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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-305

Call sign:
Nan - King - Easy - How

78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

Laid down 30 March 1943 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA

Launched 27 May 1943

Completed 8 December 1943

Placed in service 22 December 1943 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY TWO (MTBRon 22) under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Richard J. Dressling, USN

MTBRon 22 was assigned to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and based at Bastia, Corsica, until moving to St. Tropez, France

At the end of hostilities in Europe, MTBRon 22 was shipped back to the United States for reconditioning and assignment to the Pacific. However, Japan surrendered while the boats were still in New York

City, and the Squadron was placed out of service on 15 November 1945

Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945

The "Sudden Jerk", ex-"Higgins Mortuary", ex-"Half Hitch", ex-"Bar Fly" was transferred to the War Shipping Administration 18 June 1948

Sold in 1948 to Frank Reis of Provincetown, MA and named Scalloping I

Sold in 1951 to Scalloping, Inc. of New York

Sold in 1952 to William Luhrssen and Vincent McGuire of Brooklyn, NY

Sold in 1953 to Thomas Bogan of Brielle, NJ, for use as a fishing boat and renamed Jersey

Resold in 1953 to MiJo, Inc. of Brielle

Sold in 1963 to Bill Egerter of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ and renamed Dauntless

Sold in 1964 to Michael Joseph Burns of Point Pleasant, NJ and renamed Man O' War

Sold in 1973 to James Nisbet of Hilton Head Island, SC and renamed Vagabond

Sold in 1979 for $73,875 to S & M, Inc., dba Vagabond Cruises, Inc. of Fort Myers, FL

Sold in 1984 to Capt. David Jones' Point Lookout Cruise Corp. of Point Lookout, VA

Sold in 1988 to Howard R. and David W. Crow of Tilghman Island, MD and renamed Crow Brothers

Transferred title 1 March 2001 to the Defenders of America Naval Museum, Inc. of Kemah, TX and renamed PT-305

Out of documentation in 2005

Has been completely restored at the National World War II Museum, New Orleans, LA using 17,000 volunteer man hours. She has been launched and all three of her engines have been run. She will be

operated by the museum in spring 2017 on Lake Ponchartrain.

Specifications:

Displacement 56 t.

Length 78'

Beam 20' 8"

Draft 5' 3"

Speed 41 kts.

Complement 17

Armament: One 40mm mount, four Mk 13 torpedoes, two twin and two single .50 cal. machine guns, one 60mm mortar and two 20mm mounts

Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description	Source
PT-305
	73k	Mr. Morris, XO and Mr. Purdy, CO	Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
	59k	Mr. Purdy, Mr. Morris and crew
	72k	LTJG [Richard A.] Hamilton, [USNR] and ENS Morris
	121k	Starboard .50 cal. mount
	75	Taking chow amidships. A retrofitted .50 cal. Browning machine gun is to port on a pipe-stem mount U.S. Navy photo	Robert Hurst
	133k	In dry dock	Bob Wade
F/V Jersey
	1201k	c. 1954 Jersey leaving Brielle, NJ. When this picture was taken, Captain Thomas Bogan was at the helm Photo from Mel's Place courtesy of Captain Dave Bogan, Sr.	Robert Hurst
F/V Man O' War
	418k	c. 1966 Manasquan Inlet, Manasquan, NJ Returning from a fishing trip Photo from Mel's Place	Mel Deak
	164k	c. 1974 Brielle, NJ Photo courtesy of Skip Tonks	Mel's Place
Crow Brothers
	71k	Crow Brothers	Randy Smith
PT-305
	31k	At the Defenders of America Naval Museum, Inc.	Randy Smith
PT-305
	110k	19 November 2016 *PT-305, begins its journey through the streets of New Orleans to the Port of New Orleans Photo by Jeff Johnston/National World War II Museum*	Ron Reeves
	75k	19 November 2016 *PT-305, atop a barge, heads toward Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain Photo by Jeff Johnston/National World War II Museum*	Ron Reeves
	319k	15 February 2017	Randy Smith
	167k	3 March 2017	Randy Smith