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Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-48



Call sign:
Nan - William - King - Sugar
77' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 6 June 1941 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 21 August 1941
  • Completed 15 September 1941, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO (MTBRon 2) under the command of Lt. Comdr. 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
  • Deck loaded on Kitty Hawk (APV 1) at Brooklyn Navy Yard 15 December 1941 for transit to Balboa, Canal Zone
  • Arrived at Balboa 25 December 1941
  • Transferred 27 July to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE(2) (MTBRon 3(2) under the command of Lt. Comdr. 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
  • Deck loaded on Tappahannock (AO 43) at Balboa 27 August 1942 for transit to Noumea, New Guinea
  • Arrived Noumea 27 September 1942
  • Transferred 7 August 1944 to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center, Melville, RI for training repair personnel
  • The "Prep Tom", ex-"Deuce" was reclassified as a Small Boat 14 October 1944
  • Donated to Fleet Obsolete, Kingston, NY in 2009 for restoration by Bob and Marsha Hostetler of Fruitland Park, FL who had owned her for the past 10 years.

    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
    PT-48 293k Close-up view of a Mark 13 torpedo mounted on the Mark 1 roll-off rack aboard PT-48. The boat alongside also mounts a pair of Mark 13s and is unusual in having a support for the warhead bolted to the deck
    Photo courtesy W. Trexel from "Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Vol. 2" by John Lambert and Al Ross    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-40, 45, 46, 48 & 61 182k 1 August 1942
    Taboga, Panama
    PT-46 (No. 1); PT-40 (No. 9); PT-61; PT-48 (No. 3) and PT-45 (No. 2) during commissioning ceremonies at the newly established MTB Base. To mislead possible Japanese spies in Panama, and presumably German agents in New York, the hull numbers displayed on the cabins were changed. The eleven boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO were numbered 0 - 10.    		 .
    PT-48 440k c. December 1943
    Outboard Profile and Deck Plan    		 Historic Naval Ships Association website
    PT-48 68k A Radio Controlled model built by Wayne Trexel showing the changes made to PT-48. In place of the four tubes, she carries only two Mk 13 torpedoes and four depth charges
    Photo Wayne Trexel    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-48 108k PT-48 in her shipping cradle at a Florida trailer park ready for shipment to Fleet Obsolete in New York
    PT-48 471k After her arrival at Rondout Creek, Kingston, New York
    PT-48 83k 23 January 2009
    PT-48 arrives at the Rondout Creek, Kingston, New York. In the foreground is Mr. Rob Ianucci of the preservation group, "Fleet Obsolete." The boat is now covered and in a custom built cradle while she awaits repairs
    Photo courtesy Paul Joffe
    Boat Captains
    01LT Lester H. Gamble, USNR - Awarded the Navy Cross (1943) and the Silver Star (1943)October 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-48
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Fleet Obsolete
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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