Published by the WW II History Roundtable

January 2002

Volume 10 Number 5

Published by The WW II History Roundtable

Edited by Jim and Jon Gerber

Welcome to the January meeting of the Dr. Harold C. Deutsch World War Two History Roundtable. Happy New Year. Tonight’s program is on PT boats. Author Curtis Nelson will be presenting the history of the “devil boats” and we have some veterans to tell their stories.

Announcement

Before we get into tonight’s program, be it known that on December 28, 2001, our fearless leader, Colonel (Retired) Donald Patton and Barbara Jerich were united in marriage at the Fort Snelling Chapel. The Roundtable extends a most hearty congratulations to the happy couple and wishes them all the best and a long and prosperous life together. Please take a moment to congratulate Barbara and Don tonight.

PT Boats

PT stands for “patrol torpedo”. PT’s are also called MTB’s, motor torpedo boats; MGB’s, motor gunboats; and sometimes mosquito boats. By whatever name, this type of boat is essentially a light, fast craft, used primarily for island and restricted water offensive and defensive operations against enemy surface craft. In WW II they frequently had many other uses. The PT boat was both the smallest and the fastest of the surface fighting craft in WW II. With the advantage of shallow draught (about 4 to 5 feet) to penetrate mine fields and harbor defenses, and high speed and maneuverability, the motor torpedo boat answered the need for a weapon that could take the war close into enemy waters, specializing in sudden, unexpected attacks on coastal shipping. Their attacks were usually at night because surprise was a major element in their attack and because by day, lightly armed as they were, they were vulnerable to attack from the air and from larger warships. Their speed was the essence of their success, not so much as a requirement for attack but as a need to get away safely after the attack. The drawback of high speed, especially at night, was the foaming wake that was created, giving away the craft’s presence and position. The ideal attack was often made by lying in wait with engines cut in the path of a convoy, then moving slowly on auxiliary engines towards a target, launching torpedoes, and crash starting the main engines to escape from the counterattack by the convoy escorts, possibly undercover of smokescreens. Sometimes, they managed to remain unsighted even after their attack, and quietly slipped away without the enemy being aware of their presence, and the torpedo hits might then be put down to hitting mines. When they were sighted and engaged in battle, motor torpedo boats fought at closer quarters than any other naval vessels of the war.

PT boats were not limited to attacks on convoys and coastal shipping. They were also used defensively often being the only craft fast enough to combat enemy motor torpedo boats. They played an important role in combined operations raids by supporting beach landings on Japanese-occupied islands. They raided harbors, landed agents on lonely enemy shores and in the Mediterranean, developed techniques for boarding and capturing enemy merchant ships in the manner of the buccaneers of old. Their only limitations were in range, because of the fuel consumption of their powerful engines, in vulnerability to attack during daylight, and an inability, because of their size and somewhat fragile construction, to operate in very heavy seas. The PT boats were also used as patrol boats, much as aircraft were used, for looking for the enemy. The boats that patrolled in the Caribbean, the Aleutians, and off the coasts of West and South Africa, rarely came in to contact with the enemy. In terms of offensive actions, they were involved in three main areas. First, there was the fight for the narrow seas between Britain and Europe. The North Sea and the English Channel saw the greatest confrontation of the war between the motor torpedo boats as both sides tried to attack the other’s coastal convoys as well as defending their own.

The second area was in the Mediterranean, from the coastal waters of North Africa to Italy and the Balkins. Malta was prominent in this struggle, both as a base for the motor torpedo boats and as a target for attack, as each side fought to keep open the lines of supply to their land forces.

The third area in which motor torpedo boats were widely used was the Pacific. Although there were some British forces off Malaya and Burma, it was mainly the American PT boats that fought the Japanese in the island hopping campaigns of New Guinea, the Solomon islands and the Philippines. The PT boats played a vital role in attacking coastal supply ships and in keeping large groups of Japanese forces bottled up in their island garrisons. They were also effective against enemy warships up to the size of a light cruiser, and took part in some of the most dramatic naval engagements of the Pacific war, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Lucky Sailor

On January 25, 1944, the advanced US PT-boat base on Papua, New Guinea, was informed that a Japanese submarine had been spotted just south of Gasmata, New Britain. The submarine was in shallow waters and looked ripe for the kill. Two PT boats of Squadron 8 were assigned to stalk and sink the enemy submarine. PT 110 had just arrived at the base before it was assigned to the mission. Yeoman 1st Class Joseph Kline knew the skipper, who invited him along on the patrol. He gathered up his gear and headed for the dock. Some of his friends were swimming and asked him if he had gotten someone for his watch that night. Kline was unaware that he had the watch that night and checked the duty roster. Sure enough, he had the midnight to 4:00 AM watch. He asked everyone in his quarters to take his watch for him but they all had something else to do. Kline was infuriated. He returned to the pier and found the skipper and told him that he had to stand watch that night. He then watched the boat head out into the open waters of the Solomon sea for the 100 mile trek to Gasmata.

In the communications shack, around 3:00 AM, Joe Kline heard shouts of “May Day! May Day!”. PT 110 was in big trouble. The companion boat, PT 114, reported that there had been an explosion and PT 110 had been blown completely out of the water and destroyed. No survivors were found. After going off duty, Joe Kline thanked all of his friends for not taking his watch. By chance, Yeoman Kline had escaped death.