Crash boats of World War II

Crash boats, at the time known as "aircraft rescue boats" or "air-sea rescue boats", were United States high speed boats built to rescue the crew of downed Allied aircraft during World War II. US boats came from the observation of British experience with high-speed launches (HSL) by the Royal Air Force Marine Branch during the Battle of Britain. By the end of World War II, America had produced 300,000 planes, creating a need to have crash rescue boats stationed around the globe.

Source: Wikipedia — Crash boats of World War II (CC BY-SA 4.0)