Willard 50- Where is a Willard 50?

[bill boy]

I once saw a Willard 50, but have never seen any discussion or history about a WILLARD 50 Navy Transport. PLEASE POST ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A WILLARD 50 that you may have. Thank you, Bill Boy.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. I think Mr. FF has an ex navy launch. Could be a Willard.

 

[CPseudonym]

Could be wrong but believe FF has a Uniflite ex navy launch. He does have a wealth of information on both of those constructors though.

Bill Boy, do you have a specific boat target sighted or just grazing for info.

 

[healhustler]

Billboy...search Willard 50 in the search option. There's a 2010 thread on a 50 conversion.

 

[ben2go]

I once saw a Willard 50, but have never seen any discussion or history about a WILLARD 50 Navy Transport. PLEASE POST ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A WILLARD 50 that you may have. Thank you, Bill Boy.

Sorry.I can't help with the info you seek.

 

[bill boy]

Yes I am looking at one for purchase now. I think I'm second in line, so it may not happen. Everything seems to work except the port Perkins engine because it's missind the water knee cooling connecdtion. I am wondering about who and where such a boat can be repaired.

thanks for any responses. Bill Boy

 

[CPseudonym]

If it is only one engine repair contact a local mobile marine mechanic to give you an estimate.

If it's a longer term more involved project and you have land and the chops to do it, working on it at home is ideal IMO. Distance makes the heart grow fonder but not so with a project. I freshened up my mothers house not too long ago to sell and the 60 mile commute got old very fast. DIY boat yards can be as rare as rocking horse poop depending upon your location.

 

[kapnd]

I once saw a Willard 50, but have never seen any discussion or history about a WILLARD 50 Navy Transport. PLEASE POST ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A WILLARD 50 that you may have. Thank you, Bill Boy.

This is an old thread, don't know if there is still any interest.
I have a Willard 50, it is an ex-navy MUB.
Don't know about the nomenclature, Transport may be a different boat altogether. You mentioned twin Perkins motors, this may be an aftermarket modification, as only domestic product is used OEM, Gray Marine, Detroit Diesel, Cat, Cummins are the motors I have seen in them.
FF has a MUB, pretty sure its a Uniflite, but the different brands were built the same, as spec'd by the Navy.

 

[Nomad Willy]

There was on the drawing boards a Willard 50 pleasure boat much like the 30, 36 and 40' Willard's .. Just much bigger. Willard bagged the pleasure boat market before the W50 was born .. so none exist.

There are of course many ex-Navy boats built by Willard, Uniflite and some others. Uniflite (I worked there) and Willard made lobsterboat type hulled boats and hard chine boats w hulls much like pleasure boat Uniflites. The Veitnam War "jet boats" we're made by Uniflite. But in the case of "Willard" 50' boats they were just built under mil spec contracts w the U.S. Navy. No choices about the boats were made by Willard. Willard just built them to Navy specs. They are not really Willard boats. They are Navy boats built by Willard.

I could take a picture of the proposed W50 pleasure boat in an old PMM mag and post it if desired. The proposed 50' Willard.

 

[FF]

Mine is a Uniflite 50 ftb Utility Boat.

It is built to USN standards , fire retardant resin , no mat in build and one day hull layup.
Full foam flotation is std.

It did fish off the shelf in Maine as a lobster supply boat , and later as an inshore lobster boat .
There was no interior on initial purchase.

We have a Grey 6-71 and it has been delightful for the loop and in thin water FL operation.

The boat was expected to be either operated 24/7 or secured when not in use, so things ;like an anchor windlass and bow rollers were required. Only deck cleats std , but great lifting eyes if you wish to lift it 70 ft to a carrier deck.

It has a unique "backing rudder" which is s second rudder in front of a std rudder that consists of a tapered cone.

This is so the vessel could be easily stopped with no side prop walk.

