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Topic: Looking for my grandfather's pt boat number... |
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mcytron
New Member
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Posted on: Feb 9, 2021 - 10:50am
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Hi all! Apologies if this is a repetition of other questions. I'm trying to find concrete information on my grandfather's PT boat(s). I know he was in M.T.B. Ron 7th Fleet during all of 1945. I'm uncertain about how early he volunteered (he wasn't drafted), but as I remember, it was towards the end. His name is:
Randall Joseph Dwyer (also sometimes appears as William Randall Dwyer)
born in St. Louis, Missouri
Birthdate: March 1, 1907
They called him "pops" because he was much, much older than the people in his unit! According to my mom, they gave him an aptitude test and he scored highly--despite having only a 6th grade education--so he got his pick of either a PT boat or a submarine. My grandmother put her foot down about the sub.
I see on the mail that my mom sent during the war that he has the designation "S2" at times. He was definitely stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines. I remember him being a member of a PT Boat group in the 1970s. They had a magazine and gatherings.Â
I'd love to find out which archives to look in for info about his time in the service. It looks like a lot of the data is behind paywalls now. I can see his "separation notice" in family search and it is dated Dec 1, 1945, but there's no other info.Â
Any help you could give to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated!!
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29navy
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Feb 10, 2021 - 8:43am
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Here's what I have so far:
Arrived at MTB 7th Flt - 24 Sept 1944
Transferred to MTB Advance Base 5 - 22 March 1945
Arrived MTB Adv Base 5 - 23 March 1945
Advanced from Seaman 2 class to Seaman 1 class 14 April 1945
Transferred from MTB Adv Base 5 to Receiving Station Navy 3149 (Samar Island, Philippine Islands) for further transport to US to Personnel Separation Center, St Louis for Hon Discharge.
Charlie |
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mcytron
New Member
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Posted on: Feb 11, 2021 - 6:57am
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Thank you so much, Charlie! This is great information! If you don't mind my asking--where were you able to find this?
I spoke to my mom again and she said that her dad was on a Higgins boat and that she still has the manual for it somewhere. (Apparently he wasn't a big fan of the Elco boats.) Also quite a few photos. Places he mentioned: New Caledonia, Australia, New Guinea, Windy Island, Tulagui?, Letey Gulf, Hollandia (?).
From what I can tell "Advance Base 5" was in the Leyte Gulf area at that time, does that seem correct to you? I wonder if his New Guinea time was at some point from Sept 1944-March 1945?
Any thoughts on how I might be able to narrow him down to a boat or a subset of boats? I sure wish we had asked him when he was alive, but as an older veteran, we lost him in 1982, long before the internet and easy access to archives and info.
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29navy
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Feb 11, 2021 - 9:27am
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My Oleasure.
This info came from the muster reports available through Ancestry.com. I don't quite know, yet, where he was before MTBRon 7th Fleet. Interesting that he was there for 6 months before being sent to Advance Base 5 - yes in the Philippines. Don't know what he was doing there. I'll see if I can find out where they were during that time frame.
Unfortunately, the muster reports don't tell us what kind of job he was doing at the various commands.
Don't see him assigned to a squadron so it won't show him assigned to a boat. But still searching. I went to familysearch but couldn't pull up his separation papers.
I'll keep looking to see what else I can dig up.
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Joe Reese
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Aug 3, 2022 - 6:01pm
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Hi all,
I know I'm late to the party, but I found something on this. I hope it will help but I'm not sure what I'm reading.
This is from Commander, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron, 7th Fleet, Philippines Sea Frontier, Staff, 9/1/44-2/1/46, page 176 #23 Dwyer, Randall Joseph
The part I'm not sure I understand is the top of the list has
24 Sep 44 from ComSerFor7thFlt, R/B EDUR
Underneath that is a bunch of do do do, seemingly their way of saying "ditto?"
I see his service number as well, but I'm not sure of the protocol for posting that, or the links here. Are those ok to post?
I'm looking for something from this ComSerFor7thFlt but I haven't found anything yet.
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Scott C
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Aug 4, 2022 - 5:09pm
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I would suggest contacting the PT boats Inc. in Memphis TN. that may be that group he was a part of. they also have a lot of crew rosters. keep in mind that they are a 2 woman operation and only there 2 to 3 days a week patience is a virtue they have a web site by same name. good luck with your search. Scott
Scott Campbell 2nd gen,PT 248
Ron 20
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29navy
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Aug 5, 2022 - 12:32pm
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COMSERFOR7th FLT is Commander, Service Force, 7th Fleet. Everybody went through there on their way out to the fleet. They got processed and sent to the commands they were supposed to go to, or sometimes where somebody needed a bunch of people.
I believe COM MTB Squadrons 7th Fleet was under COMSERFOR and was trying to make sure that PT boaters got to PT Boats.
R/B EDUR - not sure. the R/B is probably Receiving Barracks. EDUR is either the name/code name or location.
And you are correct. DO is for ditto.
Charlie |
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james sullivan
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Posted on: Aug 11, 2022 - 3:45pm
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can't find any dweyer in the knights of the sea pt boat book
many sailors served but never on orders have a cousin who served not in book
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mcytron
New Member
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Posted on: Aug 11, 2022 - 6:30pm
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> 24 Sep 44 from ComSerFor7thFlt, R/B EDUR
Thanks for that new information, and for reviving this thread, Joe Reese! And for all the other leads. I'd love to see a link to the info if you have it. My grandpa enlisted on 24 Apr 1944 and his service number was 874 25 12
It looks like EDUR was Navy #167 - Milne Bay, New Guinea (according to https://www.ussmarblehead.com/pdf/Navy%20Base%20Numbers.pdf)
I found lots of photos from New Guinea and/or the Philippines when I was at my mom's house recently. I'd love to connect with any one else whose relative was stationed with him and may even have photos of them. At age 37, my grandfather was almost 20 years older than many of the people he served with. They look so young!
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Joe Reese
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Aug 13, 2022 - 8:20pm
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Hi Mctyron,
Glad to help if I am able. Though I'm really new to this archival stuff, I fell down the rabbit hole a little bit. This may not reveal much that you don't already know, though.
This is the National Archives link for Commander, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron, 7th Fleet, Philippines Sea Frontier, Staff, 9/1/44-2/1/46 . It's 598 pages, but I saw him on pg 176 #23, with the same service number you just gave.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/190146135
I will keep looking and let you know if I find something more about him.
Hope it helps.
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