| Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boat PT-40 (Number 9) of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 off Taboga, Panama, near the Panama Canal. A home base for PT Boat squadrons operating under the Panama Sea Frontier was set up as a war emergency project on Taboga Island, which overlooks the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, 10 miles from the Balboa piers. The island, owned by the Republic of Panama, has a clean, sandy crescent-shaped beach, backed by a stretch of level land, rising to a series of high mounds. Patrol torpedo boat PT-40 is a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Boat Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. PT-40 was laid down on April 25, 1941, launched on July 7, 1941, and was completed on July 22, 1941. PT-40 was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2 (MTBRon 2) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Earl S. Caldwell (August 28, 1903 – September 20, 1972). PT-40 was part of 11 new 77-foot Elco boats that were assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier, to protect the Panama Canal, starting in December 1941. PT-40 was shipped to the Balboa, Canal Zone on the deck of USS Kitty Hawk (APV-1) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, departing on December 15, 1941. PT-40 arrived at Balboa on December 25, 1941. The PT Boat transferred on July 27 to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 under the command of Lieutenant commander Alan R. Montgomery. PT-40 operated out of Balboa and Taboga, Panama. At its peak the PT Boat Base Taboga Island had 47 PT boats and 1,200 troops. After the crew was trained and the PT Boat completed sea trials, they would be sent to other United States Naval Advance Bases. Taboga’s purpose was to act as a main maintenance, overhaul, and operating base for a flotillas of PT boats, and as an operational training center for PT squadrons enroute to combat zones. Construction began July 6, 1942, on a timber pier, 2 small marine railways, overhaul shops, power plant, light and power systems, refrigeration building, water storage and supply, and a radio building. Later construction included a storehouse, mess hall, barracks, quarters, and 12 storage tanks for fuel oil and gasoline. A torpedo workshop, munitions storage, and numerous other facilities, services, and developments were subsequently added. The buildings were of frame construction on concrete foundations, many erected without specifically planned designs, time being at a premium. Later additions included 2 barracks, a galley, dry-stores building, boatswain’s locker, garage, armory, berth float, pile dolphins, and a towing platform. Fresh water was obtained from springs augmented by an auxiliary water-supply system. Anchors were fabricated, and cradles on the marine railways were changed to accommodate 80-foot PT boats. Usable completion for several buildings was reached 3 weeks after work started, even in the face of lack of material, hard hand-excavating in laval soil, and slow delivery of all materials by barge from Balboa. The work began in July 1942, was half done by the end of August, when the base was commissioned, and 90 percent complete by the end of the year. At its peak the major overhaul base on Taboga Island operated with 47 PT boats and 1,200 men. On August 27, 1942 PT-40 was loaded on the deck of the USS Tappahannock (AO-43) at Balboa, and arrived at Naval Base Nouméa at Nouméa, New Caledonia on September 27, 1942. Naval Base Nouméa became a major naval training center. The contractors left Taboga in July 1943, after finishing installation of materials delayed in shipment from the United States. Seabees from Detachment 1012 took over construction and repair in September 1943, assembled 2 pontoon drydocks and erected magazines, warehouses, and other buildings with the help of local labor. A recreation camp was established on Morro Island, accessibly by sand bar at low tide. An Army telephone cable furnished direct communication with the mainland. On August 7, 1944, PT-40 transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center, in Melville, Rhode Island, where her mahogany hull was replanked. At the training Center PT-40 was used to training repair personnel. On October 14, 1944 PT-40 was reclassified as a Small Boat. It was placed for sale on October 21, 1946, by the Maritime Commission. The Taboga station was decommissioned in March 1946, and all fixed improvements were turned over to the Republic of Panama. Bob and Marsha Hostetler of Fruitland Park, Florida, took ownership of PT-40 in 1999. In 2009, PT-40 was donated to Fleet Obsolete, Kingston, New York to be restored. PT-40 is 1 of the few surviving 77-foot Elco boats. As of August 2, 2015, it was on blocks at Kingston, New York, still waiting to be restored. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1836.jpg |
| Image Size | 249.12 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1711 x 1277 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 1, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Taboga |
| State or Province | Taboga |
| Country | Panama |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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