NEW ORLEANS — There was one hairy moment during PT 305’s slow-motion jaunt through downtown here on Saturday morning.

It came as that restored World War II patrol torpedo boat dangled over the edge of the Mississippi River from the arm of a huge floating crane. A brisk wind swung the boat’s nose landward, causing the men below to strain at their yellow ropes as if they were reining in a wayward balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Minutes later, PT 305 was resting on a barge in the river, ready for the next leg of its tortuous journey from naval warship to fully interactive museum exhibit. By April, the National WWII Museum here hopes to offer the only opportunity to ride a PT boat that survived combat in the war.

“There’s nothing like this anywhere,” said Stephen Watson, the museum’s chief operating officer. “We’ve always tried to do things here that bring history to life in an unexpected way.”