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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

PT-285



Call sign:
Nan - Peter - Jig - Yankee
78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

  • Laid down 8 February 1943 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA
  • Launched 23 March 1943
  • Completed 16 July 1943, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY THREE (MTBRon 23) under the command of LCDR Ronald K. Irving, USN
  • MTBRon 23, assigned to the South Pacific, had action at Bougainville and Green. Transferred to the Southwest Pacific in December 1944, the squadron had action at Palawan, in the Philippines. It also
    based for a time at Mios Woendi, New Guinea, and at Mindoro, P.I., but had no action from these bases
  • "Scuttlebutt John", ex-"Fighting Irish" was placed out of service, stripped and destroyed by U.S. Forces 26 November 1945 at Samar, Philippines.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 56 t.
  • Length 78'
  • Beam 20' 8"
  • Draft 5' 3"
  • Speed 41 kts.
  • Complement 17
  • Armament: Four 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns and two 20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PT-285 270k Photo from "PT Boats" by Bryon Cooper
    Replacement photo: 19 October 1943
    National Archives photo 80-G-85754    		 Original photo: Tommy Trampp
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    There is no DANFS history available for PT-285
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