Storm Boats

[John Sliz]

Hello,

I am looking for the plans for the 1940s military version of the Storm boat that the U.S. Army used. I know that the S.B. used a 50 hp Evinrude outboard motor and I have the manual for that. What seems to be lacking is any information on Storm Boats.

Thanks,

John

[wizbang 13]

50 hp OB in the 1940's? Musta been a military secret!
We civilians did not get a 40 hp until 1956.

[John Sliz]

It was considered large for its time so maybe it was a secret. It was used by both the American and British armies. The manual is: TM5-8010 from the War Department. Motor, Outboard, 50 H.P. Model 8008, 5 IN. Shaft Extension, Evinrude Motors, Milwaukee, Wis. Feb. 4, 1943.

[John Sliz]

Hello, I still haven't found the plans for the US storm boat, but I redrew it the best that I could. The drawing was included in my latest book, `Allied Attack Boats: A Study of the Assault and Storm Boats Used in River Crossings in Europe During World War II'. It can be found on amazon.
Maybe some day, I will get a copy of the plans.
Thanks.

[skaraborgcraft]

Sometimes i get the feeling this is becoming like Craigslist.

[SeaB]

Have you tried posting this request at www.aomci.org Quite a few AOMCI members have and or run the model 8008 or it's variants. Ask on the ask-a- member section, there are active chapters in Ont. the Maple Leaf chapter is linked from the AOMCI homepage, under Links, left side of page.

Hope this helps.

[Ian McColgin]

Since you’re talking of the WWII Storm - as in storm the beach - Boats and not the bass boat on steroids, there are some good pix at
http://www.40thengineers.org/storm_boats.htm

[SeaB]

By the way, the motors weight about 189 lbs. meant to be carried by 3 men.

[Frank R]

Interesting bracing under the floor. Why the angles and why is every other one a solid beam?

[Peter Belenky]

The bottom is a conically developed surface. Each of those frames can lie in a straight line along a generatrix, making them much easier to fabricate than if they had to be shaped to curves fitting conic sectrions. As for every other one being solid, I imagine it is to reduce weight.

[tpelle]

I noticed the bottom framing too. Interesting concept. It would seem like it would have modern application, wouldn't it?

[BBSebens]

Sent you a PM

[John Sliz]

The boat was meant to be beached at full speed, which explains the bottom.

[Bill Huson]

I believe the engines were 30 cu in opposed cylinder Evinrudes. 50 HP is a stretch for them, but the twin cylinders fired at the same time and created mondo torque, but not much RPM - maybe 3K max. Because of the proliferation of those engines after the war, which made them cheap, they became racing engines for outboard boats. Racers ran them on methanol. At this date those heavy iron mills are still used for racing in a class called C-Service.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Hello,

I am looking for the plans for the 1940s military version of the Storm boat that the U.S. Army used. I know that the S.B. used a 50 hp Evinrude outboard motor and I have the manual for that. What seems to be lacking is any information on Storm Boats.

Thanks,

John

You have to realize the USA was only at war for 3 3/4 years and when it ended a lot of what we produced was almost instantly rendered superfluous.

CC

[John Sliz]

True, but the Storm Boats were still used in Korea. The motors were not. They were replaced with twin 25hp. Fyi: I got this from an army manual (ST 5-260-1B) dated March 1955. So to recap, the army boats (assault boats M2 and storm boats) were held over until the next war and in 1955 were planned to be replaced by the Assault Boat T-3, which composed of `fibreglass mat and cloth laminate bonded with resin'. I am not sure when they replaced the old boats.

[outofthenorm]

why is every other one a solid beam?

Separate watertight compartments? A hole in one wouldn`t fill the whole thing.

[John Sliz]

You are right. To quote the manual, "A double bottom divided into watertight compartments gives it additional strength. The bottom is reinforced by a series of scuffing strips."

