Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

HM MTB-265
ex-PT-16


PT-16 served the Navies of the United States and Great Britian.
70' Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 13 May 1940 as PT-16 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 23 November 1940
  • Completed 20 December 1940, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO (MTBRon 2) under the command of LCDR Earl S. Caldwell, USN
  • MTBRon 2 tested the first 70' Elco boats in Florida and Caribbean waters in the winter of 1940/41
  • Transferred to the Royal Navy under lend-lease 11 July 1941
  • Commissioned HM MTB-265, 24 February 1942 and assigned to the 10th MTB Flotilla
  • Returned to U.S. Navy 16 March 1946
  • Transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation in August 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 40 t.
  • Length 70'
  • Beam 19' 11"
  • Draft 4' 6"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 15
  • Armament: Two twin .50 cal. Browning M2 machine guns in Dewandre turrets and four 18" torpedoes
    (MTB-265 added two .303 cal. twin Mk1 Lewis machine guns, one 20mm mount and two depth charges in addition to replacing the 18" torpedoes with two 21" torpedoes)
  • Propulsion: Three 3,600shp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Unknown 267k An unidentified Elco PT Boat test firing a torpedo
    Photo by Morris Rosenfeld, Photographic Illustrator, 116 Nassau St., New York for the Electric Boat Company, ELCO Naval Division, Bayonne, NJ    		 Richard Jaslovsky
    PT-16 229k Being towed stern first after a fight in the Messina Straits
    Photo from "PT Boats" by Bryan Cooper    		 Tommy Trampp
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-16
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Motor Torpedo Boat (PT) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History