USS PT-337
Encyclopedia
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
that was sunk in action during the Pacific Theater of World War II
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
in Hansa Bay
Hansa Bay
Hansa Bay is a bay located on the north coast of Papua New Guinea, in Madang Province, between Madang and Wewak, north east of Bogia.- World War II history :...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
on March 7, 1944.
Events at Hansa Bay
PTs 337 and 338 headed out to a known enemy stronghold on March 7, 1944. Picking up a radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
target close to shore and closing to 400 yards (365.8 m), they encountered two heavily camouflaged lugger
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
s moored together. Heavy machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
fire opened from the beach, and as the boats turned and started to strafe the beach, more machine guns opened up, along with a heavy caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
from Awar Point, along the northwestern entrance to the bay.
One shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
had hit so close to PT 337 that fragments went whizzing by and water some of the crew. Three or four more shells dropped near the 337, then one hit the tank compartment, just below the port gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
, going through the engine room. All three engines were knocked out and the tanks burst into flames. Motor Machinist First Class
Machinist's Mate
Machinist's Mate is a rating in the United States Navy's engineering community.- Description :According to the Bureau of Naval Personnel , the job of an MM is to "operate, maintain, and repair ship propulsion machinery, auxiliary equipment, and outside machinery, such as: steering engine,...
(MoMM1c) William Daley Jr was badly wounded in the neck and jaw. The order was given to launch the lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
and abandon the boat.
The crew paddled and swam trying to pull away from the exploding 337. The currents were against them and after two hours, they were only 700 yards (640.1 m) from the boat. Outside the bay, PT 338 was also under fire from shore batteries. Just prior to the 337 being hit, PT 338 had laid smoke and ordered a high speed retirement. When PT 337 did not come through the screen, 338 tried to re-enter the Bay, but each time the boat came under heavy fire and had to retreat.
Daley died before dawn, which left three officers and eight enlisted men on the raft. At dawn on March 7, the raft had drifted and was less than a mile off the entrance to Hansa Bay. During the morning the current carried it toward Manam
Manam
Manam, known locally as Manam Motu, is an island located in the Bismarck Sea across the Stephan Strait from the northeast coast of mainland Papua New Guinea. The island is 10 kilometers wide, and was created by the activity of the Manam Volcano, one of the country’s most active...
island, about six miles (10 km) from the shore. The current was working against the men.
That night, Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
s Bruce Bales and Henry Cutter tried to paddle ashore on logs. After three hours the current swept the two exhausted men and the raft back together. While they were away, Ensign Robert Hyde and Quartermaster Second Class (QM2c) Allen Gregory set out to swim to shore. By dawn on March 8, the raft had drifted no more than a mile from the beach. Soon after dawn, Bales, Fucili, and Schmidt set out for shore. Most of the men had thought the three had reached the Island, but Watson, who said he saw Bales walking on the beach, is the only one who claimed to have seen any of them ashore. Soon afterwards Japanese personnel
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
were seen on the beach.
After dark a small boat came out from shore and at 200 yards (200 m) circled the raft. Two men were in the boat, but made no attempt to bother the raft. After a squall
Squall
A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to an increase in the sustained winds over a short time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event...
blew up 6-8 ft (2-3 m) waves for a while, the boat was nowhere to be seen after things calmed down. On the morning of March 9, the remaining men in the raft saw an overturned Japanese collapsible boat, floating a few yards away. They righted the boat, bailed it, and boarded it. Many of the men were suffering from exposure and were covered with salt water sores.
Around noon on the March 10, a B-25 flew over, and circled the boat. Cutter waved his arms to signal the plane, and they dropped supplies of water, food, cigarettes and medicine. The next morning a PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
, from US Navy Patrol Squadron VP 34, picked up the five survivors and took them to Dreger Harbour
Dreger Harbour
Dreger Harbour is a harbour south of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea.During World War II, Dreger Harbour was used by Allied forces after the capture of Finschhafen in October 1943....
.
Little is known of the PT-337 crew members who attempted to reach the shore. A captured Japanese document indicates that one officer and two enlisted men were captured, although none of them was ever officially reported to be prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.