[prentz]

Found this thread three and a half years after the original post but hope this helps- my grandfather worked for Gar Wood (and with Junior) in an office on Grayhaven in Detroit and the last project he was working on was a better transmission for a Spanish outboard motor for the Storm Boats- quoting from an article by W.J. Webb (Evinrude Engineer), Antique Outboarder October 1976-
"In the Spring of 1942 the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers of Fort Belvoir, Virginia approached us requesting a high-powered, rugged motor to be used on personnel attack boats that later became known as Storm Boats. We responded by building up several 4-60s with magneto ignition, modified to produce about 50 hp at a speed range that would ensure long life, great dependability, easy starting, and good speed. A heavy-duty service lower unit was developed with side fins to protect propellers against barbed wire, shallow, rocky beaches, and especially to be able to withstand the heavy shocks of beaching on any kind of a bottom at full speed. Typically, we ran into difficulties. Our 50 hp Storm Boat Motor, as it was later called, was not what the top dog had in mind. He had heard of the Soriano, that remarkable 6-cylinder, 4-cycle supercharged outboard that Jean Dupuy had driven to the world's mile trial record of 79.04 mph, and he wanted to give it a tryout as power for the assault boats being considered by the Engineers. Gar Wood, Jr., a well-known pre- WW II outboard racing champion, had imported a Soriano which he loaned to the Engineers for tests, and these tests turned out very well. As a result, Gar Wood was given an order to build two for further test work, since, because of the War, it was impossible to get more Sorianos over here or in Europe either, for that matter. Paul Wearly, also a well-known outboard racing champion, worked with Gar Wood in building American adaptations of the Soriano for the Army Engineers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Paul Wearly wrote as follows regarding the Sorianos which he helped build:

"This was a great engine and performed very well at all speeds. We built it with a very effective full gear shift forward, neutral, and reverse. The carburetor was a Holley-Ford "6" type with fixed jets. The ignition was a Scintilla with automatic spark advance. The powerhead weighed 90 pounds, and we developed almost 90hp on alcohol fuel before we reduced the size of the supercharger to run on gas. Before reduction, the inlet manifold temperatures were much too high to run effectively on gas "

Following tests on the Gar Wood built Soriano, Evinrude, and I presume other outboard manufacturers, were asked to quote on a quantity of several hundred Soriano adaptations for immediate delivery. We knew nothing about the Soriano outside its excellent mile trial performance. It was a handbuilt motor, with only rudimentary tooling. Neither we nor anyone else had any production tools for it, nor could the Army Engineers tell us where tools could be had. To set up from scratch to produce the Soriano in the volume required would take over a year, and the Engineers wanted delivery in three months. We declined to quote with regrets. Apparently the Engineers received a negative response from all other manufacturers whom they may have contacted, as no volume order for a Soriano-type motor was ever placed."
My uncle, a teenager at the time, would come straight home from school during the school year, when testing was going on and get to ride in the bow of one of those. They were running test timed mile runs on the Detroit River at the time, using markers on the Canadian side as reference points. My grandfather, Elmer LeSuer, was at the time working with Gar and Gar Jr plus Jimmy Woodmansee, Paul Wearly, Worth Boggermane, Burney Russell, Ed Kline, Everett Banks and Henry Swanson (at least that's who is listed as 'Gar Wood Grayhaven Boys (with the Gray Haven spelling instead) in the floral tributes at grandpa's funeral. Of course Grayhaven being named after the developer, Edward Gray, Henry Ford's Chief Engineer at the Highland Park Model T plant, serving from 1909 to 1914. My grandfather worked for Gray at Riverside Engine in Oil City, PA, starting in 1906 and came to Highland Park soon after Ford hired Gray in 1909.)
The article and photos are at http://www.soriano-outboard.com/12395.html

[John Sliz]

Great stuff! Better late than never. Thanks!

[John Sliz]

Btw: in the long gap between posts this was published, which might be of interest to some of you: http://www.amazon.com/Allied-Attack-...dp/0987740490/