Motor Torpedo Boat patrolling off coast of New Guinea | |
History | |
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United States Navy | |
Name | PT-48 |
Builder | Electric Launch Company, Bayonne, New Jersey |
Laid down | 6 June 1941 |
Launched | 21 August 1941 |
Completed | 15 September 1941 |
Nickname(s) | "Prep Tom" - "Deuce" [1] |
Fate | Museum ship at Fleet Obsolete in Kingston, New York [2] |
Notes | Call Sign: Nan - William - King - Sugar [1] |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Elco 77-foot PT boat |
Displacement | 40 long tons (41 t) |
Length | 77 ft (23 m) |
Beam | 19 ft 11 in (6.07 m) |
Draft | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
Propulsion | 3 × 1,500 shp (1,119 kW) Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, 3 shafts |
Speed | 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph) |
Complement | 15 |
Armament |
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Patrol torpedo boat PT-48 is a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. PT-48 was laid down on 6 June 194, launch on 8 July 1941, and was completed on 21 August 1941. [1] PT-48 was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRon 2) under the command of Lieutenant commander Earl S. Caldwell. PT-48 was part of 11 new 77-foot Elco boats that were assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier, to protect the Panama Canal, starting in December 1941. PT-48 was shipped to the Balboa, Canal Zone on the deck of USS Kitty Hawk (APV 1) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, departing on 15 December 1941. PT-48 arrived at Balboa on 25 December 1941 and was transferred 27 July to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three under the command of Lieutenant commander Alan R. Montgomery. [1] PT-48 operated out of Balboa and Taboga, Panama. On Taboga Island was PT Boat Base Taboga Island. At its peak the PT Boat Base Taboga Island had 47 PT boats and 1,200 troops. After the crew was trained and the PT Boat completed sea trails, they would be sent to other US Naval Advance Bases. [3] [4] [5] [6] PT-48 commander, Lieutenant Lester H. Gamble USNR was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star in 1943. [1]
On 27 August 1942 PT-48 was loaded on the deck of the USS Tappahannock (AO-43) at Balboa and arrived at Naval Base Noumea at Noumea, New Caledonia on 27 September 1942. Naval Base Noumea became a major Naval training center. On 7 August 1944, PT-48 transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center, in Melville, Rhode Island. At the training Center PT-48 was use to training repair personnel. On 14 October 1944 PT-48 was reclassified as a Small Boat. Bob and Marsha Hostetler of Fruitland Park, Florida, took ownership of PT-48 in 1999. In 2009, PT-48 was donated to Fleet Obsolete, Kingston, New York to be restored. PT-48 is one of the few surviving 77-foot Elco boats. [1] [2]
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).
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Fleet Obsolete is vessel restoration nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in Kingston, New York. Fleet Obsolete rescues and restores rare artifacts and boats from World War II era. Fleet Obsolete owns and is restoring four of the rare PT boats. Fleet Obsolete is housed in the historical Cornell Shops Building on the waterfront of the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek. Cornell Steamboat Company was founded in 1827 and used the Cornell Building as a machine shop. Fleet Obsolete was founded by Robert Iannucci in 2005. Robert Iannucci purchased five PT boats built during World War II. Robert Iannucci worked on racing teams for classic motorcycless and is now a retired Brooklyn attorney. Iannucci passion for United States Navy boats came from his time as a Sea Scout in Hackensack, New Jersey
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