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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

RCAF Nictak (M 447)
ex-HM MTB-270
ex-PT-6 (2)


PT-6 (2) served the U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force
81' Experimental Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 14 May 1940 as PT-6 (2) by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 29 October 1940
  • Completed 3 February 1941
  • Placed in service 6 March 1941 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron ONE (MTBRon 1) under the command of Lt. William C. Specht, USN
  • MTBRon 1 was the first squadron commissioned, and originally was made up of experimental boats
  • Transferred to the Royal Navy 29 July 1941 and reclassified HM MTB-270
  • Transfer to the Royal Navy canceled, transferred instead to the Royal Canadian Air Force, named RCAF Nictak (M 447) and used as a High Speed Rescue Launch
  • Reclassified B-123
  • Returned to U.S. Navy in June 1945 and reclassified as a Small Boat
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 34 t.
  • Length 81'
  • Propulsion: Three Packard 4M-2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-6 (2)
    PT-6 (2) 256k PT-6 (2) inboard of a British rescue boat, MRB-2 at Higgins Industries Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-6 (2) 197k Cradled on a trailer
    PT-6 (2) 175k PT-6 (2) underway at high speed, in 1941. She was an experimental boat, built by Higgins to a Sparkman & Stephens Design
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 100907    		 Mike Green
    PT-6 (2) 175k c. 1941
    Photo courtesy Higgins Industries Inc. from the 1944 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-6 (2) 316k Outboard profile and deck plan Joe Radigan
    PT-6 (2) 398k Inboard plan and profile
    RCAF Nictak (B 123)
    PT-6 (2) 48k Canadian Department of National Defense photo from the November 2013 edition of Dispersals magazine Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-6 (2)
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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