7K cruise is under 3GPH (10,000miles) , but if you crank it up 12K or 14K can be had , at the usual 1 nm / gallon.

2 , 100G fuel tanks are std as it was expected to be fueled with each crew change,but 400nm between fuel stops (slow 7K cruise) is OK.

Located in Ortona FL if you wish a tour.

 

[Nomad Willy]

FF,
I remember working at Uniflite in the early 70s and it seemed there were always quite a few of these Utility Boats in 40, 50 and 33' versioned hulls in the yard. I knew then that some day I'd have one. The Uniflites seemed relatively like scows. Such flowing lines. Had my eye on the 33 but there were very few 33' boats then .. and probably ever. And of course I never did get one of any length. Sure liked look'in at them and think'in bout them. And in the early 60's I was in the Navy in SanDeigo and saw them in action in the bay loaded w sailors and operated by serious hot rod helmsmen. All they knew was full throttle and they went from idle to full throttle and one gear to the other as fast as they could. Casually done as though they did it all the time ... and they did. For just kids they sure seemed skillful though.

 

[Donsan]

Mine is a Uniflite 50 ftb Utility Boat.

Is this one similar to yours?

1977 Uniflite 50 ft Custom Motor Yacht Power Boat For Sale -

They claim it only burns 1.5gal per hour at 7+ knots.

No history provided on the origin of the hull.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Donsan,
It's a 50' Navy Utility hull to be sure. It's powered by the same engine Mark has in his Coot. Off the cuff speeds and especially fuel burn mean little. I was looking at this boat several years ago and didn't believe the effeciency numbers then either. Beautiful boat thought.

 

[Donsan]

It's a 50' Navy Utility hull to be sure. It's powered by the same engine Mark has in his Coot. Off the cuff speeds and especially fuel burn mean little. I was looking at this boat several years ago and didn't believe the effeciency numbers then either. Beautiful boat thought.

Sounds like the "New on the Market" isn't so accurate either. I kind of thought FF's fuel burn numbers are more accurate. For a 50' boat, even 3 gal/hr sounds good.

Is the beam really 16.5'?

 

[kapnd]

Yes, the fuel burn numbers are great, mine has a B series Cummins and burns just a little less than 2 gph at 7 knots, that with a badly dinged up propeller.
At least it did as an open boat, remains to be seen what she will do with the addition of the cabin and furnishings I am currently building.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Yes, the fuel burn numbers are great, mine has a B series Cummins and burns just a little less than 2 gph at 7 knots, that with a badly dinged up propeller.
At least it did as an open boat, remains to be seen what she will do with the addition of the cabin and furnishings I am currently building.

We need pictures of your conversion!

 

[CPseudonym]

We need pictures of your conversion!

I second this motion

 

[AKDoug]

It would look like this one. A former military launch, commonly referred to as a Captains Gig. We had one on the aircraft carrier I was on in 1973, this one is out of Whittier Alaska. Or at least it was when I saw it.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

It would look like this one. A former military launch, commonly referred to as a Captains Gig. We had one on the aircraft carrier I was on in 1973, this one is out of Whittier Alaska. Or at least it was when I saw it.

Thats the "Inconnu" (or used to be). It is a 40' personnel boat. The 50' are utility boats and are usually configured quite differently due to the open structure that you start with. Lots of the 50's are set up like Downeast boats with a open cockpit, midship pilothouse and fwd cabin like Fast Freds.

 

[FF]

All they knew was full throttle and they went from idle to full throttle and one gear to the other as fast as they could.

The Detroit 6-71 with the std Navy Twin Disc only has a caution to not shift from FWD to REV at full throttle "too often".

AS fitted in WWII the idea was a landing craft would be in Fwd to stay on the beach , and shift to Reverse as the last Marine departed.

Detroits suffer from a design that needs to power at 60% or more to be efficient.

On our boat 7K is 3 GPH about 40-45 HP , so its not as efficient as a 3-71 would be.

