Lassiter Morrison Quinn (3 July 1920 - 1 December 2011)

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I did not know Uncle Laster in childhood, I only remember him as a kind and generous person always willing to sit down and chat a while. But as I learned on a visit to Gatlinburg, TN near his home in Sevierville in the late 90s, he was at one time a serious man that made the money.  He owned a very successful Tom's Roasted Peanuts distribution franchise in Orlando before the arrival of Walt Disney to the area.  Laster invested largely in vending machines in the 70's and it paid big dividends until he sold his distributorship in the late 1980's and moved to Tennessee with a Navy nurse he had encountered during WWII in the Solomon Islands. Ironically, when I visited, I met a Navy buddy from WWII that served with him during that time and was told a pretty fair bit of what life for the two men was like during that hellish time in their lives.  Upon parting company the gentleman told me this little tidbit.  Laster was fairly easy going and smart as hell, but if you were a "Jap" in WWII you never wanted Laster to grab ahold of you, you would be a dead Jap. pardon the language, it is just how he said it to me. I had spent 3 years in Japan in the Navy and I think that sorta got him wound up.

John F. Kennedy reported to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center, Melville, RI on September 27, 1942, and Laster shows up in the Squadron Muster Logs 3 days later.  Whether the man ever came across one another, I may never know.  I think it is, or should be noted that JFK completed PT-boat training on December 2, 1942 and that he was promoted from ENS to LTJG during his training phase. After Melville he was assigned to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (MTBRon 4), where he briefly commanded PT-101.  On 23 February 1943
JFK transferred from MTBRon 4 to MTBRon 2 as a replacement officer on that date. He reached Tulagi on 14 April 1943 and took command of PT-109 on 23 April 1943.

Great Uncle Laster would arrive the same way on 6 August 1943 as a member of MTBRon-18. Again, I do not assert they knew one another, but it is an interesting historical fact they served tother in the same Training Squadron MTBRon-4 together just the same.

CMMom Laster Quinn, USN (Chief Machinist Mate - Operations/Maintenance/Repair) was attached to MTBRon-4 & MTBRon-18

• Commissioned 13 January 1942 - Decommissioned 15 April 1946
• Boats assigned: PT- 59–68,71,72,95-102,139-141,199,200,295,296,314-317,450-452, PT 486,487,505,545,557-559,564,613,616,619,620
• Was the training squadron at Melville Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center. In April 1942 MTBRON-4 which consisted of PT 613,616, and PT 619,620 which weres transferred to the Operational Development Force.

Squadron Commanders

• LT Rollin E. Westholm—January 13-February 2, 1942
• LCDR Alan R. Montgomery—February 2-May 25, 1942
• LCDR William C. Specht—May 25, 1942 – February 20, 1943
• LCDR Stephen Daunis—February 20-September 11, 1943
• LCDR Francis D. Tappaan, USNR—September 11, 1943 – March 1, 1944
• LT Charles E. Tilden, USNR—March 1-July 15, 1944 * Comdr. James B. Denny—July 15-September 27, 1944
• LT Arthur H. Berndtson—September 27-October 31, 1944
• LCDR Jack E. Gibson—October 31, 1944 – June 15, 1945
• LCDR Glenn R. Van Ness, USNR—June 15-September 17, 1945
• LCDR John K. Williams, USNR—September 17, 1945 – April 15, 1946

Melville Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center (MTBSTC) was a PT boat Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center found on February 17, 1942, by the United States Navy for World War II. The MTB Training Center Melvill was at Melville, Rhode Island on Narragansett Bay.[3] MTB Training Center Melvill nickname was Spect Tech after its first commander, Lieutenant commander William C. Specht.[4][5]

MTB Training Center Melvill training started in March 1942 with 51 officers and 177 enlisted men. This first Training was with ten PT boats of MTB Squadron Four using Elco Naval Division built 77-footers boat: PT-59 to PT-68. The men lived and worked in quonset huts. MTB Training Center Melville had buildings for 34 classrooms, PT maintenance, and 197 huts for living quarters. At is peak it had 90 officers and 860 sailors in a three-month training time spans. By March 1945 the MTB Training Center Melvill trained 1,797 officers and 11,668 enlisted men, with 28 PT boats. The 28 PT boats included: Elco 80-foot boats, Higgins 78-foot boat, Huckins 78-foot boats, and 70-foot Higgins Hellcat boats.[2] A the MTB Training Center Melville men practiced PT Boat formation and maneuvers; PT repairs and live fire gunnery. The Japanese called PT boats Devil Boats, the Navy called them the Mosquito Fleet, after their logo. At the MTB Training Center Melville, was the Motor Torpedo Boat Repair Training Unit (MTBRTU). Motor Torpedo Boat Repair Training Unit was staffed by 30 officers and 950 enlisted men. Motor Torpedo Boat Repair Training Unit trained men on repair of the three 1,500-horsepower Packard 4M-2500 engines built by Packard. MTB Training Center Melville also had a Naval Fuel Depot with high-octane fuel for the boats. Also by the Training Base was a Naval Net Layer Depot. Near by on Goat Island was the Newport Torpedo Station, which supplied the PT-Boats and submarines. The Navy, by this end of the war had 44 PT boat squadrons, generally comprising 12 boats. All told, the Navy commissioned over 650 PT boats by the end of the war. Gunnery training at the Anti-Aircraft Center took place a Price's Neck on Newport's Ocean Drive. After the war most PT boats were scrapped due to the lack of need and the vast fuel use of the three engines, thus the base was closed under the command of Naval Station Newport in November 1945. The site was Lovell Hospital during the Civil War and in the 1890s it was the Bradford Coaling Station.[5] The Torpedo Station closed in 1951.[6][7][8] Today part of the base is the Melville Marina and Safe Harbor New England Boatworks and fuel depot.[9]

