The PT-811 was launched in 1951 as part of a programme to develop fast gunboats for brown water service, based on lessons learnt during the Second World War. Four boats, numbered PT-809 to PT-812, were assigned to Motor Torpedo Squadron 1 and underwent extensive testing at Norfolk. Trials proved PT-811 to be the best in all key characteristics, though all suffered from engine problems and torpedoes being so slow that the boats accidentally ran over them during high-speed operations. Testing concluded in 1959, and PT-811 was struck off the Naval Register in 1960. She returned to service in December 1962 as PTF-2, conducting a shakedown to Norfolk and, in June 1963, leaving for the Philippines, where she was assigned to the SEAL teams operating in Vietnam. She and her sister ship PTF-1 (ex-PT-810) arrived at Da Nang, Vietnam, in April 1964. In August 1965, she was used as a target, being sunk as part of an exercise off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands.

The 94 ft PT-811 was introduced during Update 1.95 "Northern Wind" as a reward for the 2019 Operation F.R.O.S.T. event. Performance-wise, she is very similar to the PT-810, being slightly smaller and slightly faster. Her armament is excellent, but she suffers from issues typical of American small motor torpedo boats – poor survivability and lacklustre torpedoes. However, her slightly higher BR places her in a very unfavourable position, where in uptiers she performs significantly worse against her peers than the PT-810 does against its own.