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Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-617



Call sign:
Nan - Queen - Baker - Roger
80' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 29 March 1945 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 28 July 1945
  • Completed 21 September 1945, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FORTY TWO (MTBRon 42) under the command of Lt. Comdr. James A. Danver, USNR
  • MTBRon 42 was the only squadron commissioned after the cessation of hostilities. Although assigned to the Pacific Fleet, it was never shipped to the Pacific
  • The "Big Red Cock", ex-"Dragon Lady" was placed out of service 28 January 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration 23 October 1947 and sold
  • Displayed at the Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, MA.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 80'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5'
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, four 21" torpedoes, one 37mm deck gun, one 20mm mount and two twin .50 cal. Browning 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-617 143k Depicted in Measure 31/20L camouflage. This post card view was published by PT Boats Incorporated
    Photo by Al Ross, II from "Naval Camouflage 1914-1945: A Complete Visual History" by David Williams    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-617 215k Restored PT-617 at Battleship Cove before Newberry Hall was built over it
    Photo by Tom DelRossi from "Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Volume II" by John Lambert & Al Ross
    PT-617 93k
    PT-617 19k On September 1, 1985, PT Boat 617 went on display at the private non-profit Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. PT-617 was added by the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks and the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1989
    Photo from NPS Maritime Heritage Program collection    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 3 December 2021
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-617
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Historic Naval Ships Association
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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