vinyl and DualDisc formats. The Japanese version of "Homogenic" included several bonus tracks and remixed versions of songs. The DualDisc release featured the full album on the CD side and the DVD side included the album with superior sound quality and the music videos for the singles.


title: Homogenic

text: Promotion of "Homogenic" started on 8 June 1997, when Björk performed several songs from the album at the Tibetan Freedom Concert held at Downing Stadium in New York City. The album was launched on 15 July at the Old Truman Brewery in London. In the United Kingdom, Björk performed the lead single "Jóga" on "TFI Friday" on 19 September, and "Top of the Pops" on 3 October. She performed the second single "Bachelorette" on the American sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" on 18 October, at the 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards on 6 November, on "Later... with Jools Holland" with "Jóga" and "Hunter" on 29 November, and again in the United States on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on 22 May 1998. In France, Björk performed "Bachelorette" with "Jóga" on "Nulle Part Ailleurs" on 11 February, and with "Hunter" on "Hit Machine" on 20 June. She performed the fourth single "Alarm Call" on "" on 5 December.


title: Homogenic

text: When the release of "Homogenic" was delayed by a month, its tour began with the audience not being familiar with the album's songs since it had not been released yet. The tour started at the beginning of September with a backing band that consisted only of Mark Bell and made stops in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, and England. These shows were brief live shows lasting about half an hour consisting of only new material. Another tour took place in late October and lasted less than four weeks. Stops on this tour included Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, and Denmark. In late November, Björk was diagnosed with a kidney infection and while she was still healthy she was advised to take a three-week rest and was forced to cancel her American tour. In 1998, a North American tour with Radiohead was announced but canceled later due to difficulty of changing the stage between performances of the acts. Björk had another tour in the middle of 1998 through Europe, and outside of the continent through other countries, including Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Opening acts for portions of the tour included electronic musician μ-Ziq.


title: Homogenic

text: "Jóga" was released as the lead single from "Homogenic" on 15 September 1997 to widespread critical acclaim. It peaked atop the Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 in Iceland, while reaching the top 20 in Finland. Due to its formats, it was initially ineligible to enter the UK Singles Chart, but later peaked at number 191. Its mostly computer-animated accompanying music video was directed by Michel Gondry and focuses primarily on different Icelandic terrains and landscapes with Björk's presence only in the beginning and towards the end.


title: Homogenic

text: "Bachelorette" was released as the second single on 8 December. While less successful than "Jóga" in Björk's native Iceland, peaking at number six, it was an improvement from "Jóga" in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at numbers 21 and two on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively. Gondry returned to direct the music video for "Bachelorette", which features Björk as Bachelorette, a woman who finds a book titled "My Story" buried in her garden which begins to write itself, describing what Bachelorette does as she describes it. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.


title: Homogenic

text: "Hunter" was released as the third single on 5 October 1998. Despite being critically acclaimed, it was a commercial failure, as it peaked only at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. Its accompanying music video, directed by Paul White, features a close-up of a bald Björk singing into the camera as she morphs into a polar bear and then back to her original state.


title: Homogenic

text: "Alarm Call" was originally scheduled for release as the third single, but switched places with "Hunter". It was released as the fourth single on 30 November 1998 and returned Björk to the top ten of Íslenski Listinn Topp 40, as its French mix peaked at number ten. In the UK, the song peaked at numbers 33 and three on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Alexander McQueen, who designed the cover artwork for "Homogenic", and features Björk floating on a raft on a river in the jungle and her scenes are intercut with footage of snakes, crocodiles, and other animals, with Björk playing with them.


title: Homogenic

text: "All Is Full of Love" was released as the fifth and final single on 7 June 1999. DVD single was simultaneously released; some publications regard it as the first DVD single release ever. Critically acclaimed, the song peaked at numbers 24 and three on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively. It became the only single from "Homogenic" to enter a chart in the United States, peaking at number eight on the Dance/Electronic Singles Sales chart. Directed by Chris Cunningham, the song's music video depicts Björk as a robot being assembled in a factory, who passionately kisses another robot. The video is often cited as one of the best of all time and a milestone in computer animation; it has been displayed in art exhibitions and was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.


