PT-109 was an 80-foot (24 m) Elco PT boat (patrol torpedo boat) last commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II.

Drewitch was injured on June 30, 1943 when a depth charge was dislodged and came through the deck landing on the bunk above him. Kowal and Drawdy were injured on July 19, 1943 by a Japanese aircraft attack. All three men served under Kennedy later on the PT-59.

2011年2月22日 · In April 1943, 25-year-old John F. Kennedy arrived in the Pacific and took command of the PT-109. Just months later, the boat collided with a Japanese ship, killing two of his men. (John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library) The most famous collision in U.S. Navy history occurred at about 2:30 a.m. on August 2, 1943, a hot, moonless night in the Pacific.

PTs were popular among junior officers, since they afforded the opportunity for an independent command at relatively junior rank. All of the officers and crews were volunteers. The danger of the duty was evident from their motto during the war – They Were Expendable. Here is the story of two of them, PT 109 and PT 59. 1.

On August 2, 1943, PT 109 was struck by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and the entire crew was thrown into the Pacific. After fifteen hours at sea, eleven survivors made it to a nearby island with Kennedy towing one injured crew member to land.

2018年12月3日 · As the PT 109 crewmen stared in horror, the 388-foot destroyer Amagiri rammed violently into the PT 109, splintering the helpless wooden boat in two. After serving in the military, the future...

Motor Torpedo Boat 109 (PT-109) was laid down 4 March 1942 by the Elco Works Naval Division of the Electric Boat Company in Bayonne, New Jersey. The seventh 40-ton Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) built there, she was launched on 20 June, delivered to the Navy on 10 July 1942, and fitted out in the New York Naval Shipyard at Brooklyn.

2022年11月18日 · Most of the crew were knocked or fell into the water. The one man below decks, engineer Patrick McMahon, miraculously escaped, although he was badly burned by exploding fuel. Fear that PT-109 would go up in flames drove Kennedy to order the men who still remained on the wreck to abandon ship.

2024年2月5日 · In a heavily retouched view, Lieutenant Junior Grade John F. Kennedy and his crew are photographed forward of the bridge. The twin .50 caliber Browning machine guns, 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun, and 21-inch Mark 8 torpedo tubes.

Description: John F. Kennedy and crewmen of the PT-109. Back Row (L-R) Allan Webb, Leon Drawdy, Edgar Mauer, Edmund Drewitch, John Maguire, Lt. (jg) John F. Kennedy (standing, far right). Front Row (L-R) Charles Harris, Maurice Kowal, Andrew Kirksey, and Lenny Thom. Solomon Islands. Date: 1943. Copyright: Public Domain.