Talk:Patrol torpedo boat PT-337

After action report
PTs 337 and 338 headed out to a known enemy stronghold on March 7, 1944. Picking up a radar target close to shore and closing to 400 yards, they encountered two heavily camouflaged luggers moored together. Heavy machine gun fire opened from the Beach, and as the boats turned and started to strafe the beach, more machine guns opened up, along with a heavy caliber battery from Anwar Point, along the Northwestern entrance to the Bay.

One shell had hit so close to PT 337 that fragments went whizzing by and water splashed some of the crew. Three or four more shells dropped near the 337, then one hit the tank compartment, just below the port gun turret, going through the engine room. All three engines were knocked out and the tanks burst into flames. William Daley Jr., MoMM1c, USNR was badly wounded in the neck and jaw. The order was given to abandon the boat, and to put the lifeboat over the side.

The crew paddled and swam trying to pull away from the exploding 337. The currents were against them and after two hours, they were only 700 yards from the boat. Outside the bay, PT 338 was also under fire from shore batteries. Just prior to the 337 being hit, PT 338 had laid smoke and ordered a high speed retirement. When PT 337 did not come through the screen, the 338 tried to re-enter the Bay, but each time the boat came under heavy fire and had to retreat.

Daley died before dawn, which left three officers and eight enlisted men on the raft. At dawn on the 7th, the raft had drifted and was less than a mile off the entrance to Hansa Bay. During the morning the current carried it toward Manam Island, about six miles from the shore. The current was working against the men.

That night, Ens. Bruce Bales and Ens. Henry Cutter tried to paddle ashore on logs. After three hours the current swept the two exhausted men and the raft back together. While they were away, QM2c Allen Gregory, and Ens. Robert Hyde set out to swim to shore. They were never heard from again. By dawn on the 8th the raft had drifted no more than a mile from the Beach. Soon after dawn, Bruce Bales, Fucili, and Schmidt set out for shore. Most of the men had thought the three had reached the Island, but Watson, who said he saw Bales walking on the beach, is the only one who claimed to have seen any of them ashore. Soon afterwards Japanese were seen on the Beach.

After dark a small boat came out from shore and at 200 yards circled the raft. Two men were in the boat, but made no attempt to bother the raft. After a squall blew up 6 to 8 foot waves for awhile the boat was nowhere to be seen after things calmed down. On the morning of the 9th, the remaining men in the raft saw an overturned Japanese collapsible boat floating a few yards away. They righted the boat, bailed it, and boarded it. Many of the men were suffering from exposure and were covered with salt water sores.

Around noon on the 10th, a B-25 flew over, and circled the boat. Cutter waved his arms to signal the plane, and they dropped supplies of water, food, cigarettes and medicine. The next morning a PBY Catalina (VP 34) picked up the five survivors. Of those who tried to go ashore, little is known. A captured Japanese document indicates that one officer and two enlisted men were taken prisoner, although none of the crew of PT 337 was ever reported as a POW.

Crew

 * Captain Ens. Henry W. Cuttler (USNR)
 * MoMM3c Francis C. Watson
 * Ens. Robert Hyde (MIA)
 * Ens. Bruce S. Bales (USNR) (MIA)
 * QM2c Allen B. Gregory (USNR) (MIA)
 * RM2c Harry E. Barnett (USNR)
 * Y2c Henry S. Timmons
 * TM3c Edgar L. Schmidt (USNR) (MIA)
 * MoMM3c Evo A. Fucili (USNR) (MIA)
 * SC3c James P. Mitchell
 * MoMM1c William Daley, Jr. (USNR) (WIA / KIA)
 * TM2c Morgan J. Canterbury (USNR)

End removed text
The above is completely unreferenced and no reference could be found, please review No original research Jeepday (talk) 12:53, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
 * comment (taken from this AfD debate), the now-removed 'essay' is, given the detail (eye-witness account), likely taken from the 'action report' which will be available from USN records for a small fee. The link to that site is here (follow the link titled Sources of ship documents) and albeit indirectly is one of the references cited in the article. The 'essay' contains detail that wouldn't seem to warrant fabrication - not least because it doesn't make heroes of or sentationalise its subjects. I have not seen the actual report (nor am I personally going to go to the trouble of ordering it) but it is a publicly available document. Finally I wouldn't say this makes the craft 'notable' within all criteria but care should be taken when dismissing 'unreferenced' content, though I accpet the 'burden of proof' is on the original WP author to post his/her sources Dick G 14:48, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
 * further commentsource of text has been ascertained. Text restored to article with citations.Dick G 04:44, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

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