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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

RCT-13
ex-C105343
ex-PT-658



Call sign:
Nan - Queen - Jig - Easy
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 24 February 1945 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 11 April 1945
  • Completed 30 July 1945
  • PT's 649-660 originally were assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FORTY FIVE (MTBRon 45), but in April 1945, these boats were reassigned, before any had been placed in service, for transfer
    under lend-lease to the Soviet Union
  • MTBRon 45 was never placed in service
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945
  • Reclassified as a Small Boat, C105343, 27 August 1946
  • Reclassified as Bureau of Ships Equipment 3 December 1948
  • Designated a Radio Control Target RCT-13 in 1951
  • Sold 1 June 1958 to Earl C. Brown of Oakland, CA for $1,201.00 and named Porpoise
  • Delivered 30 June 1958
  • Acquired by "Save the PT Boat, Inc." of Portland, OR and fully restored to her World War II configuration.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, two 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns, one 37mm mount and one 20mm mount
  • Propulsion: Three 4,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-658
    PT-658 464k Cutaway of PT-658
    RCT-13
    PT-658 550k 7 November 1949
    Naval Air Missile Test Center Point Mugu, CA
    RCT-14, ex-C105344; RCT-15, ex-C105345 and RCT-13 moored at Mare Island. Showing a clear view of RCT radar reflectors and camera installations on RCT-14    		 Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-658
    PT-658 279k PT-658 when acquired by Save the PT Boat, Inc. .
    PT-658 358k Covered by temporary net pending raising of funds for permanent shelter
    Photo by Save the PT Boat, Inc.    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-658 338k Portland, OR
    PT-658 in front of Burnside bridge with USS McClusky (FFG 41) in background.    		 .
    PT-658 326k Portland, OR
    PT-658 265k Traveling at 34 knots Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-658 246k At her sheltered mooring on Swan Island [Portland, OR] Larry Lee, RM1, USN, Ret.
    PT-658 303k
    PT-658 398k In 1994 with a small glow of hope left in her proud heart, the former PT-658 was acquired from the estate of the former owner with the hope to fully restore the boat to her former glory. To manage and participate in the restoration, a group of gray haired PT Boat Vets formed the non-profit “Save the PT Boat, Inc.” to take custody of the historic World War II relic and see it reborn Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 3 December 2021
    PT-658 283k PT-658 transits past U.S. Navy ships at the Portland Rose Festival, Portland Oregon., 10 June 2006. PT-658 was saved by volunteers and veterans from the Oregon area. The group successfully restored the 50-Ton World War II Motor Boat to full operational condition including the full armament and three original Packard V-12 engines
    U.S. Navy photo 060610-N-0975R-002 by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ralph Radford    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-658 169k 2 June 2011
    Painted in her original color scheme “Measure 31-20L” as she was painted when accepted by the Navy at Higgins Industries in New Orleans on 31 July 1945    		 Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-658 185k
    PT-658 182k
    PT-658 170k 2 June 2011
    Painted in her original color scheme “Measure 31-20L” as she was painted when accepted by the Navy at Higgins Industries in New Orleans on 31 July 1945
    The X-Band Transportable Radar Ship Pacific Tracker (XTR 1) is in the background
    PT-658 141k
    PT-658 173k
    PT-658 147k
    PT-658 198k c. July 2011
    Photo from a newspaper in Tennessee showing how she blends into the foliage in the background
    PT-658 38k PT-658 is floating on the north bank of the Willamette River, housed in a custom-built boathouse in Portland Oregon at the PT-658 Heritage Museum located at the Swan Island Industrial Park. PT-658 was added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2012 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 3 December 2021
    PT-658 379k 28 June 2014
    Portland, OR
    Exiting Pier 308 boathouse at Vigor Industrial Shipyard, Swan Island Lagoon in preparation for Bob Jackson's 90th birthday excursion    		 Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-658 504k 28 June 2014
    Portland, OR
    Moored to barge in preparation for Bob Jackson's 90th birthday excursion
    PT-658 316k PT-658, last remaining operable PT boat from World War II, named to National Register of Historic Places Tommy Trampp
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-658
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    PT-658 Deck and Interior Tour
    PT-658 Deck and Boathouse Museum Tour
    Historic Naval Ships Association
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Motor Torpedo Boat (PT) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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