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 Author  Topic: SeaBee photos of Bougainville construction
newsnerd99

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message   Posted on: Jun 8, 2008 - 4:47am
A gentleman named John visited my grandfather's site and sent me an email along offering up these photos below. His father was one of the fighting SeaBees who, among other things, built PT bases. You can see the whole page listed from his dad's cruise book...John was also nice enough to send along a better scan so we could see a little more detail.







That last photo...I did my best to enhance what I could to see if I could ID the boats. The left boat definetly has some sort of nose art/name but I can't read it. Neat stuff!

From his last email: "When i get some more time I have a short story about the 113th CB Battalion being attached to a PT Boat Squadron in the Philippines. I'm 43 and we use to have a PT Boat veteran that worked for my families heating business for many years. His name was Fred Adler - He passed away about three yeares ago. He was wounded in ! the Philppines while serving on a PT Boat."

That's what I love about this PT stuff and putting it all on the web - all these nice people come out and have more stuff to share - it's great. Thanks again John!

Grandson of James J Stanton
RON 15 PT 209 and RON 23 PT 243
Check out: www.pistolpackinmama.net

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Thurman

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message   Posted on: Jun 12, 2008 - 12:04pm
6th "CB"s Building PT Boat Bases at Tulagi.

Tulagi
Concurrent with the building up of the large base on Guadalcanal, Tulagi,across Iron Bottom Sound and part of the Florida Island group, was developed as a small naval base. It provided a well-protected harbor where large ships could anchor, and facilities were established for the reserve storage of fuel and diesel oil, and for the support of seaplanes, landing craft, and motor torpedo boats.
Tulagi, with a circumference of about 3 miles, was the seat of government for the British Protectorate of the Solomons.

In October 1942, a detachment of 59 men of the 6th Battalion was sent from Guadalcanal to Tulagi to built a PT-boat base at Sesapi. The strength of the detachment was later increased to 133 officers and men. First, an emergency outlet channel for Tulagi harbor was dredged and blasted to avoid having PT boats bottled up by enemy warships. Two PT-boat floating drydocks were assembled from pontoons; a 50-man camp was set up; and power and telephone systems to serve the island and harbor area were installed. The detachment also furnished a number of carpenter details to assist with the maintenance and repair of PT boats.

By August 1943, the facilities at the Sesapi base had been augmented to provide more shop facilities and storage areas, to permit major PT-boat overhaul. A repair and service unit was set up able to support 40 PT boats in combat operations. The Seabees also built three small wharves for PT boats. Much of this later work was done by the 27th Battalion.

In addition, PT-boat facilities were constructed on the island of Macambo, the base housing at Calvertville on Florida Island. An existing concrete wharf at Macambo, in need of repair but still serviceable, was used, but it was necessary to build torpedo overhaul and storage facilities.

In July 1943, PT Squadrons 1, 3, and 8 were using the Sesapi and Macambo bases. Two 1,000-barrel tanks for aviation gasoline were erected at Sesapi, and eight 1,000-barrel tanks at Macambo, with loading line to the dock.



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