Kennedy's PT-109

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

 

"Before he was the 35th President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy was already exemplifying what it means to be a leader. During one of the defining moments in his life, after a collision with a Japanese Destroyer, August 1943, JFK's Patrol Boat-109 (PT-109) was sunk in the South Pacific. More specifically off Plum Pudding Island, later renamed Kennedy Island, off the Solomon Islands.
59 years later, queue Dr. Robert Ballard and his team of explorers who found the wreckage by locating a torpedo tube. Here is the footage from the remotely operated vehicle during the 2002 expedition."

 

http://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-pt-109

 

 

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

How did they confirm this was the 109?

[Sixgun Sheridan]

I'm guessing that it was the only PT-Boat reported sunk or missing in that particular area.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

1 hour ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

How did they confirm this was the 109?

It's a "conditional confirmation".

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2002/07/news-jfk-pt-109-wreck-robert-ballard-archaeology/

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

35 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

It's a "conditional confirmation".

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2002/07/news-jfk-pt-109-wreck-robert-ballard-archaeology/

 

Abilene:

     Thanks for posting.

     Found the same website during lunch.

     For those not interested in reading the entire article here is an excerpt of the pertinent information:

 

National Geographic did not want to disturb PT-109's remains, and without artifacts recovered from the site, the Navy could offer only conditional confirmation. Still, Wertheimer concluded, "Given all the evidence presented, it appears to be the PT-109." That evidence includes the find's location, the types of torpedo and torpedo tube, and a cranking mechanism.

 

First, location: No other PT (patrol torpedo) boat was lost in the search area. Plus, the location of the find is consistent with historical accounts of the PT-109 bow's drift. (The stern, or rear, sank at impact.) Following the course established by an isolated Australian coast watcher the day after the collision "and Kennedy's own accounts into that night, it would place the bow section at the southeastern end of Blackett Strait near the entrance to Ferguson Passage," said Ballard. "This is exactly where we found PT-109."

Second, the types of torpedo and tube found—Mark 8 and Mark 18, respectively—were used mainly on PT boats during World War II.

Third, a PT-boat training gear—a cranking mechanism used to position a torpedo tube for firing—was identified next to the tube at the wreck site.

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

My Dad said, "How that guy got a medal for losing is boat. I never got one FOR NOT losing my destroyer".

 

Mixed opinions on the Kennedys.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Did they find an antitank gun?

 

Quote

Occasionally, some front line PT boats received ad hoc up-fits at forward bases, where they mounted such weapons as 37mm aircraft cannons, rocket launchers, or mortars. When these weapons were found to be successful, they were incorporated onto the PT boats as original armament. One such field modification was made to Kennedy's PT-109, which was equipped with a single-shot Army M3 37mm anti-tank gun that her crew had commandeered; they removed the wheels and lashed it to 2x8 timbers placed on the bow only one night before she was lost. The larger punch of the 37mm round was desirable, but the crews looked for something that could fire faster than the single-shot army anti-tank weapon. Their answer was found in the 37mm Oldsmobile M4 aircraft automatic cannon cannibalized from crashed P-39 Airacobra fighter planes on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. After having demonstrated its value on board PT boats, the M4 (and later M9) cannon was installed at the factory. The M4/M9 37mm auto cannon had a relatively high rate of fire (125 rounds per minute) and large magazine (30 rounds). These features made it highly desirable due to the PT boat's ever-increasing requirement for increased firepower to deal effectively with the Japanese Daihatsu-class barges, which were largely immune to torpedoes due to their shallow draft. By the war's end, most PTs had these weapons.

 

From 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boat

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

13 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Did they find an antitank gun?

From 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boat

Marshall:

Where Is the Rest of the Boat?

That last detail—the training gear—combined with readings from sonar (which can penetrate the seafloor) have Ballard convinced at least part of the rest of the bow is buried and connected to the tube.

The gear is positioned as it would have been on an intact boat. And the search team tried to nudge the gear with an ROV attachment. "It didn't budge," said Ballard during the expedition. "That says it's intact."

In addition, "Our sonar record is seeing much more than our eye is seeing," said Ballard. Sonar showed a target some 7 meters (23 feet) wide, roughly the width of a PT boat.

If buried, most of the largely wooden hull would likely have disintegrated or been eaten by woodborers in these sand-scoured, oxygen-rich waters. For the most part, only metal would remain: engines, gas tanks, torpedo tubes.

And the stern? It sank at the collision site, approximately five miles (eight kilometers) north of the bow site—if it remained intact at all. "This was probably so utterly crushed in the initial collision," said Wertheimer, "that you won't find much of anything recognizable."