combat record depicted in the series. On January 15, 1945, it ran aground off Lubang Island in the Philippine Islands after delivering supplies to Filipino guerrillas and was destroyed by the crew to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Production The Pacific Ocean naval base stood on the back lot of Universal Studios. For years after the show went off the air, the sets were an attraction on the studio tour. The portion of the Universal Studios tour involving Bruce the Shark attacking the tourist tram takes place on McHale's Lagoon, according to the tour guides. Three PT-73 boats were used in the show. One was for shots at sea and two were converted 63-ft World War II Army Air Force Sea Rescue boats based at Universal Studios, which were reconfigured above-deck to resemble the vessel used in filming the PT-73 underway; a 71-foot type II Vosper MTB (motor torpedo boat), a British design built in the U.S. for export to the Soviet Union. The war ended in August 1945 before the boat, hull number PT-694, was sent to the Soviet Union. The boat was purchased by Howard Hughes for a chase boat for the only flight of his Spruce Goose aircraft. The boat was sold to the studio—as there were few PT boats in existence, almost all having been sold, stripped, or destroyed after the war by various governments—where significant liberties were taken reconfiguring the Vosper 694 and the two Sea Rescue boats to resemble a World War II-era PT boat. The Vosper's charthouse and bridge configuration were kept. Gun turrets were added to both sides of the charthouse about where they would have been on a stock Vosper 71-ft, but this was not the configuration of the Elco 80s, but mimicked the Higgins 78' PT-71 Class boats. On McHale's boat, each gun turret mounted a single .50 cal M2 heavy machine gun on an external, tubular steel spindle fed from a 100-round ammunition box, whereas the real boats used two aircraft M2 heavy machine guns in Mk-17 gun mount / Mk-9 gun carriage combinations that rotated within the body of the turret and had integral ammunition magazines and feed systems holding 250 rounds in disintegrating belts for each gun. The turrets in the show also did away with the wrap-around safety cages that kept the .50 cal gunners from accidentally firing into the boat during the heat