MTB "RON" 36

US NAVY MOSQUITO FLEET MOTOR TORPEDO BOAT SQUADRON 36. SHORTENED TO NICKNAME "RON". A SQUADRON CONSISTED OF USUALLY 12-16 BOATS.THESE BOATS WERE NUMBERED 522-532.MANUFACTURED BY THE ELCO COMPANY THEY WERE 80' LONG AND HAD THREE 1350 HP ENGINES TO GIVE A SPEED OF ABOUT 43 KNOTS.

Throughout the war the ELCO 80' boats were periodically updated and reconfigured for missions they were called upon to perform. Due to the nature of wartime tactics in the Pacific, PT boats actually assumed a gun boat configuration, rather then their traditional torpedo role. Many PT boats were given the tasks of harassing and controlling the enemy left behind on islands that were skipped over by the advancing allied forces. With this leap frog approach of Allied advancement, it became critical for PT boats to take the action to the enemy. This new PT boat activity of relentless attacks on enemy barges and boats used to supply and ferry the enemy from island to island earned the boats and their crews the "Barge Busters" nickname. In addition to this offensive role, the boats and their crews were also enlisted to support troop landings as well as to preform land and sea rescues.

The squadron was assigned to the Southwest Pacific where they saw action in the New Guinea, Borneo, and Philippine waters.

The art was published in WDCS #49, DISNEY DONS DOGTAGS and CHARACTERS OF MILITARY.

Designed in the Walt Disney Studio in May of 1944.