Solomon islanders find Lt. J.F. Kennedy

5th August 1943: The crew of PT 109 are rescued from their week long ordeal of living off coconuts on uninhabited islands

An artist’s impression of the nighttime collision that sank PT 109 and left John F. Kennedy and his surviving crew struggling to survive on remote islands.

In the early hours of 2nd August a group of US Navy PT boats attempted to ambush Japanese destroyers landing reinforcements on Kolombangara in the Soloman islands. Operating in pitch black darkness at speeds that would never normally been contemplated in daylight, both the US and the Japanese were taking tremendous risks with their seamanship.

PT 105 and other Patrol Torpedo Boats. A group of them, including PT 109, had attempted to intercept Japanese destroyers in the Blackett Strait. The ‘Tokyo Express’ were making fast nighttime trips to land troops on Kolombangara.

PT 109 was in collision with the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and was sliced in two. Two men died on PT 109 but the survivors managed to swim to the nearest island. They were stranded without supplies and with no means of communicating with base.

Lt. J.F. Kennedy at the helm of PT-109.

The commander of PT 109, Lt John F. Kennedy, being one of the strongest swimmers, was to make valiant attempts to contact U.S patrol boats. He made repeated swims into the surrounding waters to try to intercept boats on patrol.