PT-105 was aPT boat of theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. The 80-foot (24 m)motor torpedo boat was built by theElco Motor Yacht Company of Bayonne, New Jersey, in early 1942, and served until the end of the war.
![]() USSPT-105 | |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | PT-105 |
Builder | Elco Motor Yachts,Bayonne, New Jersey |
Laid down | 5 February 1942 |
Launched | 4 June 1942 |
Completed | 26 June 1942 |
Commissioned | June 1942 |
Decommissioned | November 1945 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1945 |
General characteristics | |
Type | PT boat |
Displacement | 56long tons (57 t) (full load) |
Length | 80 ft (24 m) (overall) |
Beam | 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) |
Draft | 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) maximum (aft) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph) maximum (trials) |
Endurance | 12 hours, 6 hours at top speed |
Complement | 3 officers, 14 enlisted men |
Armament |
|
Armor | Deck house fitted with armor plate to protect against rifle bullets andsplinters |
Service history
editPT-105 was commissioned in June 1942, as part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 5,[1] under the command of Cdr. Henry Farrow.[2] From September 1942 until early in 1943 she served on thePanama Sea Frontier, when she was transferred to theSolomon Islands.PT-105, under the command of Lt. Richard E. Keresey,[3] was present during the action with Japanese destroyers in theBlackett Strait on the night of 1–2 August 1943, in the aftermath of whichPT-109(commanded byLieutenant (junior grade)John F. Kennedy, futureUS president) was sunk. On the 22nd of that month,PT-105 participated in a daylight raid on theKolombangara coast that provoked a considerable fight between PT boats and enemy coastal guns. At the end of 1944 MTB Squadron 5 was disbanded and its remaining boats distributed to other squadrons.[1]
On 15 February 1945PT-105 was transferred to MTB Squadron 18, under the command of Lt. Edward Macauley III, and saw action inNew Guinea; atManus Island in the Admiralties; and atMorotai in the Halmaheras. She was also based for a time atKana Kopa, New Guinea, and inSan Pedro Bay, Philippines, but saw no action there.[1]
25 March 1945 a USO show was in Morotai and one of the performers was dancer Betsy Seligman (aka Betsy Berkely) - during the show she recognized among the servicemen her high school classmate from Seguin, TX, Lt (jg) Clarence Saegert, then the skipper of the PT 105. The crew took Betsy on a fast tour of the harbor and made her an honorary member of the crew, complete with a certificate signed by all the crew. PT 105 became known among the squadron as the USS 'Betsy'.[citation needed]
The vessel was placed out of service on 1 November 1945, and later stripped and scrapped atSamar, Philippines.[1]
References
edit- ^abcd"USSPT-105, 1942-1945".Naval Historical Center. 30 June 2002. Archived fromthe original on 1 November 2004. Retrieved18 March 2023.
- ^"PT-105".navsource.org. 2011. Retrieved20 January 2012.
- ^"Obituaries: Richard Egan Keresey".NorthJersey.com. 26 May 2010. Retrieved20 January 2012.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.
Further reading
edit- Keresey, Richard Egan (September 2003).PT-105.Annapolis:U.S. Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-55750-469-2.OCLC 52784190.