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-523



Call sign:
Nan - William - Charlie - Queen

80' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 22 November 1943 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 15 February 1944
  • Completed 21 March 1944
  • Placed in service 3 April 1944 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THIRTY SIX (MTBRon 36) under the command of LCDR Francis D. Tappaan, USNR
  • MTBRon 36, assigned to the Southwest Pacific, had action at Mios Woendi, New Guinea; at San Pedro Bay, Lingayen Gulf, and Tawi Tawi in the Philippines; and at Tarakan, Borneo
  • The "Mustang" was placed out of service 29 October 1945
  • Transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission in May 1946 and sold
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 80'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5'
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, one 37mm mount, four 21" torpedoes 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-523 189k 22 October 1944
    Ensign Ray Crandell, TBM Pilot of VC-80, and his air crewman being brought back on board USS Manila Bay (CVE 61) by PT-523 from USS Appalachian (AGC 1), after they were shot down over Leyte Island beachhead, Philippines
    National Archives photo 80-G-372892 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    PT-523 194k During the Leyte Invasion, 1944, PT-523 is receiving a message by high line from USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) at sea, en route to Leyte, October 1944
    National Archives photo 80-G-345817    		 Mike Green
    Boat Captains
    01LT Robert W. Orrell, USNROctober 1944
    02LT N. S. Russell, Jr., USNRJanuary 1945
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-523
    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