title: Homogenic

text: "Homogenic" received widespread acclaim from critics. David Browne of "Entertainment Weekly" stated that ""Homogenic" could have been stuffy and dull — Sting with a sex-change operation. It's a testament to Bjork's continued weirdness that even overtures toward adulthood come out delightfully skewed". Neva Chonin of "Rolling Stone" cited it as "one of the boldest – and most exciting – albums of the year", while "Los Angeles Times" critic Richard Cromelin wrote that it "affirms [Björk's] stature as one of pop music's most uncompromising adventurers". "NME"s Ted Kessler praised "Homogenic" as Björk's best album and "her most emotional, highly charged and groovy record, as well as a stinging triumph for the spirit of adventure." A more negative review came from Stephen Thompson of "The A.V. Club", who said ""Homogenic" is stylish enough, and it's as restlessly creative as you'd expect, but the album rarely gives Björk's songs a chance to assert themselves".


title: Homogenic

text: American critics rated "Homogenic" highly in year-end polls. In "The Village Voice"'s Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1997, the album placed at number nine. "Spin" ranked the album at number four on their list of "Top 20 Albums of the Year". British critics listed the album in similar polls, with "Melody Maker" ranking the album at number 33 on their list of "Albums of the Year" and "NME" placing the album at number 15 in its critics' poll.


title: Homogenic

text: "Homogenic" was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Performance category at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards (1998), losing to Radiohead's "OK Computer". Michel Gondry's music video for "Bachelorette" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards (1999), but lost to Jonas Åkerlund's video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light". At the next year's ceremony, Chris Cunningham's music video for the song "All Is Full of Love" was nominated to the same award, but lost to the video for Korn's song Freak on a Leash. "Homogenic" landed Björk the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist at the 1998 ceremony, which she accepted stating "I am grateful grapefruit".


title: Homogenic

text: "Homogenic" debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart on 4 October 1997, spending 17 weeks on the chart. It debuted at number six on the Australian Albums Chart on 12 October 1997, but descended to number 45 after five weeks on the chart. The album debuted at number eight on the New Zealand Albums Chart on 12 October 1997, and peaked at number six the following week, but descended after six weeks on the chart.


title: Homogenic

text: In the United States, "Homogenic" debuted at number 28 on the "Billboard" 200, spending a total of nine weeks inside the chart, where its final position was at number 164. The album was certified gold on 1 August 2001 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies. "Homogenic" debuted at twenty on the Canadian Albums Chart, becoming Björk's first album to enter the chart but spent only one week there. It was certified gold by the Music Canada on 12 June 1998.


title: Homogenic

text: In the years following its release, "Homogenic" has continued to receive acclaim from critics, audiences and musicians. In a retrospective review, Heather Phares of AllMusic cited "Homogenic" as being more emotionally deep than any of Björk's previous work and called it a "seamless fusion of chilly strings, stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like an accordion and glass harmonica." In 2002, "Homogenic" placed at number ten on "Slant Magazine"s list of "The Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century". In 2003, it was placed at number 21 on the music webzine "Pitchfork"s list of the top one hundred albums of the 1990s, in which it was praised as "one of the most perfectly formed records of any era, and it is entirely possible that Björk will never approach this level of consistently enrapturing beauty again". In 2007, "Slant Magazine" critic Sal Cinquemani wrote that "if not the greatest electronic album of all time, it's certainly the greatest of its decade". The same year, "Spin" writer Phoebe Reilly called it Björk's "most sublime and vulnerable album" in a career retrospective. In 2011, "Slant Magazine" placed the album at number one on their list of best albums of the 1990s. In 2017, Philip Sherburne of "Pitchfork" observed that it "showcased a newly focused side of the musician while embracing all of her most provocative contradictions." In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked the album at number 202 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.


