Who Is Dinah Might?

The 'nose art' popular on WW-2 bombers was also painted on the map-house of PT boats. Nose art was serious business, with the most famous PT"Mosquito-Torpedo" insignia designed by Walt Disney.

(See who else was inspired by 'Dinah Might')

 

Pinup girls were the most popular theme for nose art. The crew of the 171 chose the January 1943 girl for their nose art. They added the phrase “Good girls wont, but Dinah Might”. (I recall my grandfather mentioning the phrase once or twice with a chuckle) The original pinup calendar remained with the 171, and is now at Battleship Cove Museum in Fall River, MA.

 

The pinup girl was painted on the map-house and was the pride of the crew. Below one of the crew members poses next to Ms. Dinah:

 

Just in front of the cockpit, the “Dinah Might” nameplate was hand painted on scrap wood, and nailed to the map house. (The ships were all wood construction!)

 

Notice the white star of the “USA” logo that’s been painted above the Dinah-Might nose art (left picture just above the crew member’s hand). It wasn’t decorative – it was to remind navy and army fighter pilots not to bomb their own ship as they had done several months before (url).