PT-109 was required reading for any self-respecting boy back in the day.
What’s been forgotten was Kiska and Attu.
Kennedy lost his boat because he
1 - failed to properly monitor his radio.
2 - Had mounted an unauthorized anti-tank cannon on his boat, which impacted the center or gravity and added weight which slowed the boat
3 - tried to manuever to engage with the unauthorized weapon instead of moving his boat to a safe distance to engage with torpedos, and
4 - failed to maintain adequate watch in a combat zone.
Of course, he was shipped to the South Pacific to break up his relationship with a Nazi spy who was a personal favorite of Hitler.
In 1974 I was a Social Security claims rep in Tulsa. One day and old guy applied for retirement. He was really pleasant and we ended up talking.
It turned out that he was a PT boat capt. and even more unusual his boat was one in the same squadron as Kennedy.
We talked a lot about their boats were well maintained and Kennedy may have something to do with it. Kennedy was well liked and wanted to be a hero. He even had a 75mm cannon mounted on the bow sort of jerry rigged.
He also said Kennedy performed well after his boat was rammed but being rammed was considered the worst thing that could happen to a PT boat. The thing which could you court marshaled. But like I said, they all liked him.
“Idling on one engine to avoid detection”
Shouldn’t all the engines have been off then?
I wish the alternative history of the Lindberg model kit cover was true.
Looks like the 109, at full speed, gets missed. Also, apparently there’s some kind of air raid going on.
Kennedy leaned pretty heavily on the PT-109 mythos. Without it, he’s just some guy that 4F’d out of active duty. Maybe it’d be enough to sink him into obscurity, or maybe peak out as some government bureaucrat like his old man.
That photo of the quad Bofors firing is a classic; I’ve seen it in numerous sources.
The funny thing is, no one seems to be aiming the gun. There is an elevation and an azimuth layer on opposite the sides of the mount, and neither one seems to be looking through the sights.
JFK was below deck with the rest of the crew, drunk and playing cards.
Yeah, to say they were a little surprised they were run over by the Japanese Navy is pretty accurate.
Ping.
Q: Who sang the song PT 109 (1962)
A: Jimmy Dean, the sausage king
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOXQr9u8bBk
Bookmark
The author of “Japanese Destroyer Captain” was aboard one of the other destroyers with the Amagiri. He described the event in his book, and made it sound like Kennedy was puttering around and not even paying attention.
Is it any coincidence that John F-ing Kerry went into swift boats, took films, demanded a purple heart for a minor injury and looked for a quick exit out of the war zone. John F-ing Kerry copied JFK’s path into politics. At least no one thought JFK was a gold brick. He did injure his back.