• In 1943, a PT boat launched a torpedo that went off course and sank a freighter anchored off the Quonset Point Naval Air Station.[6]
• PT-200 hit an submerged object and sank, while patrolling Rhode Island coastal waters.[6]
• In 1942, PT-59 launched a torpedo in error, it traveled seven miles and hit the cargo ship USS Capella at Jamestown, Rhode Island she was repaired and returned to service. Capella was beached to stop her from sinking.

• Commissioned 27 March 1943 - Decommissioned 1 November 1945
• Boats assigned: PT- 103–105,147,148,362-371
• Southwest Pacific, had action at Dreger Harbor, Aitape, Hollandia, Wakde, and Mios Woendi, in New Guinea; at Manus in the Admiralties; and at Morotai in the Halmahera. New Guinea, and in San Pedro Bay in the Philippines
  • Squadron Commanders:
• Lt. Comdr. Henry M. S. Swift, USNR—March 27, 1943-December 1944
• Lt. Edward Macauley 3d, USNR—December 1944-June 17, 1945
• Lt. Comdr. Richard C. Morse Jr., USNR—June 17-October 14, 1945
• Lt. Raymond S. Patton, USNR—October 14-November 1, 1945

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 18 in WWII:

• Commissioned / Decommissioned: 27 March 1943 – 1 November 1945. Wikipedia
• Boats assigned: PT-103–105, PT-147–148, PT-362–371 (80-ft Elco types). Wikipedia
• Commanders: Lt. Cmdr. Henry M. S. Swift (Mar 1943–Dec 1944); Lt. Edward Macauley III (Dec 1944–17 Jun 1945); Lt. Cmdr. Richard C. Morse Jr. (17 Jun–14 Oct 1945); Lt. Raymond S. Patton (14 Oct–1 Nov 1945). Wikipedia

• Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) throughout the war. Early operations and staging through New Guinea PT bases including Dreger Harbor, Aitape, Hollandia, Wakde, Mios Woendi, plus Manus (Admiralties) and Morotai(Halmaheras). Late-war service in the Philippines (San Pedro Bay, Leyte). Wikipedia
• The squadron operated from forward PT bases such as Dreger Harbor, which from late 1943 to mid-1944 served as the principal forward hub for New Guinea coastal patrols and interdiction. Pacific Wrecks
• PT squadron logistics in this period were heavily supported by PT tenders; for example, the tender USS Oyster Bay(AGP-6) escorted 15 PT boats to the Admiralty Islands on 9 March 1944, then continued SWPA servicing—illustrating how MTBRon deployments were pushed forward by tender convoys. Naval History and Heritage Command

• Conducted night patrols, barge-busting, and coastal interdiction against Japanese traffic along the north New Guinea coast, expanding westward as Allied advances opened bases at Mios Woendi and beyond; later shifted to Philippine waters in support of Leyte operations. (Squadron locations and actions summarized in official PT histories.) Ibiblio

Battle of Wakde Part of World War II, Pacific War American troops advancing on a coconut plantation  17–21 May 1944; Wakde, Dutch New Guinea

Western New Guinea campaign

• Hollandia Raid
• Aitape
• Hollandia
• Wakde
• Lone Tree Hill
• Biak
• Noemfoor
• Driniumor
• Sansapor
• Morotai
• Aitape–Wewak
• Takenaga

The Battle of Wakde (Operation Straight Line) was part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. It was fought between the United States and Japanfrom 17 May 1944 to 21 May 1944 in Dutch New Guinea (now Papua, in Indonesia). The operation involved an assault on the Japanese-held Wakdeisland group by a reinforced US infantry battalion, which was transported from a beachhead the Allied troops had established around Arara, on the mainland, the previous day. Following the capture of the island, fighting on the mainland continued until September as Allied troops advanced west towards Sarmi. In the aftermath, the island's airbase was expanded and used to support operations around Biak and in the Marianas.

https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/pt-boats.php#google_vignette