Lost PT Boat off Florida

[Cpt.Buzzkill]

I was trying to find out more on a surplus PT boat used for treasure hunting off of Cuba post war. It was making a run back to Florida in heavy seas and sunk somewhere of Florida. Anyone know more to this story?

Thanks,
CB

 

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[rgecy]

Sounds like a story I heard here recently!

Hmmmm!

I don't know all the details, but know the story. Maybe some others can shed some light.

Robert

 

[FISHEYE]

Cpt.Buzzkill,

Its just that.A Story that a writer made up and put in a book.Things didnt add up somewhere in one of my posts several months ago i posted here about it to a reply that someone else was asking about it.Search my previous posts for it.

 

[barney]

Are you talking about McKee's salvage boat ROSALIE, which sunk off Tavernier coming back from the Caribbean?

 

[cpt scuba]

besides a pt was mostly thin wood wouldnt be much left of it now except the engines

 

[Salvor6]

I remember your old post FISHEYE. The wreck was reportedly carrying gold bars from Cuba but they said it sank in 25' of water and the Lat. & Long puts it in 75' deep water. Sounds like a fake story.

 

[Ocean Oso]

25 meters instead of feet?

 

[Cpt.Buzzkill]

Appreciate the input gents...sounded like a bit much. Yes, all PT boats were plywood. Just reviewing some of things they were used after war...while they still ran.

Don't know about similar wrecks if you were asking.

thanks

CB

 

[jeff k]

Speaking of PT boats, the movie "They Were Expendable"**** with John Wayne was filmed on Key Biscayne in 1945. I was two years old, and remember it well.

 

[Corsair triton]

Hi. Im Cpt.AJ I have been investigating a project in that area where this PT boat story begin it happen. And its remember by the officers of the Cuban patrol boat for many years. They aproche them to see if they needed help and the black PT had a violent reaction.

 

[NowandThenTreasures]

Sure would be nice if this was a "real" story.
Found this online:

THE LOST GOLD-FILLED PT BOAT

Somewhere off Fort Myers Beach, Florida, lies an $8,000,000 treasure in only 20-30 feet of water.

During the Spanish Civil War an American named Scott was in Spain as a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fighting on the Government side against the rebels of General Francisco Franco. During that time Scott was able to do research on shipwrecks in the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain. During his research he came across a wreck location off the Isle of Pines, Cuba, that related to a Spanish Galleon sunk in the 1700s that contained $13,000,000 in treasure in 12 chests. Scott obtained a copy of the map, which he kept. When the war in Spain ended and the brigade returned to New York in 1939, he was mustered out.

When World War II erupted he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and during the next four years he formed a group with three other men and made plans that when the war was over, they would pool their money, buy a boat and go to the shipwreck site off the Isle of Pines and recover the treasure.

After the war ended and they were all discharged, they returned to their homes but kept in touch. Annual meetings were held in which they made plans and finally in 1950 they all quit their jobs and met in Tampa where Scott lived. Each had raised over $10,000 to pool for their treasure hunt.

They went to Green Cove Springs, Florida, where a Moth Ball fleet was kept in storage. All being ex-sailors with honorable discharges which gave them certain priorities, they purchased a surplus PT boat and were soon on their way back to Tampa. They gave the vessel a complete overhaul and painted her black over the Navy gray to make her harder to see at night. They also replaced the gas engines with diesels to conserve fuel on their planned trip to Cuba.

After three months the PT boat was provisioned and they headed out into the Gulf of Mexico and towards Cuba. Three days later they were off the Isle of Pines by noon and anchored over the treasure site by nightfall.

The next day they were ready to start diving on the site which was in about 30 feet of clear blue water. Three men dove while one stayed topside. With the aid of a metal detector and steel probing rods, they soon found the right location and figured the wreck was buried under 5 to 6 feet of sand.

Using a powerful jet pump they eventually cleared the area within the wreck site to discover the outline of eight large chests amongst the wreckage and they were able to expose the chests and hoist them onto the deck of the boat. More chests were apparent but the boat could only safely carry the eight.

