A prim feature of the regatta was the visit of one of the new mosquito boats, or P.T. boats so called, to the historic port of Edgartown, where fighting ships of many a generation have put in for one reason or another, yet never presented such a sight as this. Commanded by Capt. A. Loring Swasey, who ordinarily would have been serving with the race committee, this tiny fighting ship passed in review among the fleet, visited the harbor and gave the folks ashore a fine view, and then disappeared on her way to, well somewhere, her destination being as much a secret as her equipment and other details of her complement.

 

All that the spectators can say is that she is a grim looking little warrior about seventy feet over all, with a stem closely patterned after the clipper bows of the swift schooners that used to sail in and out of Edgartown. Her stern is rounded but slightly and is perfectly plumb, while her sheer is negligible and her superstructure is so flattened and depressed as to give practically no wind resistance.

 

Lying at anchor, the P.T. boat merely looks dark and ugly, which appearance is heightened by the war paint with which she is covered. Under way, even at reduced speed, her appearance is menacing in the extreme. Her six engines exhaust independently, with a sound as of a fleet of bombing planes, and her speed when opened up is said to top seventy knots an hour. This is easily believable, since her progress is startling even when cut down.

 

As for the sting carried by this little fighter, it is recognized in the huge torpedoes which she carries on her deck, three to a side. These are large torpedoes, of they type which operate automatically, to an extent that is far superior to older forms of this weapon. Launched from the deck of the little boat, each one is capable of disabling a large ship, while the speed and small target displayed by the boat makes her a craft to be dreaded by everything afloat.