PT-109 Sunk; Kennedy Saves Crew in Pacific

Context

In the summer of 1943, Allied forces were engaged in a prolonged effort to secure the Solomon Islands chain and sever Japanese supply routes to positions farther south. Fast, lightly armed patrol torpedo boats, or PT boats, operated at night from bases such as Tulagi and Rendova, attempting to intercept the so-called Tokyo Express convoys that delivered troops and supplies under cover of darkness. These small wooden craft relied on speed and surprise rather than heavy armament, and their crews frequently patrolled narrow straits where larger warships moved at high speed.

Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy, who had taken command of PT-109 in April, was one of many young naval officers assigned to this demanding duty. The boat formed part of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two and was one of fifteen PT craft ordered into Blackett Strait on the night of August 1 to engage returning Japanese vessels. The night was moonless and overcast, conditions that favored the faster enemy destroyers but complicated identification and maneuvering for the American boats.

The broader campaign highlighted the limitations of small-craft operations against heavily armed escorts. Earlier attacks that night had expended most of the squadron’s torpedoes without decisive results, leaving a handful of boats, including PT-109, to maintain a blocking position in the strait between Kolombangara and Ghizo Island.

What Happened

Shortly after 2 a.m. on August 2, PT-109 lay idling on one engine to reduce its wake when lookouts sighted the Japanese destroyer Amagiri approaching at high speed. Kennedy attempted to turn and fire torpedoes, but there was insufficient time. The destroyer struck the starboard side forward of the forward torpedo tube, shearing the boat in two. Two crew members, Seaman Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Motor Machinist’s Mate Harold William Marney, were killed instantly. The forward section remained briefly afloat amid burning fuel.

Kennedy and the surviving crew members, including Ensign Leonard Thom, gathered at the bow. They clung to the wreckage for roughly twelve hours as it drifted. When the hull began to take on water, the eleven men abandoned it and began a swim toward the nearest small island, Plum Pudding Island, approximately 3.5 miles away. Kennedy, a strong swimmer despite a prior back injury, used a life-jacket strap clenched in his teeth to tow the most severely burned crewman, Motor Machinist’s Mate Patrick McMahon, through the water. The group reached the island after about five hours.

Over the following days the survivors moved between small islands in search of better cover and fresh water, subsisting primarily on coconuts. Kennedy made repeated swims into Ferguson Passage in unsuccessful attempts to signal passing American boats. On August 4 the group reached Olasana Island. There they encountered two Solomon Islands scouts who carried a message Kennedy had carved into a coconut shell requesting rescue.

Aftermath

The coconut message reached Allied forces, and on the night of August 7–8, PT-157 under Lieutenant William Liebenow rendezvoused with the survivors near Olasana Island. Kennedy guided the rescue boat through the reefs, and the eleven men reached the PT base at Rendova early on August 8. All survivors received medical attention; McMahon’s burns required extended care.

Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions in saving the crew and later received a Purple Heart for the back injury sustained in the collision. The incident was reported in American newspapers within weeks, establishing an early public narrative of his wartime service.

Legacy

The PT-109 episode became a cornerstone of John F. Kennedy’s public image as a war hero. Campaign literature and the 1963 film PT 109 drew heavily on the story of leadership and endurance, contributing to his 1960 presidential candidacy. The coconut shell bearing his carved message remains on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Historians view the event as illustrative of the hazards faced by PT boat crews in the Solomon Islands campaign and of the improvised survival tactics required when larger naval assets were unavailable. The story also underscores the role of local Solomon Islanders in the eventual rescue, a detail sometimes overshadowed by the focus on Kennedy’s individual actions.