The Elco 80 ft PT-174 was one of the first batch of the 93 PT-103 sub-class of the Elco PT boats. Laid down and completed in January 1943, on May 24 it was aboard the tanker Stanvac Manila with five other motor torpedo boats when it was torpedoed south of Nouméa. Through the efforts of the tanker’s crew, PT-174 was freed from the sinking ship and subsequently escaped to New Caledonia. The PT-174 went on to serve throughout the Pacific War, from Guadalcanal to the Philippines. Unfortunately, at the end of the war, the US Navy considered it too costly to return their PT boat fleets home, so in November 1945 many of them, including PT-174, were simply decommissioned and disposed of.

Introduced in Update "Ground Breaking", the PT-174 is one of the more distinctive members of the Elco PT boat family. Instead of focusing its firepower at a chasing enemy from the stern, the PT-174’s main firepower – a powerful 40 mm Bofors autocannon – is placed at the bow instead. This allows the PT-174 to be played more aggressively than its counterparts. Although it does share the weak hull of the Elco family, the PT-174 has great potential when its strengths and weaknesses are well understood, thus allowing it to tackle even the seemingly superior coastal boats at higher ranks.