These three boats were based at Mindanao until mid-April 1942, where two of them (PT-41 and PT-34) attacked the Japanese cruiser Kuma, scoring at least one hit.

PT-32 was abandoned during this mission, reducing the squadron to three boats: PT-41, PT-34, and PT-35.

On March 11, 1942, the remaining boats of the squadron transported General Douglas MacArthur and several high-ranking officers from Corregidor to Mindanao, an act which earned every member of the squadron the Silver Star. PT-31 and PT-33 were sunk during the battle. After the Japanese aerial bombing of Cavite Navy Yard on December 10 th, 1941, the squadron moved from Cavite to Sisiman Bay on the Bataan Peninsula where the squadron assisted in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. The other six boats of the squadron remained at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and were there when war broke out, eventually being shipped to the Solomon’s. Bulkeley and comprised of six motor torpedo boats: PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, and PT-41 as the squadron flagship. Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942.

Hyperwar navy procurement world war II