#pt-109

(via PT-109: сборка завершена)

IJN AMAGIRI rammed and sank John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in the Blackett Strait, 2 August 1943

John F. Kennedy (far right) and crewmen of the PT 109 serving in the Solomon Islands during World War II in 1943.

John F. Kennedy abroad the PT-109, Tulagi, Solomon Islands, 1943.

President John F. Kennedy with a model of PT-109, Washington D.C., 1961.

This year is the 100th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s birth! We’re celebrating JFK100 with a series all about JFK. More about JFK100 at the@jfklibrary

At about 2 am on August 2, 1943, while idling in the waters of the Solomon Islands, the PT-109, a US Navy boat under the command of Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kennedy, was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri, killing 2 crewmen and leaving the rest clinging to the sinking wreckage. On the moonless night in the South Pacific, the PT crew hadn’t seen the Amagiri until it was too late, and there is some debate as to whether or not the Japanese ship had seen the PT-109 until it had already destroyed the small Patrol Torpedo boat. The eleven survivors, 2 of whom were badly injured in the collision, clung to the slowly sinking hull for almost 12 hours before deciding to swim to Plum Pudding Island, a small uninhabited island about 3.5 miles away. The larger islands nearby were occupied by Imperial Japanese troops. Putting their shoes and what gear they salvaged on a piece of the wreckage, the uninjured men swam for 4 hours, pushing the timber to land. Kennedy, the former Harvard University swimmer and future President, clenched a life jacket strap in his teeth to tow one of the injured men along. The next day Kennedy swam to other nearby islands to search for a larger, safer location, and eventually found and led the men to Olasana Island. It was there that native Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, working as scouts for the US Navy, found the crew 6 days later, living off rainwater and coconuts. Kennedy carved a short message in a coconut for the islanders to bring back to the US Navy, who sent a boat back with Gasa and Kumana to rescue the survivors. The boat’s executive officer Leonard Thom and Kennedy would be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal, and Kennedy was awarded the Purple Heart for the back injury he sustained in the crash (that would cause him pain for the rest of his life). Kennedy returned home a war hero and used his fame to jumpstart his political career. Though still known to locals as “Plum Pudding Island,” the small island where the PT-109 survivors has since been renamed “Kennedy Island.” Popular American country music singer Jimmy Dean released “PT-109” in 1962, in the middle of JFK’s presidency. The following year a movie based on the popular book about the ordeal starring Cliff Robinson as the young LTJG Kennedy.