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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-309



Call sign:
Nan - King - Easy - Tare
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 9 April 1943 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 11 June 1943
  • Completed 26 January 1944 and placed in service with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY TWO (MTBRon 22) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Richard J. Dressling
  • MTBRon 22, assigned to the Mediterranean, based at Bastia, Corsica, and St. Tropez, France, and had action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France, operating under the British
    Coastal Forces. After the end of the Mediterranean campaign in April 1945, the squadron was shipped back to the United States for reconditioning and reassignment to the Pacific, but the war ended while the squadron was still in New York
  • Placed out of service 15 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945
  • "Oh Frankie" was transferred to the War Shipping Administration 18 June 1948
  • Sold in 1960 to Ira Ether of Brooklyn, NY and named Sherry Ann
  • Acquired in 1988 by Lawrence G. Porter of Greenport, NY and renamed Brand X
  • Restored and located at the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas.

    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-309
    PT-309 35k
    PT-309 10k Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-309 76k
    PT-309 140k
    PT-202, 304 & 309 322k c. July 1943
    "A row of American sub-chasers are tied up in the harbor of Palermo, Sicily
    Right to left: PT-202, unidentified, PT-309 and unidentified
    Dept. of the Air Force Photo ID 67101AC from the National Archives (ID 204919294)    		 David Upton
    Photo added 16 May 2021
    Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas
    PT-309 2990k 4 October 2009
    Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas    		 Brett Wuest
    PT-309 292k
    PT-309 293k
    PT-309 286k
    PT-309 276k
    PT-309 242k
    PT-309 277k
    PT-309 392k
    PT-309 277k
    PT-309 298k
    Boat Captains
    01LTJG Wayne E. Barber, USNRJune 1944
    02LT Roscoe T. Avery, USNRApril 1945
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-309
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Motor Torpedo Boat (PT) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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