title: Homogenic

text: According to "Tiny Mix Tapes", "Homogenic" is "one of the most groundbreaking albums of all-time, an album that assuredly caused countless hearts to soar." With "Homogenic", Björk has been credited for connecting art pop to electronic dance music. Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork described the album as impactful on Björk's own discography, stating: "In retrospect, it's easy to see the way that "Homogenic" paves the way for later career triumphs like "Vespertine" and "Vulnicura": In its formal audacity and sustained emotional intensity, it represents a phase shift from "Debut" and "Post", fine though they were." In an interview with "Spin", Radiohead singer Thom Yorke called the song "Unravel" "one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard." The band would cover the song as part of a 2007 live webcast. Their guitarist Ed O'Brien claimed Björk inspired them to change their musical style for their fourth studio album "Kid A" (2000), stating: "I think we've all been a bit envious about the way Björk has been able to reinvent music." "Homogenic" has also been noted to have had influence on Kanye West by various sources, as he departed hip hop in favor of a more experimental sound for his fourth studio album "808s & Heartbreak" (2008).


title: War elephant

text: A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant-mounted troops.


title: War elephant

text: War elephants played a critical role in several key battles in antiquity, especially in Ancient India. While seeing limited and periodic use in Ancient China, they became a permanent fixture in armies of historical kingdoms in Southeast Asia. During classical antiquity they were also used in ancient Persia and in the Mediterranean world within armies of Macedon, Hellenistic Greek states, the Roman Republic and later Empire, and Carthage in North Africa. In some regions they maintained a firm presence on the battlefield throughout the Middle Ages. However, their use declined with the spread of firearms and other gunpowder weaponry in early modern warfare. After this, war elephants became restricted to non-combat engineering and labour roles, as well as being used for minor ceremonial uses. They continued to be used in combat, however, in some parts of the world, such as in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam, well into the 19th century.


title: War elephant

text: An elephant trainer, rider, or keeper is called a mahout. Mahouts were responsible for capturing and handling elephants. To accomplish this, they utilize metal chains and a specialized hook called an "ankus", or 'elephant goad'. According to Chanakya as recorded in the "Arthashastra", first the mahout would have to get the elephant used to being led. The elephant would have learned how to raise its legs to help a rider climb on. Then the elephants were taught to run and maneuver around obstacles, and move in formation. These elephants would be fit to learn how to systematically trample and charge enemies.


title: War elephant

text: The first elephant species to be tamed was the Asian elephant, for use in agriculture. Elephant taming – not full domestication, as they are still captured in the wild, rather than being bred in captivity – may have begun in any of three different places. The oldest evidence comes from the Indus Valley civilization, around roughly 2000 BC. Archaeological evidence for the presence of wild elephants in the Yellow River valley in Shang China () may suggest that they also used elephants in warfare. The wild elephant populations of Mesopotamia and China declined quickly because of deforestation and human population growth: by 850 BC the Mesopotamian elephants were extinct, and by 500 BC the Chinese elephants were seriously reduced in numbers and limited to areas well south of the Yellow River.


title: War elephant

text: Capturing elephants from the wild remained a difficult task, but a necessary one given the difficulties of breeding in captivity and the long time required for an elephant to reach sufficient maturity to engage in battle. Sixty-year-old war elephants were always prized as being at the most suitable age for battle service and gifts of elephants of this age were seen as particularly generous. Today an elephant is considered in its prime and at the height of its power between the ages of 25 and 40, yet elephants as old as 80 are used in tiger hunts because they are more disciplined and experienced.


title: War elephant

text: It is commonly thought that all war elephants were male because of males' greater aggression, but it is rather because a female elephant in battle will run from a male; therefore only males could be used in war, whereas female elephants were more commonly used for logistics.


title: War elephant

text: There is uncertainty as to when elephant warfare first started, but it is widely accepted that it began in ancient India. The early Vedic period did not extensively specify the use of elephants in war. However, in the Ramayana, Indra is depicted as riding either Airavata, a mythological elephant, or on the Uchchaihshravas, as his mounts. Elephants were widely utilized in warfare by the later Vedic period by the 6th century BC. The increased conscription of elephants in the military history of India coincides with the expansion of the Vedic Kingdoms into the Indo-Gangetic Plain suggesting its introduction during the intervening period. The practice of riding on elephants in peace and war was common among Aryans and non-Aryans, royalty or commoner, in the 6th or 5th century BC. This practice is believed to be much older than proper recorded history.


