Naval History Division
Washington : 1962
"PT boats filled an important need in World War II in shallow waters, complementing the achievements of greater ships in greater seas. This need for small, fast, versatile, strongly armed vessels does not wane."--John F. Kennedy
Contents
Foreword vi Introduction ix Preface xiii Chapter Page Part I. Into Action--Pearl Harbor and the Philippines 1. The Lineup 1 2. "They Look Like Japs" 2 3. Manila Bay 3 4. The Fleet Withdraws 6 5. SS Corregidor 7 6. "Motor Torpedo Boats Are Rapidly Deteriorating" 8 7. Visit to Binanga 9 8. End of the 31 11 9. Gunnery Actions 13 10. Return to Subic 14 11. The 32 in Action 14 12. Subic Again 15 13. The General Departs 16 14. The 32 19 15. President Quezon 19 16. Engagement Off Cebu 21 17. "We Could No Longer Fight" 24 18. And Then There Were None 25 19. End of the Squadron 26 20. "Two Hundred Boats If Possible" 27 Part II. Development--A New Type Emerges 1. What Is a PT? 29 2. Ancient History 38 3. World War I and After 40 4. Scott-Paine and Vosper 42 5. Renewed Interest 43 6. The Design Contest 44 7. PT 9 45 8. The Elco Contract 47 9. The Squadrons 48 10. The 77-foot Boat 50 11. Southern Waters and Lend-Lease 51 12. PTC's 51 13. The Plywood Derbies 52 14. Standardization 56 15. Reshuffling the Squadrons 58 16. The Training Center 59 17. Taboga 64 18. Shakedown 66 19. Commissioning Details 67 20. Ferrying Command 68 21. Tenders 68 22. Bases 73 23. Hellcat and Elcoplane 76 Part III. Guadalcanal and Beyond--The Solomons Campaign 1. Midway: Between Two Campaigns 79 2. To the South Pacific 82 3. The Struggle for Guadalcanal 84 4. Meeting the Tokyo Express 86 5. The Battle of Guadalcanal 91 6. After Tassafaronga 95 7. Evacuation 103 8. A Lull in Operations 105 9. Loss of the Niagara 109 10. The Stanvac Manila 112 14 11. The McCawley 114 12. Transition 116 13. First Action at Rendova 117 14. Costly Errors 119 24 15. They Didn't Pass the Word 120 16. The 109 124 17. Barge Hunting 118 18. Vella Lavella 134 19. Daylight Strikes 135 20. End of the New Georgia Campaign 137 21. Treasury and Bougainville 139 22. A Brush with Torpedo Bombers 141 23. Destroyers Again 143 24. Shore Batteries 145 25. To Green Island 146 26. Collision 148 27. Action in Empress August Bay 149 28. Rabaul 151 29. March and April 1944 152 30. The Rugged Life 154 31. Task Group 30.3 157 32. A Trap 159 33. Task Group 70.8 161 Part IV. Southwest Pacific--Conquest of New Guinea 1. To the Buna Campaign 167 2. The Cruise of the Hilo 168 3. Tufi 172 4. Task Group 70.1 175 5. Battle of the Bismarck Sea 180 6. Some Barges and a Fire 182 7. Douglas Harbor and Morobe 183 8. Thursday Island 185 9. Kiriwina, Woodlark, and Nassau Bay 188 10. Action in Huon Gulf 191 11. Lae, Salamaua, and Finschafen 196 12. Morobe: October and November 198 13. A Letter From General Berryman 205 14. Tenders, Staff, and Logistics 206 15. Kiriwina 212 16. Dreger Harbor 213 17. Action on a Reef 215 18. A Submersible 216 19. Planes at Arawe 217 20. Actions Along the New Guinea Coast 219 21. Expansion 222 22. Destruction in Hansa Bay 224 23. The Admiralties 227 24. Rein Bay and Talasea 231 25. New Britain: South Coast 234 26. Saidor 236 27. Aitape 239 28. Mios Woendi 240 29. Operations in Geelvink Bay 248 30. Amsterdam Island 254 31. End of the New Guinea Campaign 257 Part V. The Aleutians--A Battle Against Weather 1. A Race for Islands 261 2. MTB Division 1 262 3. Squadron 13 265 Part VI. The Mediterranean--Torpedo War 1. Squadron 15 277 2. North Africa 278 3. Bizerte 282 4. Sicilian Invasion 285 5. Palermo 287 6. Invasion of Italy 292 7. Maddalena and Bastia 295 8. Winter Operations 299 9. Collision With a Minesweepeer 301 10. Anzio 302 11. TB Destroyers 303 12. Fun With Rockets 305 13. Operation Gun 307 14. Expansion 311 15. Corvettes and Destroyers 312 16. Elba 315 17. Capture of an MAS 320 18. The Thunderbolt 321 19. Southern France 322 20. The Advance Landings 323 21. Diversionary Operations 324 22. Mines 327 23. Porquerolles 329 24. The Gulf of Fos 329 25. Explosive Boats and Human Torpedoes 334 26. Last Days at Bastia 337 27. Leghorn 339 28. Torpedoing the Harbors 345 29. The Last Patrols 346 Part VII. The English Channel--D-Day and After 1. D-Day and the Mason Line 349 2. The Channel Islands 359 3. The Eastern Flank 362 4. End of the Campaign 364 Part VIII. Southwest Pacific--Return to the Philippines 1. Morotai 367 2. Rescue in Wasile Bay 368 3. Losses 371 4. Containing and Harassing 373 5. Battle of Surigao Strait 376 6. Air Attacks 390 7. Leyte and Cebu 395 8. First Days at Mindoro 402 9. A Japanese Task Force 406 10. Mindoro Convoy 408 11. Task Group 77.11 411 12. Mindoro Patrols 412 13. Bases and Logistics 415 14. Lingayen Gulf 420 15. Return to Manila Bay 422 16. Palawan 425 17. Zamboanga 426 18. Panay 427 19. East to Davao 428 20. Tarakan 432 21. Tawi Tawi 434 22. Brunei Bay 436 23. Balikpapan 437 24. MTBRonsPac 438 25. Surrender 441 26. The End and the Beginning 445 Postscript 448 Appendix A--Composition of the Squadrons 449 Appendix B--PT Losses 486 Appendix C--Awards and Citations 489 Appendix D--Casualties 510 A Note on Sources 520 Index 533