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

PT-242



Call sign:
Nan - Dog - Item - Zebra
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 23 October 1942 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 28 November 1942
  • Completed 14 May 1943, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron NINTEEN (PTRon 19) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Russell H. Smith, USN
  • PTRon 19, assigned to South Pacific, had action at Vella Lavella, Treasury, and Green. The squadron was decommissioned 15 May 1944 and its boats were distributed to replenish other squadrons which had suffered
    operational losses
  • Transferred 19 April 1944 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY THREE (PTRon 23) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Ronald K. Irving, USN
  • PTRon 23, assigned to the South Pacific, had action at Bougainville and Green. Transferred to the Southwest Pacific in December 1944, the squadron had action at Palawan, in the Philippines. It also based for a time at Mios
    Woendi, New Guinea, and at Mindoro, P.I., but had no action from these bases
  • Transferred 25 February 1945 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron SIXTEEN (PTRon 16) under the command of Lt. Robert J. Wehrli, USNR
  • PTRon 16 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
  • The "Celeste", ex-"Crusin' Susan" was placed out of service 26 November 1945, stripped and destroyed at Samar, Philippines
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, two 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns, one 37mm mount and one 20mm mount
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-242 208k A crane barge lowers a new Packard engine into PT-242 at a Pacific base
    National Archives photo 80-G-58532    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan
    Replacement photo: Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-242 353k Closeup of above photo Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-242 118k Blown off torpedo war head
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-242
    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