1942-03-11

Evacuation of MacArthur from Corregidor

From Corregidor to Cagayan, on Mindanao

On the night of 11 March 1942 Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley took General Douglas MacArthur off Corregidor in PT boats. President Roosevelt had ordered MacArthur to leave. The submarine Permit was to have picked the party up on the 14th. MacArthur did not wait for her. Four boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three went that night. PT-41, with Bulkeley, carried MacArthur, his wife Jean, and their son. PT-34, Lieutenant Robert B. Kelly, carried Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell. PT-35 was Ensign Anthony B. Akers's boat. PT-32 was Lieutenant (junior grade) Vincent E. Schumacher's boat. They left in column, PT-41 leading, and the boats separated in the night. The plan was to lie over at Tagauayan and then run to Cagayan, on Mindanao. PT-32 could not make the second leg. Her passengers were put on the other boats. On the evening of 12 March, PT-34 and PT-41 sighted a Japanese cruiser and turned away. She did not see them. The cruiser is not named, and no torpedo was fired. PT-41 and PT-34 reached Cagayan on the morning of 13 March. PT-35 came in later that day. Permit reached Tagauayan that morning, took off PT-32's crew, and sank the boat with her deck gun. MacArthur left Mindanao by air on 17 March.