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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

HM CT-41
HM MGB-189
ex-PT-203



Call sign:
Nan - Charlie - Charlie - William

PT-203 served the Navies of the United States, Great Britain and Yugoslavia.

78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 7 July 1942 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 3 October 1942
  • Completed 23 January 1943, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FIFTEEN (MTBRon 15) under the command of Comdr. Stanley M. Barnes, USN
  • MTBRon 15 was the first PT squadron sent to the Mediterranean Theater, where it operated as a unit of the British Coastal Forces. It had action throughout the western Mediterranean, basing at Bizerte
    and Bone, Africa; Palermo, Sicily; Salerno, Capri, and Leghorn, Italy; Maddalena, Sardinia; Bastia and Calvi, Corsica, and St. Tropez, France
  • The "Sharks Head", ex-"Gill's Crew" was transferred to Great Britain 17 October 1944 and named HM MGB-189
  • Reclassified as a Control Target Boat, CT-40
  • Transferred by the British to Yugoslavia in August 1945
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists transfer to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission as January 1947
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, four 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns and one 20mm mount
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-203
    PT-202 71k PT-210, PT-203 and PT-202 Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
    PT-203 191k Crew photos
    PT-203 171k
    PT-203 88k c. 1944
    "Shark toothed" PT-203 and PT-215, moored between two unidentified PT boats at the PT Boat Base at Bastia, Corsica in the Mediterranean. PT-312 is in the
    left background
    Photo from Life Magazine Archives - Carl Mydans Photographer, Shared by Peter DeForest    		 Mike Green
    PT-203 162k c. 1944
    Crew members of PT-203 relaxing in the sun on the boat’s bow
    Photo from Life Magazine Archives - Carl Mydans Photographer, Shared by Peter DeForest
    HM CT-40
    PT-203 126k From the collection of Arthur William Finch, Stoker First Class, Royal Navy Kris Griffin
    PT-203 120k
    PT-203 113k c. May 1945
    St. Angelo, Malta
    Moored inboard of CT-41
    From the collection of Arthur William Finch, Stoker First Class, Royal Navy
    PT-203 139k c. May 1945
    St. Angelo, Malta
    Inscription on back of photo reads: Sparko, Danny, Joey, Jock, Me (Arthur Finch), Bill, Mack, Eddy – all the crew except one
    From the collection of Arthur William Finch, Stoker First Class, Royal Navy
    Boat Captain
    01LTJG Robert B. Reade, USNR - Awarded the Silver Star (1944) and the Bronze StarMay 1943
    02LTJG Norman G. Hickman, USNR - Awarded the Bronze Star and the British Distinguished Service CrossJune 1944
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-203
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Motor Torpedo Boat (PT) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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