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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-296



Call sign:
Nan - Queen - How - William
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 8 March 1943 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 27 April 1943
  • Completed 18 October 1943, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron SIXTEEN (PTRon 16) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Almer P. Colvin, USN
  • PTRon 16 participated in the Aleutian campaign from August 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, PTRon 16 was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for action at Mindoro from
    December 15 to 19, 1944. PT's 295-301, placed in service after the squadron had departed for the Aleutians, were designated as Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron SIXTEEN B (PTRon 16B), which was commissioned as a
    separate command under Lt. James H. Van Sicklen, USNR
  • Transferred 2 December 1943 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (PTRon 4) under the command of LCDR Francis D. Tappaan, USNR
  • PTRon 4 was the training squadron, based at the MTB Squadrons Training Center, Melville, R.I. It was the largest squadron, having a peak of 28 boats in service at one time. When the training center was decommissioned early in
    1946, PTRon 4 was assigned to the Operational Development Force, and based at Solomons, Md. It was the last squadron to be decommissioned
  • Placed out of service 1 February 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration 8 July 1948 and sold
  • Fate unknown.

    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.
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    There is no DANFS history available for PT-296
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