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NavSource Online:
Motor Torpedo Boat Photo Archive

HM MGB-185
ex-PT-209

Call sign:
Nan - Charlie - Item - Nan

PT-209 served the Navies of the United States, Great Britain and Yugoslavia

78' Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat:

Laid down 3 August 1942 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA

Launched 24 October 1942

Completed 9 February 1943, placed in service and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FIFTEEN (MTBRon 15) under the command of Comdr. Stanley M. Barnes, USN

MTBRon 15 was the first PT squadron sent to the Mediterranean Theater, where it operated as a unit of the British Coastal Forces. It had action throughout the western Mediterranean, basing at Bizerte and

Bone, Africa; Palermo, Sicily; Salerno, Capri, and Leghorn, Italy; Maddalena, Sardinia; Bastia and Calvi, Corsica, and St. Tropez, France

"Pistol Packin' Mama" was transferred to Great Britain 17 October 1944 and reclassified HM MGB-185

Transferred to Yugoslavia later in October 1944 and reclassified MT-5

Fate unknown.

Specifications:

Displacement 56 t.

Length 78'

Beam 20' 8"

Draft 5' 3"

Speed 41 kts.

Complement 17

Armament: One 40mm mount, four 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns, one 37mm mount and one 20mm mount

Propulsion: Three 1,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three shafts.

Size	Image Description	Source
176k	26 October 1942 Under construction	Tracy White
131k	26 October 1942 Under construction	Tracy White
132k	Getting a new engine	Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
80k	Glider rescue	Original photo: Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret. Replacement photo: Russ Padden Photo replaced 27 March 2019
65k		Jerry Gilmartin, MMC(SW), USN, Ret.
86k
86k	Port side forward torpedo rack
110k	20mm mount
93k	40mm mount
62k	c. October 1944 On last run before turnover to Great Britain