Flores, John, W. (22 November 1998). It took four hours for the survivors to reach their destination, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away, which they reached without interference by sharks or crocodiles. On the next island, they pointed their Tommy guns at the rest of the crew since the only light-skinned people they expected to find were Japanese and they were not familiar with either the language or the people. See more ideas about boat, pt boat, warship. At the end of the war, almost all surviving U.S. PT boats were disposed of shortly after V-J Day. At 80 feet (24 m) and 40 tons, they had strong wooden hulls of two layers of 1-inch (2.5 cm) mahogany planking. [6], On 1 August, an attack by 18 Japanese bombers struck the base, wrecking PT-117 and sinking PT-164. It is available outside of the U.S. as a Video CD, but not yet as a DVD. Mk.13 Torpedo Warhead Inserts for PT Boats Model … Before they were rescued by the scouts on 8 August, Kennedy and his men survived for six days on Plum Pudding and then Olasana Island. Because they were fueled with aviation gasoline, a direct hit to a PT boat's engine compartment usually resulted in a total loss of boat and crew, or severe burns and injuries to those few who survived. The Elco launch tubes used 3-inch (76 mm) black powder charges to expel the torpedoes. Kennedy invited both Gasa and Kumana to his inauguration, but the island authorities gave their trip to local officials instead. The captain of the Amagiri was Lt. Cmdr. [3] In the PT attack that followed, 15 boats loaded with 60 torpedoes counted only a few observed explosions. PT-109. PT-109 was a PT boat (Patrol Torpedo boat) last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade (LTJG) John F. Kennedy (later President of the United States) in the Pacific Theater during World War II. pp. New posts New media New media comments New resources Latest activity. Ideas. Most of the divisions reached their station by 8:30 p.m. But many in the Navy knew the truth; his claims that PTs had sunk a Japanese cruiser, a troopship, and a plane tender in the Philippines were false. The Elco boats were the largest PT boats operated by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The crew had to hide from passing Japanese barges. Though designed to be used against submarines, they were sometimes used to confuse and discourage pursuing destroyers. Though each division of PTs was assigned a location likely to intercept the destroyers, several of those without radar cruised about aimlessly in the fog and darkness, unable to locate the enemy ships. Kennedy and Ross found a small canoe, packages of crackers and candy, and a fifty-gallon drum of drinkable water left by the Japanese, which Kennedy paddled back to Olasana in the acquired canoe to provide his crew. [22] They were each presented with a gift from the Kennedy family. Kennedy believed the firing he had heard was from shore batteries on Kolombangara, not destroyers, and that he could avoid detection by idling his engines and reducing his wake. The torpedo stayed in the tube, half in and half out on a hot run, its propellers spinning, until Kennedy's executive officer Ensign Leonard Thom deactivated it. On 30 May, several PT boats, including PT-109, were ordered to the Russell Islands in preparation for the invasion of New Georgia. This article is about the boat. This is the design most people associate with Patrol Torpedo boats - and for a good reason. America's sophisticated deciphering of the Japanese naval codes had contributed to the victory at the Battle of Midway, ten months earlier, and the same technology had been used to break their code and provide the report of the Japanese destroyers expected 1–2 August. This famous patrol torpedo boat met its end in the Pacific Theatre after a collision with the Japanese Destroyer Amagiri in which Kennedy’s actions to help save his surviving crew earned him a Navy and Marine Corps Medal. [49] Realizing they were with Americans, the coastwatchers brought a few yams, vegetables, and cigarettes from their dugout canoe and vowed to help the starving crew. The PT (Patrol Torpedo) Boats were fast, wooden attack craft operated by the US Navy, developed from a British design, they saw extensive service in the Pacific and European theatres during WWII. [72] Gasa and Kumana gained recognition, especially after being mentioned and praised by National Geographic, and the publication of William Doyle's book on PT-109. Kumana lived atop a cliff on his native island with his extended family. Postage: AU $11.49 Australia Post International Standard | See details . Instead of the dark green paint used by PT boats in the Western Pacific theater during World War II, the film versions were painted the same gray color as contemporary U.S. naval vessels of the 1960s. When they left, remaining boats, such as PT-109, were left without radar, and were not notified that other boats had already engaged the enemy.