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Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-108



Call sign:
Nan - Xray - Sugar - Nan
80' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 27 February 1942 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 17 June 1942
  • Completed 7 July 1942, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FIVE (MTBRon 5) under the command of Comdr. Henry Farrow, USN
  • MTBRon 5 operated in the Panama Canal Zone area beginning in September 1942 and was transported across the Pacific to the Solomon Islands in the spring of 1943. It moved forward to Rendova, in the
    Central Solomons, in July 1943. During the next two months the "Plywood Bastard" took part in a number of engagements with the enemy. She was present during the 1-2 August night action in the Blackett Strait that resulted in the loss of her sister boat PT-109. The following night, while patrolling off Vella Lavella, she and her companions were repeatedly attacked by Japanese aircraft, but she was not damaged. However, on 22 August she participated in a daylight raid against the coast of Kolombangara and was repeatedly struck by enemy fire, suffering serious casualties among her crew. She remained with MTBRon 5 during the rest of the Central Solomons and Admiralties campaign
  • Transferred 15 February 1945 to the Southwest Pacific area where she was reassigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TEN (MTBRon 10) under the command of Lt. Christopher B. Armat, USNR
  • MTBRon 10, assigned to the South Pacific, had action at Rendova, Vella Lavella, Treasury, Bougainville, and Green. Transferred to the Southwest Pacific in April 1944, the squadron had action at Saidor
    New Guinea; Morotai, in the Halmaheras; and at Balikpapan, Borneo. The squadron also based for a time at Mios Woendi, Dutch New Guinea, and at Samar, P.I., but had no action from these bases
  • With the other surviving boats of the squadron, the "Lil' Duck", ex-"8 Boat" was placed out of service 11 November 1945, stripped and destroyed at Samar, Philippines.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 80'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5'
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One single 40mm mount, four 21" torpedoes, one 37mm mount, one 20mm mount and two twin .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-108 364k Photo showing the construction of the charthouse and day cabin of an 80' Elco boat, circa 1942. The unit is built in jigs, to ensure a proper fit. The 3360 scribbled on the day cabin indicates that this unit belongs to hull No. 3360 (later PT-108)
    Photo courtesy of the Electric Boat Company, Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ from "Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Vol. II" by John Lambert and Al Ross    		 Robert Hurst
    PT-107 & 108 186k PT-108 (left) and PT-107 (right) stowed on board the "Liberty Ship" Joseph Stanton for transportation to the Pacific. Photographed at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 20
    August 1942.
    National Archives photo 19-N-33168    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    PT-108 77k 20 August 1942
    Stowed on board the "Liberty Ship" Joseph Stanton for transportation to the Pacific
    Norfolk Navy Yard photo 3539 (42)
    PT-108 75k Refueling Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-108 64k c. 1944
    Mios Woendi, Dutch New Guinea
    PT-108, PT-162 and PT-157    		 PT Boats Public Group
    PT-167 88k 9 June 1945
    MTBRon 10 PT's nesting along side tender USS Pontus (AGP 20). PT-171 on the outside, followed by PT-167, PT-108 and an unknown boat.
    Photo courtesy of Henry Beazley
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-108
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