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-39



Call sign:
Nan - Uncle - Love - Uncle

ex-PTC-19
ex-PT-39

77' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Originally planned as PT-39 but reclassified as a Motor Boat Submarine Chaser, PTC-19
  • Reclassified back to PT-39 in March 1941
  • Laid down 22 April 1941 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 2 July 1941
  • Completed 21 July 1941 and placed in service with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron ONE (MTBRon 1)under the command of LT William C. Specht, USN
  • MTBRon 1 was the first squadron commissioned, and originally was made up of experimental boats
  • Transferred 13 August 1941 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO (MTBRon 2) under the command of LCDR Earl S. Caldwell, USN
  • MTBRon 2 tested the first 70' Elco boats in Florida and Caribbean waters in the winter of 1940/41. In December 1941, with 11 new 77' Elco boats, the squadron was assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier.
    Then late in 1942, with six 77' Elco boats and six 80' Elco boats, it was shipped to the South Pacific, where it was active in the Solomons campaign, engaging in many strenuous night actions with the Tokyo Express in the defense of Guadalcanal
  • Transferred 27 July 1942 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (2), (MTBRon 3(2)) under the command of LCDR Alan R. Montgomery, USN
  • MTBRon 3(2) was the first squadron to arrive in the Solomons, and fought many strenuous engagements with the Tokyo Express at Guadalcanal
  • Transferred 7 August 1944 to MTB Squadrons Training Center, Melville, RI for training repair personnel
  • Reclassified as a Small Boat 14 October 1944
  • Fate unknown.

    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 21" torpedoes
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    No image of PT-39 is available at this time
    Boat Captains
    01LTJG James Brent Greene, USNR - Awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze StarOctober 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-39
    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