As they were preparing to hoist the anchor and head home, a Cuban gunboat appeared and they were instructed to stand by for a search of their vessel.

Before leaving Tampa they had put the 50-caliber machine gun that came with the vessel in working order as well as a small one-inch cannon in case of just such an emergency. Rather than lose a fortune and perhaps go to jail, one of the men began firing the machine gun at the Cuban patrol boat and soon had it out of commission. Then the P.T. boat and its heavy load of treasure headed for home with open throttles.

As they were rounding the western tip of Cuba they heard two radio warnings in Spanish that worried them. The first was from the Cuban Navy saying to be on the lookout for pirates in a P.T. boat heading for the Florida coast and the second was that heavy winds were developing that could turn into a hurricane. At this point they were in no position to seek port in Cuba, so they headed into the Florida Straights and into the approaching storm.

Their plan now was to land the chests somewhere on the west coast of Florida, bury them, and then scuttle the boat before heading for Tampa by land. They would come back later and retrieve the chests.

But that was not to be.

Somewhere opposite the Ten Thousand Islands of Florida's lower west coast one of the engines quit. They continued on north on one engine until somewhere off Fort Myers Beach, the second engine failed. They launched a small lifeboat and scuttled the P.T. boat. Only one man survived the journey to shore, which was about 25 miles due west of Fort Myers Beach in 20-to 30 feet of water.

This one survivor had a plane and for many years afterwards, he tried to locate the area where they scuttled the P.T. boat, but apparently he never found it.

From: YCA FILES

https://www.treasuretracer.com/ship-wreck-treasure/lost-gold-filled-pt-boat/

 

[Salvor6]

This is a hoax. 25 miles west of Ft. Myers beach the water is 75' deep.

 

[ECS]

...but would make a good Randy Wayne White Doc Ford novel.

 

[Boatlode]

A long time ago in the Keys an older Cuban man who was part of Brigada Asalto 2506 (the CIA trained Bay Of Pigs invasion force) told me the CIA had stashed gold bullion on one of the small uninhabited islands just offshore to be used to bribe Cuban government officials to turn against Castro. When the invasion fell apart necessitating a hasty retreat, they had to leave it behind. He said as far as he knew it was still there.

 

[MiddenMonster]

I remember your old post FISHEYE. The wreck was reportedly carrying gold bars from Cuba but they said it sank in 25' of water and the Lat. & Long puts it in 75' deep water. Sounds like a fake story.

Somewhere off Fort Myers Beach, Florida, lies an $8,000,000 treasure in only 20-30 feet of water.

Has there ever been a time in human history where a boat filled with gold bars sank in 25' water and wasn't almost immediately salvaged? Prior to the mid 19th century there were slaves, and after that there were mechanical means to salvage a boat in that depth. And throughout human history there were greedy people who believed they could dive to that depth, pick up a hundred pound gold bar and swim their way to the easy life.

 

[NowandThenTreasures]

I'm just passing along info, sharing what I found online - responding to the original question on this thread.
I have no clue if the story is false, true or somewhere in between .
Not holding my breath, waiting for posted pics of salvaged gold bars from the wreck though.[emoji2]

 

[Harvest]

It’s all in the numbers guys at the boat sank offshore figuring how long it would take to paddle a life raft the shore against the tide of three to four knots that’s one thing to figure 2nd of all whoever said you can pick up 100 pound bar in swim yourself up as not go try it you can’t even pick up a 50 pound bar in make it to the service unless you’re a dolphin and yeah I think the story is true because of the government records in Cuba , hey good luck ha ha ha ha

 

[aquanut]

This is a hoax. 25 miles west of Ft. Myers beach the water is 75' deep.

Not true Pete. Chart shows 25 to 33 ft. due west. It comes a little South of Sanibel.

 

[Rum Tide]

If the original handwriting said "75" but was misread later as "25" - Then the gold is sitting in 75ft of water.

 

[A2coins]

Get a chain net and a wench on shore and leave skid marks in the sand pulling that thing ashore