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Pacific Historian
Under Kennedy's command
Kennedy had used his family influence to get into the war quickly. The Allies were in a campaign of island hopping since securing Guadalcanal in a bloody battle in early 1943. Kennedy was assigned PT-109 upon arriving at Tulagi. By August 1943, the Allies had captured Rendova and moved PT boat operations there. The US Marine Corps was driving the Japanese out of Munda airfield at New Georgia by August. All of the islands around Blackett Strait were still held by the Japanese.
In an action considered too inconsequential by military historians to even have a formal name, PT-109 was sent out north on a night mission through Ferguson Passage to Blackett Strait. She was one of 15 boats sent to intercept the Tokyo Express.
In what would be later considered to be a textbook example of a poorly planned and uncoordinated PT attack, 15 boats loaded with 60 torpedoes counted only a few observed explosions (which did not necessarily mean hits). Many torpedoes exploded prematurely or ran at the wrong depth, so no enemy ships were sunk. The boats were ordered to return when their torpedoes were expended, but the boats with radar shot their torpedoes first. When they left, the remaining boats, such as PT-109, were left without radar.
PT-109 patrolled the area in case the enemy ships returned. Around 0200, on a moonless night, Kennedy's boat was idling on one engine to avoid detection of her wake by Japanese aircraft, which had killed a PT officer in a previous night attack. With only ten seconds warning, they realized they had parked squarely in the path of a Japanese destroyer, which was returning to Rabaul from Vila, Kolombangara after offloading 912 soldiers and supplies.
The crew spotted the destroyer bearing down on them at speeds reported by some sources as high as 30 or 40 kt. Others believe it might have been as slow as 23 knots. With no time to get the engines up to speed, they were run down by the Amagiri on 2 August 1943 in the Blackett Strait between Kolombangara and Arundel in the Solomon Islands near 8.063626° S 157.1515° E.
PT-109 was cut in two. Seamen Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Harold W. Marney were lost. For such a catastrophic collision, explosion, and fire, it was a low loss rate compared to other boats that were hit by shell fire. Conflicting statements have been made as to whether the destroyer captain had spotted and steered towards the boat; author Donovan, who interviewed many of the destroyer crew, believes the collision was not an accident, though other reports suggest the Amagiri's captain never even realized he had run down the PT. Damage to the propeller slowed the destroyer's trip home. The PT-109 was gravely damaged, with watertight compartments keeping only the forward hull afloat in a sea of flames.
Survival
All of the nearby large islands had Japanese camps on them. The survivors carefully chose the tiny deserted Plum Pudding Island, southwest of Kolombangara Island. They placed their lantern, shoes, and nonswimmers on one of the timbers used as a gun mount and began kicking together to propel it. It took four hours for the survivors to reach their destination, 3.5 miles away, braving the danger of sharks and crocodiles. Kennedy had swum at Harvard University, so, using a life jacket strap he clenched in his mouth, he towed the badly-burned McMahon. The island was only a hundred yards in diameter, with no food or water. The crew had to hide from passing Japanese barge traffic. Kennedy swam about 4 kilometers more, to Nauru and Olasana islands in search of help and food. He then led his men to Olasana Island, which had coconut trees and water.
Rescue
The explosion on August 2 was spotted by Australian coastwatcher Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the volcano on Kolombangara Island; over ten thousand Japanese troops were garrisoned in the southeast. The Navy and its squadron of PT boats held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after reports were made of the large explosion. However, Evans dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors after decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost PT-109. These canoes were similar to those used for thousands of years by people in the Pacific and by Native Americans. In retrospect, these were by far the oldest technology and smallest manned craft used by the Allies in the war, but they could avoid detection by Japanese ships and aircraft and, if spotted, would likely be taken for native fishermen.
Kennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they were found by the scouts. Gasa and Kumana disobeyed an order by stopping by Nauru to investigate a Japanese wreck, from which they salvaged fuel and food. They first fled by canoe from Kennedy, who to them was simply a shouting stranger. On the next island, they pointed their Tommy guns at the rest of the crew since the only light-skinned people they expected to find were Japanese and they were not familiar with either the language or the people. Gasa later said "All white people looked the same to me." Kennedy convinced them they were on the same side. The small canoe was not big enough for passengers. Though the Donovan book and movie depict Kennedy offering a coconut inscribed with a message, according to a National Geographic interview, it was Gasa who suggested it and Kumana who climbed a coconut tree to pick one. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut
NAURO ISL
COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT…
HE CAN PILOT… 11 ALIVE
NEED SMALL BOAT… KENNEDY
This message was delivered at great risk through 35 nautical miles of hostile waters patrolled by the Japanese to the nearest Allied base at Rendova. Other coastwatcher natives who were caught had been tortured and killed. Later, a canoe returned for Kennedy, taking him to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. The PT 157, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow, was able to pick up the survivors. The arranged signal was four shots, but since Kennedy only had three bullets in his pistol, Evans gave him a rifle for the fourth signal shot. The sailors sang "Yes Jesus Loves Me" to pass the time. 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.
PT-59
PT-59 was one of the first PT boats converted to a gunboat primarily tasked with hunting down targets their own size or smaller, and was crewed by Kennedy and those from PT-109 who chose to stay in the war rather than go home. PT-59 went on to rescue ambushed marines - one gravely wounded officer died in Kennedy's bunk. The movie included this story, but portrayed it as an action of PT-109.
