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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-78



Call sign:
Nan - Uncle - Tare - Charlie
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 20 April 1942 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 15 August 1942
  • Completed 5 September 1942
  • Placed in service 7 September 1942 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THIRTEEN (MTBRon 13) under the command of Comdr. James B. Denny, USN
  • MTBRon 13 participated in the Aleutian campaign from March 1943 to May 1944. Transferred to the Southwest Pacific, the squadron had action at Mios Woendi, Dutch New Guinea; Mindoro, P.I., and Brunei Bay, Borneo. It also
    based for a time at Dreger Harbor, New Guinea, and San Pedro Bay, P.I., but had no action from these bases. As part of Task Unit 70.1.4, MTBRon 13 was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for action at Mindoro from
    December 15 to 19, 1944
  • The "Dragon Lady" was placed out of service, stripped and destroyed by U.S. Forces 23 November 1945 at Samar, Philippines.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 40 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: Four 21" torpedoes, four depth charges, one 40mm mount and two twin .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-78 393k Panama Jerry Gilmartin, MMC, USN, Ret.
    PT-78 330k Kodiak, AK
    PT-78 278k Original photo: 26 January 1943
    Photo from "U.S. Warships of World War II" by Paul H. Silverstone
    Replacement photo: National Archives photo    		 Original photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo: Jerry Gilmartin, MMC, USN, Ret.
    PT-75 440k c. July 1943
    Aleutian Islands Campaign, June 1942 - August 1943. PT-75 and PT-78 moored outboard of an unidentified PT boat in Attu Harbor in the Aleutians, in background is Consolidated PBY “Catalina” taking off
    Photographed by Lieutenant Horace Bristol
    National Archives photo 80-G-475727 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    PT-78 222k 12 May 1944
    Womens Bay, Kodiak Island, Alaska
    National Archives photo    		 Tracy White
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-78
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