title: War elephant

text: The ancient Indian epics "Ramayana" and "Mahābhārata", dating from 5th–4th century BC, elaborately depict elephant warfare. They are recognized as an essential component of royal and military processions. In ancient India, initially, the army was fourfold ("chaturanga"), consisting of infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. Kings and princes principally ride on chariots, which was considered the most royal, while seldom ride the back of elephants. Although viewed as secondary to chariots by royalty, elephants were the preferred vehicle of warriors, especially the elite ones. While the chariots eventually fell into disuse, the other three arms continued to be valued. Many characters in the epic "Mahābhārata" were trained in the art. According to the rules of engagement set for the Kurukshetra War two men were to duel utilizing the same weapon and mount including elephants. In the "Mahābhārata" the akshauhini battle formation consists of a ratio of 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 cavalry : 5 infantry soldiers. Many characters in the "Mahābhārata" were described as skilled in the art of elephant warfare e.g. Duryodhana rides an elephant into battle to bolster the demoralized Kaurava army. Scriptures like the "Nikāya" and "Vinaya Pitaka" assign elephants in their proper place in the organization of an army. The "Samyutta Nikaya" additionally mentions the Gautama Buddha being visited by a 'hatthāroho gāmaṇi'. He is the head of a village community bound together by their profession as mercenary soldiers forming an elephant corp.


title: War elephant

text: Ancient Indian kings certainly valued the elephant in war, some stating that an army without elephants is as despicable as a forest without a lion, a kingdom without a king, or as valor unaided by weapons. The use of elephants further increased with the rise of the Mahajanapadas. King Bimbisara (), who began the expansion of the Magadha kingdom, relied heavily on his war elephants. The Mahajanapadas would be conquered by the Nanda Empire under the reign of Mahapadma Nanda. Pliny the Elder and Plutarch also estimated the Nanda Army strength in the east as 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 war elephants. Alexander the Great would come in contact with the Nanda Empire on the banks of the Beas River and was forced to return due to his army's unwillingness to advance. Even if the numbers and prowess of these elephants were exaggerated by historic accounts, elephants were established firmly as war machines in this period.


title: War elephant

text: Chandragupta Maurya (321–297 BC), formed the Maurya Empire, the largest empire to exist in South Asia. At the height of his power, Chandragupta is said to have wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots and 9,000 war elephants besides followers and attendants.


title: War elephant

text: In the Mauryan Empire, the 30-member war office was made up of six boards. The sixth board looked after the elephants, and were headed by "Gajadhyaksha". The "gajadhyaksha" was the superintendent of elephants and his qualifications. The use of elephants in the Maurya Empire as recorded by Chanakya in the "Arthashastra". According to Chanakya; catching, training, and controlling war elephants was one of the most important skills taught by the military academies. He advised Chandragupta to setup forested sanctuaries for the wellness of the elephants. Chanakya explicitly conveyed the importance of these sanctuaries. The Maurya Empire would reach its zenith under the reign of Ashoka, who used elephants extensively during his conquest. During the Kalinga War, Kalinga had a standing army of 60,000 infantry, 1000 cavalry and 700 war elephants. Kalinga was notable for the quality of their war elephants which were prized by its neighbors for being stronger. Later the King Kharavela was to restore an independent Kalinga into a powerful kingdom using war elephants as stated in the Hathigumpha inscription or "Elephant Cave" Inscriptions.


title: War elephant

text: The Cholas of Tamil Nadu also had a very strong elephant force. The Chola emperor Rajendra Chola had an armored elephant force, which played a major role in his campaigns.


