Wreck of USS PT-371 | Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, United States Navy

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, United States Navy

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Laid down in 1942 at the Canadian Powerboat Co. of Montreal, Canada for the Dutch Government, PT-371 was one of four members of her class transferred to the United States Navy under reverse lend-lease following the fall of Holland. Placed into US Navy service in April 1943 as a member of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Eighteen (PTRon 18), PT-371 and her squadronmates were initially tasked with patrolling the Caribbean Sea Frontier but the success of PT Boat operations in the South Pacific brought PTRon 18 to New Guinea in the fall of 1943 to start their role in the fight against Japan.

Operating in the vanguard of advancing Allied forces along New Guinea, PT-371 and her crew operated from Dreger Harbor, Aitape, Hollandia, Wakde, and Mios Woendi before shifting Northward to the recently captured Allied Base at Manus in the Admiralties in March 1944. Briefly operating from San Pedro Bay in the Philippines, PT-371 deployed with her squadron along the coast of Maluku Utara in early September 1944 to hunt down Japanese supply convoys and harass enemy shoreside installations.

Moving along the largely uncharted coast of Maluku Utara during the night of September 19th, lookouts aboard PT-371 kept a wary eye out for any signs of either the enemy or the numerous shallow reefs which lined the coast, both of which posed serious threats. After conducting recon of Doitia harbor and finding no signs of the enemy, PT-371 was moving to seaward when she ran headlong into a coral head and stuck fast, her momentum carrying the wooden PT-Boat high up on the reef which easily punched numerous holes in her hull. With daylight fast approaching, PT-371's crew and those aboard her fellow PT Boats set about attempting to free the stranded boat but after several hours of effort it became clear that she was not going to be worked free. After securing confidential documents, opening fuel ports and arming fuses on her torpedoes, PT-371 was abandoned by her crew and destroyed at this location to prevent her capture by enemy forces on September 19th, 1944.

www.navsource.org/archives/12/05371.htm