Motor Torpedo Boat PT-34
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PT-34 was a PT 20 (Elco 77-Foot) Class PT boat, commissioned on 12 July 1941.
The Commander of PT-34 was Ltjg. Robert B. Kelly, the Executive officer of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, based in the Philippines from late 1941 through April 1942.
This PT boat evacuated Admiral Rockwell, General Marshall (Deputy Chief of Staff, USFFE), Col. Charles P. Stivers (G-1, USFFEE), Capt. Joseph McMicking (Philippine Army, Asst. G-2, USFFE) from Corregidor to Mindanao on 12 March 1942 as part of the operation to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur to Australia.
On the night of April 8, 1942, off Cebu, the Imperial Japanese cruiser Kuma and the torpedo boat Kiji were attacked by PT-34 in concert with PT-41. Both PT boats reported seeing multiple torpedo hits on the Kuma from their attack, but according to Japanese Navy records examined after the war, the Kuma was hit in the bow by one of the torpedoes fired by PT-34, but it failed to detonate.
PT-34 was sunk by 4 Japanese flying boats near Kauit Island, on April 9, 1942 in the aftermath of the Kuma attack. Lt. Kelly survived the sinking, and was later transported out of the Philippines along with three other officers of the squadron.
[edit] External links
- Elco PT Boat - Photos of an Elco PT Boat at the Battleship Cove Naval Museum in Fall River, MA
- Battleship Cove Naval Museum Website - Home of 2 restored WWII PT Boats