[9]. Flores, John W. (22 November 1998). [48] On the following day, 5 August, Kennedy and George Ross swam for one hour to Naru Island, visible at an additional distance of about .5 miles (0.80 km) southeast, in search of help and food and because it was closer to Ferguson Passage where Kennedy might see or swim to a passing PT boat on patrol. 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, but Commander Warfield, to his credit, ordered an aerial search by Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40 fighters that spotted a few remains of the wreck, but not the crew who had already swum to safety.[36]. He then led his men to Olasana Island, which had coconut trees and drinkable water.[16]. Firing of the charge could sometimes ignite the grease with which the torpedoes were coated to facilitate their release from the tubes. She was delivered to the Navy on 10 July 1942, and fitted out in the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn. I don't know if the crew cabin or pilot house were lit or not on the real boat !!! "Bucky" Harris (Watertown, Massachusetts), Motor Machinist's Mate 2/c (MM2) William Johnston (Dorchester, Massachusetts), Torpedoman's Mate 2/c (TM2) Andrew Jackson Kirksey (Reynolds, Georgia) (killed in collision, listed as missing by, Radioman 2/c (RM2) John E. Maguire (Dobbs Ferry, New York), Motor Machinist's Mate 2/c (MM2) Harold William Marney (Springfield, Massachusetts) (killed in collision, manning turret closest to impact point), Quartermaster 3/c (QM3) Edman Edgar Mauer (St. Louis, Missouri), Motor Machinist's Mate 1/c (MM1) Patrick H. "Pappy" McMahon (Wyanet, Illinois) (Only man in engine room during collision, was badly burned, but recovered from his wounds. Take a look at the semi-scale PT-109 that is being built here. Sometimes retreat was hampered by seaplanes dropping flares to render the boats visible in darkness. 4.4 out of 5 stars 288. [58], On the night of 6–7 August, while Kennedy still awaited rescue, Admiral William Halsey, now convinced that PTs were unsuitable against Japanese destroyers, sent six U.S. Navy destroyers equipped with more advanced radar to intercept the "Tokyo Express", again on their frequent run to Kolombangara Island. Two torpedoes were blown off PT-164 and ran erratically around the bay until they ran ashore on the beach without exploding. Much of the half-buried wreckage and grave site was left undisturbed in accordance with Navy policy. Fleming, Thomas (Spring 2011). On 4 August, he and Lenny Thom assisted his injured and hungry crew on a demanding swim 3.75 miles (6.04 km) south to Olasana Island which was visible to all from Plum Pudding Island. Kennedy's father, Joe Kennedy Sr., had a role in the production, financing, casting, and writing. After starting out as an ensign with a desk job for the Office of Naval Intelligence in October 1941, and then being reassigned to South Carolina in January 1942 because of his brief affair with Danish journalist Inga Arvad, on 27 July 1942 Kennedy entered the Naval Reserve Officers Training School in Chicago. He's the only member of the crew besides Kennedy mentioned by name in the song), Torpedoman's Mate 2/c (TM2) Ray L. Starkey (Garden Grove, California), Motor Machinist's Mate 1/c (MM1) Gerard E. Zinser (Belleville, Illinois) (erroneously called "Gerald" in many publications). Crews of PT boats were forced to rely on their smaller size, speed, maneuverability, and darkness, to survive.[6]. PT-109 sinks; Lieutenant Kennedy is instrumental in saving crew On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. Kumana had been a scout for the Coastwatchers throughout the war, and besides rescuing the crew of PT-109, he had rescued two downed American pilots who parachuted into the sea. Kumana and Gasa made it to the airport in Honiara, but were turned back by Solomon Island officials on the grounds that their appearance and pidgin English would be an embarrassment. His actions to save his surviving crew after the sinking of PT-109 made him a war hero. Powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) Packard gasoline engines (one per propeller shaft), their designed top speed was 41 knots (76 km/h). To prevent making a wake, Liebenow traveled at 10-15 knots, muffled his engines, and zigzagged to prevent being tracked by planes or shore batteries. After completing this training on 27 September, Kennedy voluntarily entered the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, where he was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) (LTJG). Because the center propeller was deeper, it left less of a wake, and was preferred by skippers for low-wake loitering. "The night we sank John Kennedy's PT 109". Liebenow later said that his crew were chosen because they were "the best boat crew in the South Pacific. Read more. PT-109's keel was laid 4 March 1942 as the seventh Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) of the 80-foot-long (24 m)-class built by Elco and was launched on 20 June. He was then ordered to the training squadron, Motor Torpedo Squadron 4, to take over the command of motor torpedo boat PT-101, a 78-foot Huckins PT boat. Wilk-class submarine. Their typical speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) was