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A Find of a Lifetime, PT Boat Plaque off of the Boat


Austin R
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My friend is from a family with a rich naval history, his father was a naval aviator in WWI and his uncle was Admiral Adolphus Andrews. He always had an interest in PT boats and spent 50+ years gathering this collection. I first saw the collection when I was 15 and never imagined owning it or any part of it. He recently decided to start selling parts of his large collection and offered it to me. He wants me to continue the PT boat collection as it has been one of his favorite parts of collecting.

 

The plaque is likely off of a boat in MTB RON 1. We were able to find this by comparing around 40 images to find plaques done by the same artist. The one that matched the closest was one on the side of PT 9. The plaque is in good shape for it's age, there are some scrapes, but nothing major as he has taken care of it over the years. I was able to find one other surviving example and that is in a museum, although I forgot to note which museum it was.

 

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Very cool indeed. I love stuff like this. It would be great to match up a wartime photo of this particular one in use. I have to imagine there's more photos out there to try and match up.

 

JD

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Congrats on acquiring such an excellent item for your collection....wonderful that the previous owner recognized your interest in carrying on collecting PT boat items and you will continue honoring them.

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  • 1 year later...
RIVERRATSBU26

Austin;

I believe you are correct, if all of that came together from the same original owner. PT 9 was lend leased to the Royal Canadian Air Force along with PT 3, 4, 5, 6(#2) and 7. The flag in the box looks like it might be a RCAF Ensign. The RON 29 plaque and the white framed picture might mean the set comes from Commander S. Stephen Daunis, USN CO of RON 29.

Take care,

TED

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Austin;

I believe you are correct, if all of that came together from the same original owner. PT 9 was lend leased to the Royal Canadian Air Force along with PT 3, 4, 5, 6(#2) and 7. The flag in the box looks like it might be a RCAF Ensign. The RON 29 plaque and the white framed picture might mean the set comes from Commander S. Stephen Daunis, USN CO of RON 29.

Take care,

TED

Hi Ted,

The PT Boat Collection was actually assembled by my friend who is another militaria collector. Very few of the items came from the same veteran's estate.

 

The RAF flag is actually off of a British rescue boat. It was brought back by a John Hobson who was an officer on an LST. The story is that a RAF officer and Hobson exchanged ensigns the day after D-day. I hope one day I can find a newspaper that can prove this, but I'm not holding my breath.

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RIVERRATSBU26

Tonomachi;

Yes, LT. James D. Ball is in the wheelhouse, and RON 2 CO LCDR Earl S. Caldwell is in the Cockpit of PT 9.

 

Austin;

I was incorrect in my first two individuals. While Dressling was in Pre-war RON 1, he became CO of RON 22, Daunis(CO RON 29) I have now discovered was XO of the Destroyer during the time of Pre-War PT RON's.

Stanley Stephen Daunis USNA 34

1939 – 1942 – USS Tracy DMS (DD-214/DMS-19) – Was XO as of about July 1941 – Relieved 10-10-1942

Feb 20, 1943 – Sept 1943 – CO MTB RON 4
Oct 22, 1943 – Nov 23, 1944 – CO MTB RON 29
Thanks to a friend, I now have a list of all officers in Pre-War RON 1,2, and PTC RON 1(whose Officers all went to RON 3 The Expendables), for April and Oct 1941. The only two officers on the two lists that later served in the PT RONs in the Mediterranean are Dressling(Pre-War RON 1) and Van Buskirk(Pre-War RON 2). So you see Van Buskirk was the only officer in RON 2 with PT 9. A friend of mine, from your neck of the woods has the original from PT 37
If the PT Plaque has anything to do with the RON 29 Emblem, I now believe it belonged to Bruce P.Van Buskirk, Pre-War RON 2, RON 4, XO of RON 29 and later became CO of RON 41. He entered the Navy under V-7 program in 1940 and remained in the USNR and retired a CAPT. in 1977.
Hope this helps.
Take care,
TED
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  • 2 weeks later...

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