USN · PT

PT-109

Sunk

Elco 80-foot torpedo boat of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2, out of Rendova. On the night of 1–2 August 1943 she was idling in Blackett Strait, one of the boats left behind after the radar boats fired and went home. The destroyer Amagiri cut her in two. Two men died in the break, Harold Marney and Andrew Kirksey. The other eleven made a speck of an island, then another. Solomon Islands scouts carried a message cut into a coconut, and before dawn on 8 August, PT-157 took them off. Asked later how he came to be called a hero, Kennedy said it was involuntary. They sank his boat.

Elco 80-foot classElco, BayonneLaunched 1942-06-20Commissioned 1942-07-10Cut in two by the destroyer Amagiri in Blackett Strait on the night of 1–2 August 1943. Two men were killed. Whether Amagiri's captain aimed the bow is still argued.

U.S. Navy photo 19-N-33165. PT-109 stowed on the liberty ship Joseph Stanton for the trip to the Pacific. The hull number 109 is on the boat. Public domain.

Command

John F. KennedyIn command, August 1943

Loss of PT-109

1943-08-02 · cut in two; two killed; eleven reached the islands

Sunk

AmagiriDD · IJN

Photos and info Battle of Kula Gulf Loss of PT-109

Shot and shell

Taken · sunkfrom IJN Amagiri
Amagiri's stem took PT-109 on the starboard side and broke the wooden hull in two. Whether her captain aimed the bow is still argued.