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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

C-55047
ex-PT-23

77' Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 17 December 1940 as PT-23 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 24 April 1941
  • Placed in service 25 June 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. Later, when it was composed of 77' Elco boats, the squadron was sent to Pearl Harbor, where it was in
    action on December 7, 1941. Its boats again saw action at the Battle of Midway, and participated in the Aleutian campaign
  • Transferred 22 December 1942 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE(2), (MTBRon 3[2]) under the command of LT Hugh M. Robinson, USN
  • The second Squadron 3 was the first squadron to arrive in the Solomons, and fought many strenuous engagements with the Tokyo Express at Guadalcanal. PT's 21, 23, 25, and 26 were stationed at the
    island of Funafuti, in the Ellice Group, until the middle of 1943. These boats, known as Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, Division 2, were under command of LT Jonathan F. Rice, USNR, while on this detached duty
  • Transferred 27 September 1943 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO (MTBRon 2) under the command of LT Alvin P. Cluster, USN
  • MTBRon 2, with six 77' Elco boats and six 80' Elco boats, was shipped to the South Pacific, where it was active in the Solomons campaign, engaging in many strenuous night actions with the Tokyo
    Express in the defense of Guadalcanal
  • Reclassified as a Small Craft, C-55047, 6 October 1943 and used as a small boat in the Solomons area transporting personnel, mail, etc.
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 40 t.
  • Length 77'
  • 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 21" torpedoes
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
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    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    No image of PT-23 is available at this time
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-23
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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