Hmm, all neatly wrapped up. But to be fair, if the story is even mostly true, he was t-boned by a destroyer at night. It’s not like he ran aground (like Nimitz early in his career ;-).
He had a high speed boat and wasn’t paying enough attention to get out of the way of the oncoming ship.
I hadn’t known what Whizzer did to earn the Supreme Court appointment.
Even on a moonless night, the sky is not "pitch black". It is easily seen as luminous to the dark-adapted human eye, especially if objects are silhouetted against it.
How could JFK be on patrol for enemy ships at torpedo distances yet be surprised by an enemy destroyer and have no time to react?