Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three
| Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three | |
|---|---|
| Active | Based in Manila's Port Area until major part of Asiatic Fleet withdrew from Manila Bay. Relocated to Cavite in late November,1941. |
| Country | United States |
| Branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Equipment | PT boats |
| Engagements | Philippines Campaign (1941–1942) |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley |
| Insignia | |
| Flagship Pennant of MTB Squadron 3 |  |
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, and PT-41, the last as the squadron flagship. The other six boats of the squadron remained at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and were there when war broke out, eventually being shipped to the Solomons.
After the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Japan on 7 December 1941, the squadron moved from Cavite to Sisiman Bay on the Bataan Peninsula with the requisitioned tug Trabajador as tender, where it helped in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. PT-31 and PT-33 were sunk during the battle. The desired practice was for boats to patrol in pairs in the event one PT needed assistance from another. The critical shortage of spares and fuel often prevented such pairing so that one of the small converted patrol yachts, Maryann, Perry, or Fisheries II, or one of the two old destroyers, Peary or Pillsbury, were used to accompany a single PT on patrol.
On 11 March 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-32 was abandoned during this mission, reducing the squadron to three boats: PT-41, PT-34, and PT-35.
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