PT-109
Yesterday was the 69th anniversary of the sinking of PT-109. It was on August 2, 1943 that the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. Causing it to sink. The boat was commanded by Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) John F. Kennedy.
Despite having a bad back, Kennedy used his family influence to join the Navy and get into the war. He started out as an ensign with a desk job for the Office of Naval Intelligence in October 1941. After completing his ROTC training the following year, he entered the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. He was then ordered to the training squadron, Motor Torpedo Squadron 4, to take over the command of motor torpedo boat PT-101. In January 1943, PT-101 and four other boats were ordered to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 14, which was assigned to Panama.
Seeking combat duty, Kennedy was transferred on February 23, 1943 as a replacement officer to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2, which was based at Tulagi Island in the Solomons. He took command of PT-109 on April 23. On May 30, several PT boats, including PT-109, were ordered to the Russell Islands in preparation for the invasion of New Georgia.
After the capture of Rendova Island, the PT boat operations were moved there to conduct nightly operations, both to disturb the heavy Japanese barge traffic that was resupplying the Japanese garrisons in New Georgia, and to patrol the Ferguson and Blackett Straits in order to sight and to give warning when the Japanese Tokyo Express warships came into the straits.
On August 1, an attack by 18 Japanese bombers struck the base, wrecking PT-117 and sinking PT-164. Two torpedoes were blown off PT-164 and ran erratically around the bay until they ran ashore on the beach without exploding. Despite the loss of two boats and two crewmen, Kennedy's PT-109 and 14 other boats were sent north on a mission through Ferguson Passage to Blackett Strait, after intelligence reports had indicated that five enemy destroyers were scheduled to run that night from Bougainville Island through Blackett Strait to Vila, on the southern tip of Kolombangara Island. In the PT attack that followed, not a single hit was scored. PT-109 was left without radar, and was not notified that other boats had already engaged the enemy.
PT-109, with PT-162 and PT-169, was ordered to continue patrolling the area in case the enemy ships returned. Around 02:00, on a night with a new moon, Kennedy's boat was idling on one engine to avoid detection of her wake by Japanese aircraft when the crew realized they were in the path of the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. Amagiri was traveling at a relatively high speed. PT-109 was struck by the destroyer on August 2, 1943 in the Blackett Strait between Kolombangara and Arundel in the Solomon Islands.
PT-109 was cut in two. Two crew members were killed, and two others were badly injured. PT-169 launched two torpedoes that missed the destroyer and PT-162's torpedoes failed to fire at all. Both boats then turned away from the scene of the action and returned to base without checking for survivors.
All of the nearby large islands had Japanese camps on them. The survivors decided to swim to tiny deserted Plum Pudding Island, southwest of Kolombangara island. It took four hours for them to reach their destination, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away, fortunately without interference from sharks or crocodiles. Kennedy had been on the Harvard University varsity swim team. He used a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth to tow his badly-burned senior enlisted machinist mate Patrick McMahon.
The island was only 100 yards (90 m) in diameter, with no food or water. The crew had to hide from passing Japanese barges. Kennedy swam about 4 km more, to Naru and Olasana islands, in search of help and food. He then led his men to Olasana Island, which had coconut trees and drinkable water.
The explosion was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher, Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the Mount Veve volcano on Kolombangara island, where more than 10,000 Japanese troops were garrisoned below on the southeast portion. The Navy and its squadron of PT boats had held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after reports were made of the large explosion, but Evans dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors.
Kennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they were found by the scouts. Kennedy convinced them they were on the same side. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut
COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT...
HE CAN PILOT... 11 ALIVE
NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY
This message was delivered at great risk to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. The PT-157, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow, was able to pick up the survivors. Gasa and Kumana received little notice or credit in military reports, books, or movies until 2002 when they were interviewed by National Geographic shortly before Gasa's death.
The coconut shell was preserved in a glass container by Kennedy on his desk during his presidency. It is now on display at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts.
Despite having a bad back, Kennedy used his family influence to join the Navy and get into the war. He started out as an ensign with a desk job for the Office of Naval Intelligence in October 1941. After completing his ROTC training the following year, he entered the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. He was then ordered to the training squadron, Motor Torpedo Squadron 4, to take over the command of motor torpedo boat PT-101. In January 1943, PT-101 and four other boats were ordered to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 14, which was assigned to Panama.
Seeking combat duty, Kennedy was transferred on February 23, 1943 as a replacement officer to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2, which was based at Tulagi Island in the Solomons. He took command of PT-109 on April 23. On May 30, several PT boats, including PT-109, were ordered to the Russell Islands in preparation for the invasion of New Georgia.
After the capture of Rendova Island, the PT boat operations were moved there to conduct nightly operations, both to disturb the heavy Japanese barge traffic that was resupplying the Japanese garrisons in New Georgia, and to patrol the Ferguson and Blackett Straits in order to sight and to give warning when the Japanese Tokyo Express warships came into the straits.
On August 1, an attack by 18 Japanese bombers struck the base, wrecking PT-117 and sinking PT-164. Two torpedoes were blown off PT-164 and ran erratically around the bay until they ran ashore on the beach without exploding. Despite the loss of two boats and two crewmen, Kennedy's PT-109 and 14 other boats were sent north on a mission through Ferguson Passage to Blackett Strait, after intelligence reports had indicated that five enemy destroyers were scheduled to run that night from Bougainville Island through Blackett Strait to Vila, on the southern tip of Kolombangara Island. In the PT attack that followed, not a single hit was scored. PT-109 was left without radar, and was not notified that other boats had already engaged the enemy.
PT-109, with PT-162 and PT-169, was ordered to continue patrolling the area in case the enemy ships returned. Around 02:00, on a night with a new moon, Kennedy's boat was idling on one engine to avoid detection of her wake by Japanese aircraft when the crew realized they were in the path of the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. Amagiri was traveling at a relatively high speed. PT-109 was struck by the destroyer on August 2, 1943 in the Blackett Strait between Kolombangara and Arundel in the Solomon Islands.
PT-109 was cut in two. Two crew members were killed, and two others were badly injured. PT-169 launched two torpedoes that missed the destroyer and PT-162's torpedoes failed to fire at all. Both boats then turned away from the scene of the action and returned to base without checking for survivors.
All of the nearby large islands had Japanese camps on them. The survivors decided to swim to tiny deserted Plum Pudding Island, southwest of Kolombangara island. It took four hours for them to reach their destination, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away, fortunately without interference from sharks or crocodiles. Kennedy had been on the Harvard University varsity swim team. He used a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth to tow his badly-burned senior enlisted machinist mate Patrick McMahon.
The island was only 100 yards (90 m) in diameter, with no food or water. The crew had to hide from passing Japanese barges. Kennedy swam about 4 km more, to Naru and Olasana islands, in search of help and food. He then led his men to Olasana Island, which had coconut trees and drinkable water.
The explosion was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher, Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the Mount Veve volcano on Kolombangara island, where more than 10,000 Japanese troops were garrisoned below on the southeast portion. The Navy and its squadron of PT boats had held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after reports were made of the large explosion, but Evans dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors.
Kennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they were found by the scouts. Kennedy convinced them they were on the same side. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut
COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT...
HE CAN PILOT... 11 ALIVE
NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY
This message was delivered at great risk to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. The PT-157, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow, was able to pick up the survivors. Gasa and Kumana received little notice or credit in military reports, books, or movies until 2002 when they were interviewed by National Geographic shortly before Gasa's death.
The coconut shell was preserved in a glass container by Kennedy on his desk during his presidency. It is now on display at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts.