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-237



Call sign:
Nan - Dog - Dog - Tare
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 8 October 1942 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 14 November 1942
  • Completed 22 April 1943
  • Placed in service 23 April 1943 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron NINETEEN (MTBRon 19) under the command of LCDR Russell H. Smith, USN
  • MTBRon 19, assigned to the South Pacific, had action at Vella Lavella, Treasury, and Green. The squadron was decommissioned and its boats were distributed to replenish other squadrons which had
    suffered operational losses
  • Transferred 19 April 1944 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY (MTBRon 20) under the command of LT Arthur H. Berndtson, USN
  • MTBRon 20, assigned to the South Pacific, had action at Treasury and Bougainville. Transferred to the Southwest Pacific in December 1944, the squadron saw action off Palawan, P.I. It also based for a
    time at Dreger Harbor, Aitape, and Mios Woendi, New Guinea, and at San Pedro Bay and Mindoro in the Philippines, but had no action from these bases
  • The "Battling Betsy", ex-"Battling Betty", ex-"Pistol Packin' Mama" was placed out of service 24 November 1945
  • Transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission in May 1946 and sold
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: Four 21" torpedoes, one 40mm 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-237 236k 28 March 1945
    Photo from the collection of LTJG Robert Davis Helsby, USNR    		 Bob Helsby
    PT-237 196k LTJG Robert Davis Helsby, USNR. The first Boat Captain of PT-237
    Photo from the collection of LTJG Robert Davis Helsby, USNR
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-237
    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