title: War elephant

text: Elephants were used for warfare in China by a small handful of southern dynasties. The state of Chu used elephants in 506 BC against Wu by tying torches to their tails and sending them into the ranks of the enemy soldiers, but the attempt failed. In December 554 AD, the Liang dynasty used armoured war elephants, carrying towers, against Western Wei. They were defeated by a volley of arrows. The Southern Han dynasty is the only state in Chinese history to have kept a permanent corps of war elephants. These elephants were able to carry a tower with some ten people on their backs. They were used successfully during the Han invasion of Ma Chu in 948. In 970, the Song dynasty invaded Southern Han and their crossbowmen readily routed the Han elephants on 23 January 971, during the taking of Shao. That was the last time elephants were used in Chinese warfare, although the Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) did keep a herd of elephants capable of carrying a tower and eight men, which he showed to his guests in 1598. These elephants were probably not native to China and were delivered to the Ming dynasty by Southeast Asian countries such as Siam. During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the rebels used elephants against the Qing dynasty, but the Qing Bannermen shot them with so many arrows that they "resembled porcupines" and repelled the elephant charge.


title: War elephant

text: Chinese armies faced off against war elephants in Southeast Asia, such as during the Sui–Lâm Ấp war (605), Lý–Song War (1075–1077), Ming–Mong Mao War (1386–1388), and Ming–Hồ War (1406–1407). In 605, the Champa kingdom of Lâm Ấp in what is now southern Vietnam used elephants against the invading army of China's Sui dynasty. The Sui army dug pits and lured the elephants into them and shot them with crossbows, causing the elephants to turn back and trample their own army. In 1075, the Song defeated elephants deployed on the borderlands of Đại Việt during the Lý–Song War. The Song forces used scythed polearms to cut the elephants' trunks, causing them to trample their own troops. During the Mong Mao campaign, the elephants were routed by an assortment of gunpowder projectiles. In the war against the Hồ dynasty, Ming troops covered their horses with lion masks to scare the elephants and shot them with firearms. The elephants all trembled with fear and were wounded by the gun arrows, causing the Viet army to panic.


title: War elephant

text: From India, military thinking on the use of war elephants spread westwards to the Persian Achaemenid Empire, where they were used in several campaigns. They in turn came to influence the campaigns of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia in Hellenistic Greece. The first confrontation between Europeans and the Persian war elephants occurred at Alexander's Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC), where the Persians deployed fifteen elephants. These elephants were placed at the centre of the Persian line and made such an impression on Alexander's army that he felt the need to sacrifice to Phobos, the God of Fear, the night before the battle – but according to some sources the elephants ultimately failed to deploy in the final battle owing to their long march the day before. Alexander won resoundingly at Gaugamela, but was deeply impressed by the enemy elephants and took these first fifteen into his own army, adding to their number during his capture of the rest of Persia.


title: War elephant

text: By the time Alexander reached the borders of India five years later, he had a substantial number of elephants under his own command. When it came to defeating Porus, who ruled in what is now Punjab, Pakistan, Alexander found himself facing a considerable force of between 85 and 100 war elephants at the Battle of the Hydaspes. Preferring stealth and mobility to sheer force, Alexander manoeuvered and engaged with just his infantry and cavalry, ultimately defeating Porus' forces, including his elephant corps, albeit at some cost. Porus for his part placed his elephants individually, at long intervals from each other, a short distance in front of his main infantry line, in order to scare off Macedonian cavalry attacks and aid his own infantry in their struggle against the phalanx. The elephants caused many losses with their tusks fitted with iron spikes or by lifting the enemies with their trunks and trampling them.


title: War elephant

text: Arrian described the subsequent fight: "[W]herever the beasts could wheel around, they rushed forth against the ranks of infantry and demolished the phalanx of the Macedonians, dense as it was."


title: War elephant

text: The Macedonians adopted the standard ancient tactic for fighting elephants, loosening their ranks to allow the elephants to pass through and assailing them with javelins as they tried to wheel around; they managed to pierce the unarmoured elephants' legs. The panicked and wounded elephants turned on the Indians themselves; the mahouts were armed with poisoned rods to kill the beasts but were slain by javelins and archers.


