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KIA PT-154 Solomon Islands


kanemono
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Joseph Daniel McLaughlin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1920. He was a 1941 graduate of Boston College where he majored in Mathematics and French. McLaughlin was one of the star players on the Boston College baseball team. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve as an Apprentice Seaman at Boston, Massachusetts, in the V-7 Class, on February 16, 1942. McLaughlin reported for active duty at the Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School, New York, New York, on April 20, 1942. He accepted his appointment and executed the oath of office as Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. McLaughlin was sent to school at the Naval Torpedo Squadron in Newport, Rhode Island. He was then ordered to The Navy Yard, New York, New York, in connection with the fitting out of Torpedo Squadron Nine and for duty in that Squadron. Torpedo Squadron Nine was sent to the Solomon Islands in the Southwest Pacific. McLaughlin was the second officer on PT-154 under captain, Lt (jg) Hamlin D. Smith. Patrol torpedo boats, popularly known as "PT boats", were small, light, and fast motor torpedo boats were 80 feet long, 20 feet 8 inches wide, made of two-inch thick planks of mahogany and powered by three 12-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engines rated at 1,200 brake horsepower each. They accommodated 3 officers and 14 sailors. The typical PT boat carried one 20-mm Oerlikon cannon and two twin M2, .50 machine guns mounted on rotating turrets. The main armament was two or four 21-inch torpedo tubes launching Mark 8 torpedoes. PT boats were the perfect weapons to act against Japanese barges which were used by the enemy to transport large numbers of soldiers and supplies between islands. One captured Japanese soldier's diary described their fear of PT boats by describing them as "the monster that roars, flaps it wings, and shoots torpedoes in all directions". The PT boats' primary mission was to attack surface vessels, however, they were also used to lay mines, to rescue downed aviators, and to carry out intelligence or raider operations. On the night of November 13-14, 1943, PT-154 was conducting an anti-barge patrol with PT-155 close offshore between Kakuruai and Aitara islands off the southern cost of Shortland Islands. A 3" shore battery fired three rounds, the second of which hit the afterbody of the port forward torpedo where it exploded, putting a hole in the deck and knocking out steering control. Two members of the crew were killed: Lt (jg) Joseph D. McLaughlin and QM2C Arthur J. Schwerdt. The captain, Lt (jg) Hamlin D. Smith and six crew were wounded. . Crew member MM1C John M. Nichiolson took charge of PT-154 and PT-155 assisted the boat to escape and return to the Treasury Island PT Boat base. Lieutenant (jg) McLaughlin participated in at least 24 engagements involving Japanese destroyers and barges in the New Georgia Campaigns. Joseph Daniel McLaughlin is buried in the American Cemetery, Falamai Village, Mono Island, Solomon Islands.

 

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Thank You for remembering this Navy PT Officer who fought and died for our freedom and the liberation of others.
Rest In Peace, Joseph Daniel McLaughlin. You helped keep America free. I pray the current generations do not squander the gift you gave us.

Strength and Honor,

De Oppresso Liber,

John

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