Maybe it's a stupid question, given that they are boats, but I can't find anything about the process of getting PT boats from the US to the operational theaters of the war.
I've read plenty about how rough the open ocean can be in a WWII-era destroyer, but I imagine that the significantly smaller, lighter, and far more exposed PT boat would be a nightmare by comparison. Being designed essentially for littoral combat, it's easy to imagine them coming to a bad end on the crossing. Not to mention that their fuel load doesn't seem to have been designed with an ocean crossing in mind.
Did they cross in squadrons, perhaps with tenders? As part of convoy escort groups? Or did each tiny boat set off on its own as soon as it and its crew were ready to leave?
In short, they didnt!
They were loaded as cargo onto larger vessels and transported that way. And in general they would only be transported in groups, ideally an entire squadron at a time as they were meant to act in concert as a coherent tactical unit to be of real military value.
For instance the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 was the USN MTB unit in the Philippines when the war broke out. The 6 boats had gotten there by hitching a ride on the Fleet Oiler Guadalupe which was also carrying additional fuel oil to the Asiatic Fleet in the run up to war. Here we have a nice view of the ship with the PT Boats loaded aboard, and a nice shot forward from the aft deckhouse showing how they were stored above the fueling and Oiler parts.
This also continued to be the preferred method through the war for long transport needs. Here is LST-1041 at New Orleans with 4 PT Boats which would actually end up being transferred to the USSR by way of the Northern Pacific Lend-Lease route.
Hope that answers your question!
