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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-32

Destroyed 13 March 1942
77' Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 19 March 1941 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 6 June 1941
  • Completed 10 July 1941, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO under the command of Lt. Comdr. Earl S. Caldwell, USN
  • Transferred 12 August 1941 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (PTRon 3) under the command of Lt. John D. Bulkeley, USN
  • PTRon 3 was the only PT squadron engaged in the defense of the Philippines. Among its important missions was the evacuation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in March 1942
  • Under command of Lt. (jg) V.E. Schumacher, PT-32 evacuated the following personnel from Corregidor to Mindinao 12 March 1942:
    Brig. Gen. Spencer B. Akin (Signals Officer, [U.S. Forces Far East] USFFE);
    Brig. Gen. Hugh J. Casey (Engineering Officer, USFFE);
    Brig. Gen. William F. Marquat (Antiaircraft Artillery Officer, USFFE);
    Brig. Gen. Harold H. George (Air Officer, USFFE), and
    Lt. Col. Joe R. Sherr (Asst Signals Officer, USFFE)
  • After General MacArthur's staff were transferred from PT-32, Lt. (jg) Schumacher and his crew were picked up by the submarine USS Permit (SS 178), which took them to Fremantle, Australia. They intentionally destroyed
    PT-32 during the [13 March 1942] rendezvous, in the Sulu Sea off Tagauayan, Philippinesto prevent the Japanese from capturing it. With the crew of PT-32 on board, USS Permit was severely overloaded with passengers.
    The Permit's mission had been to evacuate from Corregidor a group of code breakers who were capable of translating intercepted Japanese military communications. These code breakers apparently knew beforehand, the
    position of the Japanese destroyers that depth-charged the Permit a few days later, but did not tell the captain of USS Permit for fear that his taking another route to avoid them would reveal that the U.S. had broken the
    Japanese code.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 40 t.
  • Length 77'
  • Beam 19' 11"
  • Draft 4' 6"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 15
  • Armament: Two twin .50 cal. Browning M2 machine guns in Dewandre turrets and four 18" torpedoes
  • Propulsion: Three 3,600shp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-32 25k . .
    PT-32 29k . .
    PT-32 83k Underway at speed, on her trials
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-31, 32. 33, 34, 35 & 41 65k Guadalupe (AO-32) bound for the Philippines in September 1941 with a deck cargo of six PT boats (PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35 and PT-41) of PTRon 3 Robert Hurst
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-32
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