PT 41 was a PT-20 (Elco 77-Foot) Class Motor torpedo boat, built at Elco and commissioned on 23 July, 1941.

PT 41 served as the flagship of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, which was based in the Philippines from late 1941 to April 1942. The commander of PT 41 was Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley, who became one of the U.S. Navy's most highly decorated officers.

PT 41 evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Mrs. MacArthur, Arthur MacArthur (Gen. MacArthur's son), Arthur's Chinese nurse, General Sutherland (USFFE Chief of Staff), Capt. Harold G. Ray (USN), Lt. Col. Sidney L. Huff (Aide), and Maj. C.H. Morehouse (Medical Officer) from Corregidor to Mindanao on 12 March, 1942, thus enabling MacArthur to escape and to make his famous "I will return" speech in Melbourne, Australia.

After MacArthur's party left Mindanao, PT 41, along with the two remaining PT Boats of the squadron (PT 34 and PT 35), established a new base of operations at Cagayan, Mindanao, supporting the American military forces defending Mindanao and the nearby islands from the invading Japanese throughout late March and early April of 1942.

After a torpedo attack in concert with PT 34 on the Imperial Japanese Cruiser KUNA on April 9, 1942, PT 41 became the last remaining PT boat of the squadron (PT 34 was sunk in the aftermath of the attack and PT 35 was burned at Cebu). With no more torpedoes available for PT 41 to use, it was commandeered by the United States Army to patrol Lake Lanao , Mindanao. It was destroyed by the Army on April 15, 1942, to prevent it's capture while being transported via road to Lake Lanao.