PT-20 Underway at high speed, circa 1941. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | PT-20 |
Builder | Electric Boat Company |
Laid down | 14 October 1940 |
Launched | 14 Mar 1941 |
Sponsored by | United States Navy |
Completed | 9 June 1941 |
Commissioned | 20 June 1941 |
Stricken | 22 December 1944 |
Notes |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Patrol torpedo boat |
Tonnage | 40 gross register tons |
Length | 77 ft (23 m) (o/a) |
Beam | 19 feet 11 inches (6.07 m) |
Height | 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) |
Propulsion | Three 1,500 hp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts. |
Armament | Two twin .50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns; Two .303 caliber Lewis machine guns; 2 21" torpedo tubes; Four torpedoes |
Service record | |
Operations: |
PT-20 was the first PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy that served during World War II. Her first post was at Pearl Harbor PT Boat Base.
PT-20 was commissioned by the United States Navy and laid down on 14 October 1940 at the Elco Works of the Electric Launch Company (now Electric Boat Company) at their Bayonne, New Jersey shipyard; launched on 14 Mar 1941; and completed on 9 June 1941. [1] On 20 June 1941, she was commissioned and attached to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two (MTBRON 2) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Earl S. Caldwell and assigned to patrol the Panama Canal Zone. [1] On 13 August 1941, she was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron One (MTBRON 1) under the command of Lt. William C. Specht and assigned to Pearl Harbor. [1] [2] During the attack on Pearl Harbor, PT-20 was moored at berth S-13 awaiting loading on the replenishment oiler USS Ramapo (AO-12) for MTBRON 1's assignment to the Philippines. [3] All 12 boats of the squadron fired on the attacking Japanese aircraft with one, PT-23 , credited with shooting down two Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. [3]
In May 1942, the squadron was reassigned to Lt. Clinton McKellar Jr. and tasked with the defense of Midway Island [3] [4] being led by Marine Corps Colonel Harold D. Shannon. The squadron made the 1,385 mile trip under their own power, then the longest made by PT boats to date [3] refueling at Necker Island, French Frigate Shoals, and Lisianski Island. [5] 11 of the 12 PT boats of MTBRON 1 made it to Midway ( PT-23 had broken a crankshaft en route and was forced to return to Pearl Harbor). [3] [5] PT-20 along with PT-21 , PT-22, PT-24, PT-25, PT-26, PT-27, PT-28, PT-42 were assigned to Midway Island while PT-29 and PT-30 were assigned to nearby Kure Atoll (55 miles west). During the Battle of Midway, they were tasked with providing anti-aircraft support (PT-21 and PT-22 were credited with downing a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighter), patrolling the perimeter of the island, and the rescuing of downed pilots. After the battle, the squadron was sent to attack the remainder of the Japanese task force but was unable to locate the target. [6] On 15 July 1942, the squadron returned to Pearl Harbor and then was divided: PT-21, PT-23, PT-25, and PT-26 (along with motor torpedo boat tender Hilo ) were deployed to Palmyra Atoll; PT-22, PT-24, PT-27, and PT-28 were deployed to Adak Island in the Aleutians; while PT-20, PT-29 , PT-30 , and PT-42 remained at Pearl Harbor. [4] On 22 December 1944, PT-20 was struck from the Navy list due to obsolescence. [1] [3] Her fate is unknown. [1]
A PT boat was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the US Navy they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to December 1941. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, and PT-41, the last as the squadron flagship. The other six boats of the squadron remained at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and were there when war broke out, eventually being shipped to the Solomons.
I-68, later renumbered I-168, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai–type cruiser submarine of the KD6 sub-class commissioned in 1934. She served in World War II, operating in support of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and taking part in the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Aleutian Islands campaign before she was sunk in 1943. She is best known for her achievements during the Battle of Midway when, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe, she sank the only United States Navy warships lost in the battle: the already badly damaged aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) and the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412).
USS Sicard (DD-346/DM-21/AG-100) was a United States Navy Clemson-class destroyer in commission from 1920 to 1945. She was service during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral Montgomery Sicard.
I-15 was an Imperial Japanese Navy B1 type submarine commissioned in 1940 that served during World War II. She supported the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, operated off the United States West Coast, and took part in Operation K-1, the Aleutian Islands campaign, and the Guadalcanal campaign, including the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, before she was sunk in November 1942 during her fourth war patrol.
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The second I-24 was one of five Type C cruiser submarines of the C1 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. During World War II, she operated as the mother ship for a midget submarine during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack on Sydney Harbour, supported Japanese forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, and served in the Guadalcanal campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Aleutian Islands campaign. She was sunk in June 1943.
I-74, later I-174, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai type cruiser submarine of the KD6B sub-class commissioned in 1938. During World War II, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, the New Guinea campaign, and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and operated off Australia before she was sunk during her ninth war patrol in 1944.
I-9 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Type A1 submarine commissioned in 1941. She saw service during World War II, including operations related to the attack on Pearl Harbor, a patrol off the United States West Coast, and in Operation K. She also took part in the Aleutians campaign and the Guadalcanal campaign before she was sunk in June 1943.
I-73 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai type cruiser submarine of the KD6A sub-class commissioned in 1937 that served during World War II. One month after participating in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she was sunk by the United States Navy submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) in January 1942.
I-56, later I-156, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai-class cruiser submarine of the KD3B sub-class commissioned in 1929. During World War II, she supported Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya in December 1941, the Dutch East Indies campaign in early 1942, and the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Except for brief service in the Aleutian Islands campaign in 1943, she subsequently served on training duties until selected for use as a kaiten manned suicide torpedo carrier in 1945. She surrendered to the Allies in 1945 after the end of the war and was scuttled in 1946.
I-75, later I-175, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai-type cruiser submarine of the KD6B sub-class commissioned in 1938. During World War II, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, the Aleutian Islands campaign, and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and operated off Australia, before she was sunk in 1944 during her tenth war patrol. She is best known for sinking the United States Navy escort carrier USS Liscome Bay on 24 November 1943.
PT-30 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy American that served during World War II.
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PT-42 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy that served during World War II.
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I-71, later I-171, was a Kaidai-class cruiser submarine of the KD6 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s. She served in World War II, and took part in operations supporting the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the Aleutian Islands campaign. She was sunk on1 February 1944 after being detected on the surface by U.S. Navy destroyers off Buka Island.
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...when Squadron 1 was directed on August 13 to prepare for assignment to the Pacific Fleet, it was assigned the most nearly complete of the remaining boats, PT's 20 to 30 and PT 42
Meanwhile, at 1920 CNAS Midway decided to employ his motor torpedo boats as an attack squadron and sent a squadron of nine MTB's from Midway and two MTB's from Kure Island to attack the task force containing the burning carriers. They were unable to locate the target. With the coming of daylight they commenced their return to Midway.