Posted on 05/29/2002 1:15:23 AM PDT by kattracks
SYDNEY, Australia, May 29, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Shipwreck hunter Robert Ballard said Wednesday he has found the World War II patrol boat commanded by John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Ocean off the Solomon Islands.
The remains of the wooden boat, PT 109, were lying on the seabed in the Blanket Strait near Gizo in the New Georgia group of islands, Ballard told Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Gizo is 235 miles northwest of the capital of the Solomons, Honiara.
Ballard, who led a team that found the Titanic shipwreck in 1985, said he located the wreckage of Kennedy's boat last week after searching for about a week. He did not provide further details of the discovery, citing contractual obligations over film and magazine rights to the search.
The radio report said a National Geographic documentary will be released in November. Members of the National Geographic team in the Solomon Islands did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The PT 109 sank in August 1943 after it was hit by a Japanese warship.
It is unknown how much of the boat remains besides the engines. Water is expected to have caused extensive damage to the hull.
Ballard, who found the wreck of the Titanic and other historic ships, had planned to use remote cameras to search for the boat.
The late president's brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and daughter, Caroline Kennedy, agreed to the expedition after being assured that the site would not be disturbed. Two members of Kennedy's crew died when the boat was hit.
In a 1999 interview, Ballard said PT 109 is "not lost, just misplaced." But he added searching for the vessel in an area full of unexploded ordnance would be "no fun."
Kennedy was commanding a patrol in August 2, 1943, when the boat was hit and cut in two by a Japanese destroyer.
Kennedy and 10 other survivors swam 15 hours to reach a nearby island. He towed one injured survivor, engineer Patrick Henry McMahon, by swimming with a strap from McMahon's lifejacket in his teeth.
They later swam to another island where there were coconuts to eat. Kennedy carved a message into one coconut and gave it to a native islander to take to rescuers.
Patrol torpedo boats, such as the PT109, had mahogany hulls. Plywood was used for the internal structures, chart houses and gun turrets. They were 80 feet long and powered by 12-cylinder gasoline engines.
The boats were used primarily to attack surface ships, but they also were used to lay mines and smoke screens, to rescue downed aviators and to carry out intelligence operations.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Have you ever heard Jimmy Carter pronounce the word? And he is a "nucular" engineer for crying out loud.
Have any of the Kennedys ever heard of the laws of salvage?
My wife's Dad was Canadian and Mom was from Louisiana, she has trouble with words like roof and iron, because of their so different styles of speach. Yet she is an extremely intelligent women who lives in a house with as roof and our clothes have been neatly pressed for the past 26 years.
Making fun of a person's shortcomings seems awfully Alec Baldwin to me.
As far as the National Guard thing is concerned, I have no problem with any one who serves as a reservist, period, end of story. However, the hypocricy of many on this board concerning this very same topic with regard to other politicians, (i.e. Democratic)is pathetic. GWB, Air National Guard = some sort of national hero who has served his country with pride and destinction; while Al Gore who at least to least went to Vietnam, although in the rear area is some sort of a commie panty waist. And just how different was Dan Quayle's deferrment from W's. Now, I hold no special place in my heart for either of the above mentioned veeps, but I find it ironic how GWB can be placed upon some sort of pedestal while his oponents have been slammed for pretty much the same thing. By the same thing, I mean children of the rich and famous, in some cases getting the less dangerous military assignments than others.
Nope. Has to do with meaning. As in dying a meaningless death...
Actually, I believe now as then that Nixon's the one. IMHO He deliberately prolonged the war for his own personal political advantage.
...what'd ol' Bobbo really found was probably a pile of wood screws.
I served two years in the Navy (72-74) .. did not go to Vietnam, did not get shot at.
I served 20 years in the Army (75-94), 5 years airmobile/mechanized infantry, 15 years legal. With the exception of DESERT STORM, never even came close to being shot at.
I .. and every other active-duty, reserve, or National Guard servicemember .. go where we're sent, serve where we're told to serve. Much as I abhorred Al Gore, one thing that I never did was demean his military service. Likewise George W. Bush's service in the National Guard ... in the event of a conflict, his unit COULD have been activated and sent off to fight; he would have had no control over that. If he had then tried to dodge out of the unit, THAT would be something worth mentioning. Otherwise, he did his time as he was required to.
Except for the stupidity of Saddam Hussein, I would not have performed duties in anything REMOTELY resembling a combat zone.
So, I say again: "They also serve, who stand and wait."
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