Of course with an extra 150 sailors or 12,000lbs of cargo the 3-71 might not be fast enough for the sailors.

The empty hull lifting weight is about 20,000lbs , I am guessing we run at 25,000 with the cabin, deck house , tools and ground tackle aboard.

The 80 hp JD would be ideal, if we kept everything light.

The 235 HP DD has been de rated with smaller injectors and advanced timing , but 45 HP is no where near 60% of 180 HP.

 

[CPseudonym]

Fred I'd love to see detail pictures of Lucy. Sounds like the ultimate in simplicity.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Yeah Fred how about some pics of Lucy?

 

[Nomad Willy]

Fred ya got any pics ????

 

[AKDoug]

Thats the "Inconnu" (or used to be). It is a 40' personnel boat. The 50' are utility boats and are usually configured quite differently due to the open structure that you start with. Lots of the 50's are set up like Downeast boats with a open cockpit, midship pilothouse and fwd cabin like Fast Freds.

It still is the Inconnu, but I thought it was larger than 40'. It appears so much larger than my 30' PH Trawler that I thought it must be 50'. My Navy days were too long ago to remember the launches, and when out of the water (in chocks in the hanger bay) they look huge. There were a couple of them on board, one was the Captains Gig, and there was at least one other that was a crews liberty launch. Both were Willard's.

I would love to see pics of a 50" too

 

[FF]

LUCY is laid up at our dock in FL. We are in CT for much of the summer.

We are snowbirds , so if anyone wants a photo essay of a study in simplicity , it will have to wait till after Nov 1 or so.

Folks visiting our dock (we need not be there ) can easily go aboard .

The tour is best as there is reasoning behind many of the choices that apply to this vessel, and might not be proper for others.

eg. We use (2) 8D truck batts as start and house service.

At the end of the day we switch the engine batts off , and the house to one 8D.

With propane refrigeration the only loads are lights and modern lights , even the bigger LED required for 5 mile viz in an over sized commercial Perko , draws little.


The interior was built for us , so its usually a shock that the 50 ft boat sleeps 2!

6 ft fwd is collision bulkhead and 15 ft aft is cockpit , so 50ft-21ft gives a much smaller living area than one would expect.

How it lives , mostly in FL ,venting is our key to FL cruising.

 

[CPseudonym]

Fair enough but if nothing is posted by December I'm going to bug you through PM's.

 

[kapnd]

Fred, I'm going to be in Fla late November, would love to have a tour!
I am getting well along in converting my Willard UB, am very interested in having a look at something similar.
I will PM you when I get there.

 

[FF]

I am getting well along in converting my Willard UB, am very interested in having a look at something similar.

Great , there is a second Navy Utility 50 a block away. It was fitted out as a roomeran so makes a sharp distinction.

 

[kapnd]

The bilge on my 50' UB has no sump hole, so bilge water has pretty much free run of the length of the boat, and is very difficult to pump dry. Currently am using a shop vac following every rainstorm!
I would like to cut out a sump at the low point to collect the water, but am unsure what lies below the surface there.
It has been rumored that there is a heavy steel backbone glassed into the keel, and I don't want to expose that, Willard factory doesn't want to talk to me about it...
It's a long shot, but does anybody here have insight on this?
thanks!

 

[FF]

I have the same problem.
When used for lobstering they simply installed a second pump aft of the engine and pumped which ever was in water.

I would be very reluctant to chop holes in the hull to get rid of the last drop.

When the conversion if finished , unless you have installed huge tanks for FW or diesel, the hull trim will not change much.

A second small diaphragm pump could get down to the lastb1/4 or 1/8 inch , dry enough for most boats.

On our boat the 6-71 has a old style lube oil filter , and the Navy would just let the 1/2 gal of oil dump in the bilge.

After over a decade of Simple Green and other scrub attempts , we still add detergent to the bilge and allow the motion of the ocean help get rid of the past sins. So an inch or two of water is no hassle.