Patrol torpedo boat PT-59

PT-59 after conversion into a gunboat, October 1943
History
United States
Name	PT-59
Builder	Electric Launch Company, Bayonne, New Jersey
Laid down	26 July 1941
Launched	8 October 1941
Completed	5 March 1942
Fate	Sold, 1947, Sunk, 1976, remains raised and on display at Battleship Cove
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Elco 77-foot PT boat
Displacement	40 long tons (41 t)
Length	77 ft (23 m)
Beam	19 ft 11 in (6.07 m)
Draft	4 ft 6 in (1.37 m)
Propulsion	3 × 1,500 shp (1,119 kW) Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, 3 shafts
Speed	41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph)
Complement	15 as built, 18–20 as PT gunboat
Armament	As built: 4 × 18 in (457 mm) Mark 8 torpedoes 2 × twin .50 cal. M2 Browning machine guns in Dewandre turrets 2 × .303 cal. Lewis guns 2 × depth charges As PT gunboat: 6 × .50 cal. machine guns, three on each side 2 × 40 mm guns (fore and aft) suitable as anti-aircraft guns 2 × twin .50 cal. machine guns in elevated circular Dewandre turrets, behind and on each side of the cockpit Also suitable as anti-aircraft 2 × single .30 cal. machine guns, forward of the cockpit, on each quarter[2]
Armor	Gunboat on gunwales, gas tanks
Service record
Commanders:	Lt. David M. Levy (5/1942–9/1943) Lt. John F. Kennedy (9/1943–11/1943)

PT-59 / PTGB-1 was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat (PT boat) of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-27, and was reclassified as BPT-11 when assigned to transfer to Britain under Lend-Lease. However, this was cancelled, and she was reclassified as PT-59 prior to launch on 8 October 1941, and was completed on 5 March 1942.^[1]

After serving in a training squadron in Rhode Island, PT-59 was reassigned to the protection of the Panama Canal before being transported by oceangoing ship to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. It arrived at its home base of Tulagi and served successfully, sinking a Japanese submarine by torpedo.

In the fall of 1943, PT-59 was converted into a gunboat under the direction of its new commander, Lieutenant (and future U.S. President) John F. Kennedy when the chronic inaccuracy of the era's torpedoes and under-arming of the resulting craft were both recognized. She had all four of her torpedo tubes removed, as well as her two depth charges, but retained two 40-millimeter Bofors cannon anti-aircraft guns fitted fore and aft. The refit also added six .50-caliber machine gun nests, with three on each side, behind shields, as well as additional weaponry.

The partially armored craft was then notably used to rescue marines stranded under heavy Japanese gunfire on Choiseul Island, and attack both Japanese barges and shore batteries.