title: War elephant

text: Looking further east again, however, Alexander could see that the kings of the Nanda Empire and Gangaridai could deploy between 3,000 and 6,000 war elephants. Such a force was many times larger than the number of elephants employed by the Persians and Greeks, which probably discouraged Alexander's army and effectively halted their advance into India. On his return, Alexander established a force of elephants to guard his palace at Babylon, and created the post of "elephantarch" to lead his elephant units.


title: War elephant

text: The successful military use of elephants spread further. The successors to Alexander's empire, the Diadochi, used hundreds of Indian elephants in their wars, with the Seleucid Empire being particularly notable for their use of the animals, still being largely brought from India. Indeed, the Seleucid–Mauryan war of 305–303 BC ended with the Seleucids ceding vast eastern territories in exchange for 500 war elephants – a small part of the Mauryan forces, which included up to 9000 elephants by some accounts. The Seleucids put their new elephants to good use at the Battle of Ipsus four years later, where they blocked the return of the victorious Antigonid cavalry, allowing the latter's phalanx to be isolated and defeated.


title: War elephant

text: The first use of war elephants in Europe was made in 318 BC by Polyperchon, one of Alexander's generals, when he besieged Megalopolis in the Peloponnesus during the wars of the Diadochi. He used 60 elephants brought from Asia with their mahouts. A veteran of Alexander's army, named Damis, helped the besieged Megalopolitians to defend themselves against the elephants and eventually Polyperchon was defeated. Those elephants were subsequently taken by Cassander and transported, partly by sea, to other battlefields in Greece. It is assumed that Cassander constructed the first elephant transport sea vessels. Some of the elephants died of starvation in 316 BC in the besieged city of Pydna in Macedonia. Others of Polyperchon's elephants were used in various parts of Greece by Cassander.


title: War elephant

text: Although the use of war elephants in the western Mediterranean is most famously associated with the wars between Carthage and Roman Republic, the introduction of war elephants there was primarily the result of an invasion by Hellenistic era Epirus across the Adriatic Sea. King Pyrrhus of Epirus brought twenty elephants to attack Roman Italy at the battle of Heraclea in 280 BC, leaving some fifty additional animals, on loan from Ptolemaic Pharaoh Ptolemy II, on the mainland. The Romans were unprepared for fighting elephants, and the Epirot forces routed the Romans. The next year, the Epirots again deployed a similar force of elephants, attacking the Romans at the battle of Asculum. This time the Romans came prepared with flammable weapons and anti-elephant devices: these were ox-drawn wagons, equipped with long spikes to wound the elephants, pots of fire to scare them, and accompanying screening troops who would hurl javelins at the elephants to drive them away. A final charge of Epirot elephants won the day again, but this time Pyrrhus had suffered very heavy casualties – a Pyrrhic victory.


title: War elephant

text: The Seleucid king Antiochus V Eupator, whose father and he vied with Ptolemaic Egypt's ruler Ptolemy VI over the control of Syria, invaded Judea in 161 BC with eighty elephants (others say thirty-two), some clad with armored breastplates, in an attempt to subdue the Jews who had sided with Ptolemy. In the ensuing battle, near certain mountainous straights adjacent to Beth Zachariah, Eleazar the Hasmonaean attacked the largest of the elephants, piercing its underside and bringing the elephant down upon himself.


title: War elephant

text: The Ptolemaic Egypt and the Punics began acquiring African elephants for the same purpose, as did Numidia and the Kingdom of Kush. The animal used was the North African elephant ("Loxodonta africana pharaohensis") which would become extinct from overexploitation. These animals were smaller and harder to tame, and could not swim deep rivers compared with the Asian elephants used by the Seleucid Empire on the east of the Mediterranean region, particularly Syrian elephants, which stood at the shoulder. It is likely that at least some Syrian elephants were traded abroad. The favorite, and perhaps last surviving, elephant of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps was an impressive animal named "Surus" ("the Syrian"), which may have been of Syrian stock, though the evidence remains ambiguous.


