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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

C105339
ex-PT-559



Call sign:
Nan - William - Item - King

80' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 10 July 1943 by Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
  • Launched 24 September 1943
  • Completed 4 November 1943 and placed in service with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY NINE (MTBRon 29) under the command of Comdr. S. Stephen Daunis, USN
  • MTBRon 29, assigned to the Mediterranean, based at Calvi, Corsica, and Leghorn, Italy, and had action along the northwest coast of Italy and southern coast of France, operating under the British
    Coastal Forces
  • On the night of 14/15 June 1944, PT-558, PT-552 and PT-559 torpedoed and sank the German torpedo boats TA-26, ex-Italian Intrepido and TA-30, ex-Italian Dragone between La Spezia and
    Genoa, Italy
  • Transferred 23 November 1944 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (MTBRon 4) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Jack E. Gibson
  • MTBRon 4 was the training squadron, based at the MTB Squadrons Training Center, Melville, R.I. It was the largest squadron, having a peak of 28 boats in service at one time. When the training center
    was decommissioned early in 1946, MTBRon 4 was assigned to the Operational Development Force, and based at Solomons, MD. It was the last squadron to be decommissioned, and its boats
  • The "Black Ruff" was placed out of service 28 January 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register 25 February 1946
  • Reclassified as a Small Boat, C105339, 27 August 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 80'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5'
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: One quad-20mm Elco Thunderbolt mount, one 37mm mount, one 20mm mount, four 21" torpedoes 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-559 100k c. September 1945
    Leaving Rhode Island

    Commanding Officers
    01LT Robert E. Nagle, USNR - Awarded the Silver StarSeptember 1944
    Courtesy Joe Radigan

    There is no DANFS history available for PT-559
    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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