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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-33
ex-PTC-13
ex-PT-33

Destroyed 26 December 1941
77' Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Originally planned as PT-33 but reclassified and laid down 25 March 1941 as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser, PTC-13 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Reclassified back to PT-33 later in March
  • Launched 10 June 1941
  • Completed 11 July 1941, placed in service 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
  • Transferred 12 August 1941 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (MTBRon 3) under the command of LT John D. Bulkeley, USN
  • MTBRon 3 was the only PT squadron engaged in the defense of the Philippines
  • Destroyed to prevent capture 26 December 1941 off Point Santiago, Philippines.

    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 1,200shp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-31, 34, 35 & 41 148k Original photo: c. September 1941
    Guadalupe (AO-32) bound for the Philippines with a deck cargo of six PT boats (PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35 and PT-41) of MTBRon 3
    Replacement photo: 2 September 1941
    Photo by ELCO Naval Division, Electric Boat Company, Bayonne, NJ    		 Original photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo: Richard Jaslovsky
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-33
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