title: War elephant

text: Since the late 1940s, a strand of scholarship has argued that the African forest elephants used by Numidia, the Ptolemies and the military of Carthage did not carry howdahs or turrets in combat, perhaps owing to the physical weakness of the species. Some allusions to turrets in ancient literature are certainly anachronistic or poetic invention, but other references are less easily discounted. There is explicit contemporary testimony that the army of Juba I of Numidia included turreted elephants in 46 BC. This is confirmed by the image of a turreted African elephant used on the coinage of Juba II. This also appears to be the case with Ptolemaic armies: Polybius reports that at the battle of Raphia in 217 BC the elephants of Ptolemy IV carried turrets; these elephants were significantly smaller than the Asian elephants fielded by the Seleucids and so presumably African forest elephants. There is also evidence that Carthaginian war elephants were furnished with turrets and howdahs in certain military contexts.


title: War elephant

text: Farther south, tribes would have had access to the African savanna elephant ("Loxodonta africana oxyotis"). Although much larger than either the African forest elephant or the Asian elephant, these proved difficult to tame for war purposes and were not used extensively. Some Asian elephants were traded westwards to the Mediterranean markets; Pliny the Elder stated that the Sri Lankan elephants, for example, were larger, fiercer and better for war than local elephants. This superiority, as well as the proximity of the supply to seaports, made Sri Lanka's elephants a lucrative trading commodity. Sri Lankan history records indicate elephants were used as mounts for kings leading their men in the battlefield, with individual mounts being recorded in history. The elephant Kandula was King Dutugamunu's mount and Maha Pambata, 'Big Rock', the mount of King Ellalan during their historic encounter on the battlefield in 200 BC, for example.


title: War elephant

text: Perhaps inspired by the victories of Pyrrhus of Epirus, Carthage developed its own use of war elephants and deployed them extensively during the First and Second Punic Wars. The performance of the Carthaginian elephant corps was rather mixed, illustrating the need for proper tactics to take advantage of the elephant's strength and cover its weaknesses. At Adyss in 255 BC, the Carthaginian elephants were ineffective due to the terrain, while at the battle of Panormus in 251 BC the Romans' velites were able to terrify the Carthaginian elephants being used unsupported, which fled from the field. At the battle of Tunis however the charge of the Carthaginian elephants helped to disorder the legions, allowing the Carthaginian phalanx to stand fast and defeat the Romans. During the Second Punic War, Hannibal famously led an army of war elephants across the Alps, although many of them perished in the harsh conditions. The surviving elephants were successfully used in the battle of Trebia, where they panicked the Roman cavalry and Gallic allies. The Romans eventually developed effective anti-elephant tactics, leading to Hannibal's defeat at his final battle of Zama in 202 BC; his elephant charge, unlike the one at the battle of Tunis, was ineffective because the disciplined Roman maniples simply made way for them to pass.


title: War elephant

text: Rome brought back many elephants at the end of the Punic Wars, and used them in its campaigns for many years afterwards. The conquest of Greece saw many battles in which the Romans deployed war elephants, including the invasion of Macedonia in 199 BC, the battle of Cynoscephalae 197 BC, the battle of Thermopylae, and the battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, during which Antiochus III's fifty-four elephants took on the Roman force of sixteen. In later years the Romans deployed twenty-two elephants at Pydna in 168 BC. The role of the elephant force at Cynoscephalae was particularly decisive, as their quick charge shattered the unformed Macedonian left wing, allowing the Romans to encircle and destroy the victorious Macedonian right. A similar event also occurred at Pydna. The Romans' successful use of war elephants against the Macedonians might be considered ironic, given that it was Pyrrhus who first taught them the military potential of elephants.


title: War elephant

text: Elephants also featured throughout the Roman campaign against the Lusitanians and Celtiberians in Hispania. During the Second Celtiberian War, Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was helped by ten elephants sent by king Masinissa of Numidia. He deployed them against the Celtiberian forces of Numantia, but a falling stone hit one of the elephants, which panicked and frightened the rest, turning them against the Roman forces. After the subsequent Celtiberian counterattack, the Romans were forced to withdraw. Later, Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus marched against Viriathus with another ten elephants sent by king Micipsa. However, the Lusitanian style of ambushes in narrow terrains ensured his elephants did not play an important factor in the conflict, and Servilianus was eventually defeated by Viriathus in the city of Erisana.


