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Topic: PT 505 Last known surviving member |
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Don Millman
Full Member
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 Posted on: Apr 5, 2012 - 8:48am
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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive
PT-505
Call sign:
Nan - William - Able - How
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80' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat:
Laid down 23 August 1943 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ
Launched 14 December 1943
Completed 13 January 1944, placed in service under the command of Lt. William C. Godfrey, USN and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THIRTY FOUR (PTRon 34) under the command of Lt. Allen H. Harris, USNR
PTRon 34 had action in the English Channel area from June 1944 to October 1944, when orders were received to prepare the boats for delivery to the Soviet Union
On the evening of 7 June 1944, PT-505 gave chase to what appeared to be a submarine periscope cutting through the water near St. Marcouf Island, Normandy, France, off Utah Beach. The periscope
disappeared when the PT-505 came within 75 yards, and Godfrey was about to give the order to release depth charges when the PT-505 ran over a mine. A violent explosion lifted the stern of the PT out of the water, injured
two men, tore loose one depth charge, snapped the warheads off the torpedoes, threw the engine beds awry, and caused some damage to practically every part of the boat. The PT went down quickly by the stern until the base
of the 40mm gun was awash. Godfrey jettisoned his torpedoes and his other depth charge, and transferred his forward guns, radar, and radio equipment to PT-507, which towed the PT-505 to anchorage in the lee of
St. Marcouf Island. Although there was some danger that the boat would sink, LT Godfrey, two other officers, and one enlisted man remained aboard that night. The next morning two LCM’s towed the PT-505 onto the
invasion beach at high tide. Low tide left the boat high and dry for six hours, time enough for the crew to put emergency patches on the hull and to paint the side with the legend, “PORTLAND OR BUST!” PT-500 towed the
PT-505 back to Portland, England on 11 June 1944, in a crossing made miserable by four partings of the towline in heavy seas.
Transferred 29 December 1944 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (PTRon 4) under the comand of Lt. Comdr. Jack E. Gibson, USN
PTRon 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, PTRon 4 was assigned to the Operational Development Force, and based at Solomons, Md. It was the last squadron to be decommissioned, and its boats, PT's 613, 616, 619, and 620, which remained in service under
the Operational Development Force, were the last World War II PT's in service in the Navy
The Diana, ex-Portland or Bust was placed out of service 1 February 1946
Sold 25 September 1947
Fate unknown.
Specifications:
Displacement 56 t.
Length 80'
Beam 20' 8
Draft 5'
Speed 41 kts.
Complement 17
Armament: One 40mm mount, four 21 Torpedoes and two twin .50 cal. machine guns
Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.
Don Millman
Oriental, NC |
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TED WALTHER
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Apr 5, 2012 - 9:21am
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Denny;
You mentioned 59 in your previous post, but PT 59 was already back and assigned to Melville (actually at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with PT 47 undergoing dehydration tests, then both were sent to NAS Norfolk as ASR boats).
Was he talking about a 77' ELCO? If he was, then he was talking about PT 66(the only surviving RON 8 77' Elco), but that was a runabout/VIP transport by then. The only boats with "9" in the number was PT 129 and PT 149.
Take care,
TED
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Gary Paulsen
MASTER
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Posted on: Apr 5, 2012 - 9:43am
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Denny,
Any chance that he liked the 108 so much better was Earl Richmond's cooking?
Gary
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djwhite
New Member
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Posted on: Apr 5, 2012 - 12:05pm
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I will have to ask him again.
Mayby I have the numbers wrong but he definatly said they would go out on the 108.
Does Mr. Richmond remember Mr. Frank?
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Graham Cutler
New Member
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Posted on: Apr 6, 2012 - 6:09pm
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Hi to all,
have been following this thread with some interest.
The European based ELCO boats has been a long time modelling interest.
The Ron 34 boats from what I can see, had standard armament, but the forward mountings I am speculating were 20mm only and from some of the images mounted either side of the bridge area.
The PT505 seems in the colour image to have mountings on both sides ??
any insight from the knowledgeable in the group.
Graham Cutler
Australia
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Will Day
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Apr 6, 2012 - 10:38pm
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Graham - The Ron 34 armament varied slightly from boat to boat, including one or two 20mm mounts and in a couple of cases a 37mm only. Which boat were you specifically interested in modeling?
Will |
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Graham Cutler
New Member
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Posted on: Apr 7, 2012 - 4:36am
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Hi Will,
I am actually looking at PT505
the available information seems to suggest only the basic fit out and the mounts present for the 20mm forward
any help greatly appreciated
Graham
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djwhite
New Member
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Posted on: Apr 7, 2012 - 12:33pm
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Guys:
I just spoke with Mr. Frank. He thinks he remembers Mr. Richmond. The first question he asked me was if he was a cook on one of the boats. I admit I haven't been through all of the posts from Mr. Richmond so I could not tell him if he was or not.
He did tell me that he thinks he was one of the guys that got them food when they needed it, as the person who had been assigned to their group as cook had been transferred so they got most of the meals from either the base kitchen, boat tenders or one of the other PT's.
Mr. Frank has a birthday coming up June 19th and he will be 88 years old.
I don't know if I mentioned it but I printed out his muster records from after he was transferred to the Pacific. I showed him when he was promoted each time and he was thankful to see that info, because he said that he remembers some of the promotions but at 87 it's kind of vague. He joked that he thinks he was only promoted to RM1st because Lt. Godfrey didn't want to lose him to another group.
He definetly remembers the 108 boat and I asked him if Kennedy was still there while he was there. He said the 109 and all that had happened before he ever got to the Pacific so he never met him.
Someone here on the board will have to figure out which battleship was in the Med for D-Day. He still says the 505 was "Battleship Grey".
Also a tidbit of trivia, he told me that Lt. Godfrey wrote "Portland or Bust" on the side of the boat....... They didn't have black paint.........the Lt. used grease from the busted engine connections to write the words.
They almost completely washed off in the crossing while being towed back across the channel.
Mr. Franks said he was almost thrown overboard during one of the attempts to reattach the tow line. He said that it scared the pants of him.
Denny
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TED WALTHER
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Apr 7, 2012 - 2:41pm
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Denny;
WAY TO GO!!!!!!!
Earl Richmond, was the Cook on PT 108! He currently lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland!
I am sure hearing from another shipmate will cheer Earl up alot!
Take care,
TED
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CJ Willis
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Apr 7, 2012 - 3:15pm
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With the correspondence I have had with Earl, I believe by the time Frank was in the Pacific that Earl had served his time on the 108 and had been relieved of duty. He had been back to the U.S. on leave then sent to the Philippines and by then was a cook at Base 17.
C. J. Willis |
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