THE ELCO 77' PT BOAT

The ELCO 77 foot PT boats were the first to see combat in WWII. The first squadron, RON 1, was stationed in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. RON 1 bravely used their available resources on that infamous day to combat the attacking enemy aircraft. The second squadron, RON 3, was stationed in the Philippines on December 10, 1941 when they encountered the attacking Japanese. Within several months they evacuated General Douglas MacArthur, his family and staff from Corregidor and then courageously stayed on line until all their boats had been expended. Squadron Ron 3 was commanded by Cmdr. John D. Bulkeley (VADM. John D. Bulkeley 1911-1996) who received the Medal of Honor for evacuating General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor on March 12, 1942. Cmdr. John D. Bulkeley was the first of two PT Boaters to receive the Medal of Honor.

PT-20, the first Elco 77' boat built from the redesign of the Elco 70', it was stationed at Pearl Harbor prior to December 7th 1941 and remained until decommissioned in 1944.
PT-31, an Elco 77' saw action at the beginning of the war in the Philippines as part of Squadron 3 "They Were Expendable", it was destroyed to prevent capture.
PT-68, an Elco 77' originally part of the Training Center, was transferred to Squadron 8 and saw action in the New Guinea area, was destroyed to prevent capture.
The ELCO 77 Foot PT Boat
Number Built:	49
PT Boat Numbers:	PT's 20 - 68
Service:	39 used by U.S. Navy, 10 sent to Britain in 1942
Basic Specifications:	Length 77'-0" Beam 19'-11" Draft 4'-6"	Weight 46 Tons Speed 42 Knots Engines 3 - 1200 h.p.
Basic Crew:	2 Officers, 8 Enlisted Men

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