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Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109

PT-109 crew.jpg
LTJG Kennedy (standing at right) on PT-109 in 1943. For other photos see
History
Name: PT-109
Ordered: 1942
Laid down: 4 March 1942 at Bayonne, New Jersey
Launched: 20 June 1942
In service: 1942
Out of service: 2 August 1943
Motto: They were expendable.
Fate: Run down by Japanese destroyer Amagiri (torpedo tube located in May 2002)
Notes: Two crew killed
General characteristics
Displacement: 56 tons (full load)
Length: 80 ft (24 m) overall
Beam: 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draft: 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) maximum (aft)
Propulsion: three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines 1500 hp each; three shafts
Speed: 41 knots (76 km/h; 47 mph) maximum (trials)
Endurance: 12 hours, 6 hours at top speed
Complement: 3 officers, 14 enlisted men (design)
Armament: 4 21-inch torpedo tubes (four Mark 8 torpedoes), 20 mm cannon aft, four M2 .50 cal .5" (12.7 mm) machine guns (2×2), 37 mm anti-tank gun mounted forward (a field modification)
Armor: gunboat deck house protected against rifle bullets and splinter, some crews fitted armor plate to refrigerators

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. Kennedy's actions to save his surviving crew after the sinking of PT-109 made him a war hero, which proved helpful in his political career. The incident may have also contributed to his long-term back problems.

After he became president, the incident became a cultural phenomenon, inspiring a song, books, movies, various television series, collectible objects, scale model replicas, and toys. Interest was revived in May 2002, with the discovery of the wreck by Robert Ballard. PT-109 earned two battle stars during World War II operations.

PT-109 belonged to the PT-103 class, hundreds of which were completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco in Bayonne, New Jersey. 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. She was delivered to the Navy on 10 July 1942, and fitted out in the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn.

The Elco boats were the largest PT boats operated by the U.S. Navy during World War II. At 80 feet (24 m) and 40 tons, they had strong wooden hulls of two layers of 1-inch (2.5 cm) mahogany planking. 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).

For space and weight-distribution reasons, the outboard or wing engines were mounted with their output ends facing forward, with power transmitted through Vee-drive gearboxes to the propeller shafts. The center engine was mounted with the output flange facing aft, and power was transmitted directly to the propeller shaft.


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