title: War elephant

text: Famously, the Romans used a war elephant in their first invasion of Britain, one ancient writer recording that "Caesar had one large elephant, which was equipped with armor and carried archers and slingers in its tower. When this unknown creature entered the river, the Britons and their horses fled and the Roman army crossed over" – although he may have confused this incident with the use of a similar war elephant in Claudius' final conquest of Britain. At least one elephantine skeleton with flint weapons that has been found in England was initially misidentified as these elephants, but later dating proved it to be a mammoth skeleton from the Stone Age.


title: War elephant

text: In the African campaign of the Roman civil war of 49–45 BC, the army of Metellus Scipio used elephants against Caesar's army at the battle of Thapsus. Scipio trained his elephants before the battle by aligning the elephants in front of slingers that would throw rocks at them, and another line of slingers at the elephants' rear to perform the same, in order to propel the elephants only in one direction, preventing them turning their backs because of frontal attack and charging against his own lines, but the author of De Bello Africano admits of the enormous effort and time required to accomplish this.


title: War elephant

text: By the time of Claudius however, such animals were being used by the Romans in single numbers only – the last significant use of war elephants in the Mediterranean was against the Romans at the battle of Thapsus, 46 BC, where Julius Caesar armed his fifth legion ("Alaudae") with axes and commanded his legionaries to strike at the elephant's legs. The legion withstood the charge, and the elephant became its symbol. Thapsus was the last significant use of elephants in the West. The remainder of the elephants seemed to have been thrown into panic by Caesar's archers and slingers.


title: War elephant

text: The Parthian Empire occasionally used war elephants in their battles against the Roman Empire but elephants were of substantial importance in the army of the subsequent Sassanid Empire. The Sasanian war elephants are recorded in engagements against the Romans, such as during Julian's invasion of Persia. Other examples include the Battle of Vartanantz in 451 AD, at which the Sassanid elephants terrified the Armenians, and the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah of 636 AD, in which a unit of thirty-three elephants was used against the invading Arab Muslims, in which battle the war elephants proved to be "double-edged sword".


title: War elephant

text: The Sassanid elephant corps held primacy amongst the Sassanid cavalry forces and was recruited from India. The elephant corps was under a special chief, known as the "Zend−hapet", literally meaning "Commander of the Indians", either because the animals came from that country, or because they were managed by natives of Hindustan. The Sassanid elephant corps was never on the same scale as others further east, however, and after the fall of the Sassanid Empire the use of war elephants died out in the region.


title: War elephant

text: The Kingdom of Aksum in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea made use of war elephants in 525 AD during the invasion of the Himyarite Kingdom in the Arabian peninsula. The war elephants used by the Aksumite army consisted of African savannah elephants, a significantly larger and more temperamental species of elephant. War elephants were again put to use by an Aksumite army in the year 570 in a military expedition against the Quraysh of Mecca.


title: War elephant

text: The Kushan Empire conquered most of Northern India. The empire adopted war elephants when levying troops as they expanded into the Indian subcontinent. The Weilüe describes how the population of Eastern India rode elephants into battle, but currently they provide military service and taxes to the Yuezhi (Kushans). The Hou Hanshu additionally describes the Kushan as acquiring riches including elephants as part of their conquests. The emperor Kanishka assembled a great army from his subject nations, including elephants from India. He planned on attacking the Tarim Kingdoms, and sent a vanguard of Indian troops led by white elephants. However, when crossing the Pamir Mountains the elephants and horses in the vanguard were unwilling to advance. Kanishka is then said to have had a religious revelation and rejected violence.


title: War elephant

text: The Gupta Empire demonstrated extensive use of elephants in war and greatly expanded under the reign of Samudragupta. Local squads which each consisted of one elephant, one chariot, three armed cavalrymen, and five foot soldiers protected Gupta villages from raids and revolts. In times of war, the squads joined together to form a powerful royal army. The Gupta Empire employed 'Mahapilupati', a position as an officer in charge of elephants. Emperors such as Kumaragupta struck coins depicted as elephant riders and lion slayers.