effective against shipping, but because of rapid marine growth buildup on their hulls in the South Pacific and austere maintenance facilities in forward areas, PT boats ended up being slower than the top speed of the Japanese destroyers and cruisers they were assigned to attack in the Solomons. Signal at night three dashes (- - -) Password--Roger---Answer---Wilco If attempted at day time--advise air coverage or a PBY could set down. The combined PT task force was divided into four divisions of roughly four PTs each. He was then ordered to the training squadron, Motor Torpedo Squadron 4, to take over the command of motor torpedo boat PT-101, a 78-foot Higgins PT boat. pp. They were then forced to flee behind the cover of their smoke screens from the fire of enemy craft.[8]. PT-109, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2, South Pacific, August 2, 1943, commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, Junior Grade (LTJG) ... Tulagi Island, Solomon Islands, South Pacific, August 1942 - February 1943; Questions & Answers about Revell Patrol Torpedo Boat PT-109. Please work out a suitable plan & act immediately Help is urgent & in sore need. The night of 2 August, Kennedy swam 2 miles (3.2 km) to Ferguson Passage to attempt to hail a passing American PT boat. [18], PT-109 crew and Kennedy standing on right, At the end of July 1943, intelligence reports were received and decoded by Naval authorities at Kennedy's PT base on Tulagi's Rendova Island indicating that five enemy destroyers were scheduled to run the night of 1–2 August. Evans had been the first to dispatch islander scouts, Gasa and Kumana, in a dugout canoe late on 5 August, to look for possible survivors after decoding radio broadcasts that the explosion he had witnessed was from the lost PT-109. Item location: UK, United Kingdom. PT-59 was one of the first PT boats converted to a gunboat primarily tasked with hunting down targets their own size or smaller, and was crewed by Kennedy and those from PT-109 who chose to stay in the war rather than go home. PT-109 being possibly the most famous craft as it was skipper by John F Kennedy future President of the U.S.A. He was 93. She was delivered to the Navy on 10 July 1942, and fitted out in the New York Naval Shipyardin Brooklyn. Powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) Packard gasoline engines (one per propeller shaft), their designed top speed was 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph). The fifteen PTs carried four torpedo tubes each, for a total of 60 Mark 8 torpedoes, and roughly half of these were fired at the four advancing Japanese destroyers protected by Japanese float planes. These mufflers were used not only to mask their own noise from the enemy, but to be able to hear enemy aircraft, which were rarely detected overhead before firing their cannons or machine guns or dropping their bombs.[3]. Both Solomon Islanders Biuki Gasa and Eroni Kumana were alive when visited by National Geographic in 2002. [5][6], PT-109 could accommodate a crew of three officers and 14 enlisted, with the typical crew size between 12 and 14. [56] There they took little time to rest but linked up with Senior Scout Benjamin Kevu who they told they had found the crew of the 109. Both boats then turned away from the scene of the action and returned to base without checking for survivors from PT-109. Seamen Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Harold W. Marney were killed, and two other members of the crew were badly injured. [4] The Rendova base held the potential for its residents to contract a host of unpleasant diseases like malaria, dengue, dysentery, and elephantiasis. [70] Kennedy preserved it in a glass paperweight on his Oval Office desk during his presidency. $20.62 Revell 1: 72 Pt-109 P T Boat. No signal of the destroyer's presence was ever radioed or received by Kennedy's 109, or the other boat in the division, and skippers Brantingham and Liebenow headed blindly west to Gizo Island and away from the destroyers and Kennedy's 109.[27]. The resultant flash could give away the position of the boat, particularly since PT warfare took place almost exclusively at night. 1:72. On his first desk assignment with the Navy after his return to the States, Kennedy suffered from the aftereffects of malaria, colitis, and chronic back pain, all caused or aggravated by his experiences in combat or during his stay at the Rendova base. They placed their lantern, shoes, and non-swimmers on one of the timbers that had been used as a gun mount and began kicking together to propel it. Their typical speed of 36 knots (67 km/h) was effective against shipping, but because of rapid marine growth buildup on their hulls in the South Pacific and austere maintenance facilities in forward areas, American PT boats ended up being slower than the top speed of the Japanese destroyers and cruisers they were tasked with targeting in the Solomons. The M2's could be effective against attacking aircraft. Additionally, the torpedo was well greased so it would slide out of the tube.