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Every ship wreck has a story. But perhaps none is better known than the story of the sinking of the United States Patrol Torpedo Boat 109. Indeed, it’s a tale that helped propel John F. Kennedy to the Presidency.

In 1943, the future president was the 26-year old skipper of PT-109, which cruised the channels of the Soloman Islands in search of Japanese vessels.

On the moonless night of August 2, 1943, at roughly 2:30 in the morning, as PT-109 prowled the waters off Kolombangara Island, the Japanese destroyer, The Amagiri, suddenly emerged out of the darkness and, in an instant, cut Kennedy’s plywood craft in half. So difficult was visibility that it was first believed to be another PT boat. When it became apparent that it was one of the Japanese destroyers, Kennedy attempted to turn to starboard to bring his torpedoes to bear. But there was not enough time. Two of his dozen-member crew were killed instantly, and the back half of the craft sank immediately. The survivors clung to the drifting bow for hours.

Japanese destroyer Amagiri

At daybreak, they embarked on a five-hour-long swim to a nearby deserted island. Kennedy, having been on the swim team at Harvard, managed to tow a crew member by a belt through his teeth, and was undaunted by the distance.

Several of the other men were also good swimmers, but several were not; two, Johnston and Mauer, could not swim at all. These last two were lashed to a plank that the other seven men pulled and pushed as their strength would allow. Kennedy was first to arrive at the island named Plum Pudding but called “Bird” Island by the men because of the guano that coated the bushes.

Conflicting statements have been made as to whether the destroyers captain had spotted the pt boat and intentionally steered toward it; PT 109 author Robert Donovan, who interviewed many of the destroyer crew, believes the collision was not an accident, though other reports suggest the Amagiri’s captain never even realized he had run down the PT boat.

The explosion on August second was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher Sub Lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the volcano on Kolombangara Island. The Navy and its squadron of PT boats held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after reports were made of the large explosion. However, Evans dispatched Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors after decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost PT-109.

These canoes were similar to those used for thousands of years by people in the Pacific and by Native Americans. In retrospect, these boats were by far the oldest form of technology and the smallest manned craft used by the Allies in the war. But they worked out well because if spotted by Japanese ships or aircraft they would be mistaken for the fishing boats of the island natives.

After two days on the small island without food or water, Kennedy realized they needed to swim to a larger island, Olasana, if they were to survive. It was there that Gasa and Kumana found them.

They first fled by canoe from Kennedy, who to them was simply a shouting stranger. After Kennedy convinced them they were on the same side, it was Gasa who suggested to use a coconut as a “messaging device” and it was Kumana who climbed a coconut tree to pick one.

That coconut later became famous as a coconut Kennedy carved with the message:

NAURO ISL
COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT…
HE CAN PILOT… 11 ALIVE
NEED SMALL BOAT… KENNEDY

This message was delivered at great risk through 35 nautical miles (65 km) of hostile waters patrolled by the Japanese to the nearest Allied base at Rendova. Later, a canoe returned for Kennedy, taking him to the coast watcher to coordinate the rescue.

Soon, the story of PT-109 became part of the Kennedy legend of courage under pressure, and helped him win voters in the 1960 presidential election. There was even a PT-109 float in the inaugural parade.

The real PT-109, however, sat on the Pacific Ocean floor, smashed and battered until it was located in May 2002 by a National Geographic expedition. 

The coconut shell was preserved in a glass container by Kennedy on his desk during his presidency.

PT-109 belonged to the PT 103 class, hundreds of which were completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco. The Elco boats were the largest PT boats operated by the US Navy during World War II. At 80 feet (24 m) and 40 tons, they had strong wooden hulls of 2-inch (5 cm) mahogany planking. Powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500 hp (1100 kW) Packard gasoline engines (one per propeller shaft), their designed top speed was 41 knots (76 km/h).

Below: New screen shots from PT-Boats: Knight of the Sea

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Wikipedia.

PT-Boats: Knights of the Sea official site, PT-Boats page on Akella.com, History of US PT-Boats Part 1