Item:
ONSV23FMF20

Original U.S. WWII 48 Star Cotton National Flag Marked and Flown From Motor Torpedo Boat USS PT-64 - 70” x 43”

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is something you just don’t come across every day! This American flag was flown from the Motor Torpedo Boat USS PT-64 sometime during its life in the US Navy.

The flag itself shows extensive wear and was clearly retired before the PT boat was destroyed by a fire. The flag was more than likely kept by an Officer as a memento when it was retired. There are holes, tearing, separation and so on. After many months to years of being repeatedly exposed to salt water it made the material somewhat brittle and very fragile, so use caution when handling. It is clearly stenciled in black paint PT 64.

A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the USN they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).

The PT Boat was planned as PTC-32, but was reclassified as PT-64 in June 1941.
Laid down 13 August 1941 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, Bayonne, NJ where she was reclassified against but as BPT-16 prior to completion and then launched 28 October 1941.

The transfer to Great Britain was canceled and reclassified as PT-64 in December 1941. She was completed 28 January 1942, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (MTBRon 4) under the command of Lt. Rollin E. Westholm, USN. MTBRon 4 was the training squadron, based at the MTB Squadrons Training Center, Melville, R.I. It was the largest squadron, having a peak of 28 boats in service at one time. Transferred 15 April 1943 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FIVE (MTBRon 5) under the command of Comdr. Henry Farrow, USN. MTBRon 5 was assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier from September 1942 until the spring of 1943, when it was shipped to the Solomons. There its boats were in action at Rendova, Vella Lavella, Treasury, Bougainville, Green, and Emirau. After assignment to the Southwest Pacific area at the end of 1944, the squadron was decommissioned and its boats were distributed to replenish other squadrons which had suffered operational losses. PT-64 was destroyed by fire 18 June 1944 and struck from the Naval Register 20 January 1945.

This is a flag that is deserving of a lovely frame and comes more than ready for further research and display!

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