Kennedy had used his family influence to get into the war quickly. The Allies were in a campaign of island hopping since securing Guadalcanal in a bloody battle in early 1943. Kennedy was assigned PT-109 upon arriving at Tulagi. By August 1943, the Allies had captured Rendova and moved PT boat operations there. The US Marine Corps was driving the Japanese out of Munda airfield at New Georgia by August. All of the islands around Blackett Strait were still held by the Japanese.
In an action considered too inconsequential by military historians to even have a formal name, PT-109 was sent out north on a night mission through Ferguson Passage to Blackett Strait. She was one of 15 boats sent to intercept the Tokyo Express.
In what would be later considered to be a textbook example of a poorly planned and uncoordinated PT attack, 15 boats loaded with 60 torpedoes counted only a few observed explosions (which did not necessarily mean hits). Many torpedoes exploded prematurely or ran at the wrong depth, so no enemy ships were sunk. The boats were ordered to return when their torpedoes were expended, but the boats with radar shot their torpedoes first. When they left, the remaining boats, such as PT-109, were left without radar.
PT-109 patrolled the area in case the enemy ships returned. Around 0200, on a moonless night, Kennedy's boat was idling on one engine to avoid detection of her wake by Japanese aircraft, which had killed a PT officer in a previous night attack. With only ten seconds warning, they realized they had parked squarely in the path of a Japanese destroyer, which was returning to Rabaul from Vila, Kolombangara after offloading 912 soldiers and supplies.
The crew spotted the destroyer bearing down on them at speeds reported by some sources as high as 30 or 40 kt. Others believe it might have been as slow as 23 knots. With no time to get the engines up to speed, they were run down by the Amagiri on 2 August 1943 in the Blackett Strait between Kolombangara and Arundel in the Solomon Islands near 8.063626° S 157.1515° E.
PT-109 was cut in two. Seamen Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Harold W. Marney were lost. For such a catastrophic collision, explosion, and fire, it was a low loss rate compared to other boats that were hit by shell fire. Conflicting statements have been made as to whether the destroyer captain had spotted and steered towards the boat; author Donovan, who interviewed many of the destroyer crew, believes the collision was not an accident, though other reports suggest the Amagiri's captain never even realized he had run down the PT. Damage to the propeller slowed the destroyer's trip home. The PT-109 was gravely damaged, with watertight compartments keeping only the forward hull afloat in a sea of flames.
Survival
All of the nearby large islands had Japanese camps on them. The survivors carefully chose the tiny deserted Plum Pudding Island, southwest of Kolombangara Island. They placed their lantern, shoes, and nonswimmers on one of the timbers used as a gun mount and began kicking together to propel it. It took four hours for the survivors to reach their destination, 3.5 miles away, braving the danger of sharks and crocodiles. Kennedy had swum at Harvard University, so, using a life jacket strap he clenched in his mouth, he towed the badly-burned McMahon. The island was only a hundred yards in diameter, with no food or water. The crew had to hide from passing Japanese barge traffic. Kennedy swam about 4 kilometers more, to Nauru and Olasana islands in search of help and food. He then led his men to Olasana Island, which had coconut trees and water.
Rescue
The explosion on August 2 was spotted by Australian coastwatcher Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the volcano on Kolombangara Island; over ten thousand Japanese troops were garrisoned in the southeast. The Navy and its squadron of PT boats held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after reports were made of the large explosion. However, Evans dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors after decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost PT-109. These canoes were similar to those used for thousands of years by people in the Pacific and by Native Americans. In retrospect, these were by far the oldest technology and smallest manned craft used by the Allies in the war, but they could avoid detection by Japanese ships and aircraft and, if spotted, would likely be taken for native fishermen.
Kennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they were found by the scouts. Gasa and Kumana disobeyed an order by stopping by Nauru to investigate a Japanese wreck, from which they salvaged fuel and food. They first fled by canoe from Kennedy, who to them was simply a shouting stranger. On the next island, they pointed their Tommy guns at the rest of the crew since the only light-skinned people they expected to find were Japanese and they were not familiar with either the language or the people. Gasa later said "All white people looked the same to me." Kennedy convinced them they were on the same side. The small canoe was not big enough for passengers. Though the Donovan book and movie depict Kennedy offering a coconut inscribed with a message, according to a National Geographic interview, it was Gasa who suggested it and Kumana who climbed a coconut tree to pick one. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut
NAURO ISL
COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT…
HE CAN PILOT… 11 ALIVE
NEED SMALL BOAT… KENNEDY
This message was delivered at great risk through 35 nautical miles of hostile waters patrolled by the Japanese to the nearest Allied base at Rendova. Other coastwatcher natives who were caught had been tortured and killed. Later, a canoe returned for Kennedy, taking him to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. The PT 157, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow, was able to pick up the survivors. The arranged signal was four shots, but since Kennedy only had three bullets in his pistol, Evans gave him a rifle for the fourth signal shot. The sailors sang "Yes Jesus Loves Me" to pass the time. 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.
PT-59
PT-59 was one of the first PT boats converted to a gunboat primarily tasked with hunting down targets their own size or smaller, and was crewed by Kennedy and those from PT-109 who chose to stay in the war rather than go home. PT-59 went on to rescue ambushed marines - one gravely wounded officer died in Kennedy's bunk. The movie included this story, but portrayed it as an action of PT-109.
