Re: You learn something every day!

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2008/11/24 18:18:15

For a small company, certainly Packard's contribution to the war effort with the P-51 and PT boat engines is something to take a lot of pride in. And it's been very well documented and there are lots details available; see Robert Neal's Master Motor Builders in you have an inclination to really dive into the subject.

What's gotten a lot less notice, perhaps because so few were built and it wasn't a war effort at the time, is their design and manufacture of the V8, V12 and V16 stainless steel non-magnetic diesels (4 valves per cylinder) for use in postwar minesweepers. A few of these were still is service with their original Packard engines (or so I' told) as recently as the first Gulf War and saw service in that conflict.