[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Let’s not forget either that PT-109 was lost to gross incompetence.

I am as tired of the Kennedy hagiography as anyone, but none of his fellow PT commanders nor any serious historian was critical of Kennedy's tactics during the engagement in which PT-109 was lost. Running your engines at night in a PT boat causes bioilluminescence, which paints a great big target sign for any roaming Jap aircraft.

If you want to criticize anyone, why not the other PT commanders who failed to look for survivors after the collision, which was clearly indicated by flames from PT-109 and the loss of radio contact?

[M1903A1]

Tameichi Hara’s description of the PT-109 incident, in his autobiography “Japanese Destroyer Captain”, is somewhat less than heroic.

[MtBaldy]

Not quite:

http://www.historynet.com/pt-109-disaster.htm