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| USN 77' Elco Motor Torpedo Boat 40 Tons 77' x 19' 11" x 4' 6" 2 x Twin .50 cal MG 4 x 18" Torpedoes  USN 1942  Mirus June 1944 |
Ship History Built by Electric Boat Company (Elco) in Bayonne, NJ. Planned as PTC-31 for the United Kingdom. Laid down August 9, 1941. Reclassified BPT-15. Launched October 23, 1941. Transfer to the United Kingdom was canceled and instead retained by the U.S. Navy (USN). In December 1941 reclassified as PT-63. Completed February 7, 1942. Wartime History Assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Four (MTBRon 4) under the command of LT Rollin E. Westholm for training at Melville, RI. On April 15, 1943 transfered to Torpedo Boat Squadron Five (MTBRon 5) then to the Panama Canal and operated in the Canal Zone (CZ) between September 1942 until early 1943. Next, transported across the Pacific to the Solomon Islands. PT-63 conducted patrols in the Central Solomon Islands and Northern Solomons. During the middle of 1944 operated from PT Boat Base Emirau Island at Hamburg Bay on Emirau Island. Mission History On June 18, 1944 while refueling from a dock with PT-107, a defective fuel valve leaked gas into the sea. When PT-107 started its engines, a spark ignited the surface fuel. Within an hour both PT Boats and the dock were destroyed by the fire. Luckily, there was no loss of life aboard either ship or onshore. References At Close Quarters PT Boats in the United States Navy (1962) pages 59, 165, 454, 456, 485-486, 488 NavSource PT-63 Contribute
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