 PT-59 after conversion into a gunboat, October 1943 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | PT-59 |
| Builder | Electric Launch Company,Bayonne, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 26 July 1941 |
| Launched | 8 October 1941 |
| Completed | 5 March 1942 |
| Fate | Sold, 1947, Sunk, 1976, remains raised and on display at Battleship Cove |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Class & type | Elco 77-footPT boat |
| Displacement | 40long tons (41 t) |
| Length | 77 ft (23 m) |
| Beam | 19 ft 11 in (6.07 m) |
| Draft | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion | 3 × 1,500 shp (1,119 kW)Packard V12 M2500 gasoline engines, 3 shafts |
| Speed | 41knots (76 km/h; 47 mph) |
| Complement | 15 as built, 18–20 as PT gunboat |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Gunboat on gunwales, gas tanks |
| Service record | |
| Commanders |
|
PT-59 / PTGB-1 was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat (PT boat) of theUnited States Navy, built by theElectric Launch Company ofBayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down asMotor Boat Submarine ChaserPTC-27, and was reclassified asBPT-11 when assigned to transfer to Britain underLend-Lease. However, this was cancelled, and she was reclassified asPT-59 prior to launch on 8 October 1941, and was completed on 5 March 1942.[1]
After serving in a training squadron inRhode Island,PT-59 was reassigned toMotor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two for the protection of thePanama Canal before being transported by oceangoing ship to theSolomon Islands in the South Pacific . It arrived at its home base ofTulagi and served successfully, sinking a Japanese submarine by torpedo.
In the fall of 1943,PT-59 was converted into agunboat under the direction of its new commander,Lieutenant (and future U.S. President)John F. Kennedy when the chronic inaccuracy of the era's torpedoes and under-arming of the resulting craft were both recognized. She had all four of her torpedo tubes removed, as well as her two depth charges, but retained two40-millimeter Bofors cannon anti-aircraft guns fitted fore and aft. The refit also added six .50-caliber machine gun nests, with three on each side, behind shields, as well as additional weaponry.
The partially armored craft was then notably used to rescue marines stranded under heavy Japanese gunfire onChoiseul Island, and attack both Japanese barges and shore batteries.
PT-59 was first assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Four, the training squadron based atMelville Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center.[1] On 9 April 1942, one of its torpedoes was accidentally fired, hitting the supply shipUSS Capella and causing eight injuries, but no deaths.[3]
It was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Two on 7 May 1942.[1] At the end of May 1942,Ensign David M. Levy took overPT-59 and the squadron was sent on anti-submarine duty toPanama to guard thePanama Canal and the Central and South American coast. In October 1942PT-59 departed for theSouth Pacific on board theLiberty ship SSRoger Williams. In November 1942PT-59 arrived at theSolomon Islands with MTB Squadron 2, numbering 8 boats. The squadron was based at Sesapi onTulagi Island.[3]
On the night of 9 December,Lt. (j.g.) John M. Searles USNR, in the59, patrolling withPT-44 at Kamimbo Bay, sighted an enemy barge. As the PT-boats opened fire on the barge, Searles saw a surfaced submarine. He quickly fired two torpedoes, one of which struck it amidships. A geyser of water spouted high in the air, followed by tremendous explosions and a huge oil slick that spread for an hour and a half. It was confirmed that Searles had sunk the submarineI-3, a vessel 320 feet (97.5 m) long, of 1,955 tons standard surface displacement.[3]
In March 1943PT-59 was sent forward to theRussell Islands. In the fall of 1943, David M. Levy returned to the United States and was succeeded as commanding officer by Lt. (j.g.)John F. Kennedy.
In September 1943, Kennedy took command ofPT-59.[4] Though he had earned the right by Navy custom to be returned to the States, he chose to stay and fight in the Pacific Theater (PTO) after his second command,PT-109, was rammed and sunk by theAmagiri on the early morning of 2 August 1943.[5] At 74 feet, thePT-59 was six feet shorter than thePT-109, but it would soon bristle with far more and heavier guns and armament, which required a larger crew to operate.[5]
On Tulagi Island, under Kennedy's supervision and with his help,PT-59 had all four of her torpedo tubes removed, as well as her two depth charges, and was converted into a more powerful gunboat, and re-designated asPTGB-1.[10] She received two heavy 40-millimeter Bofors cannon anti-aircraft guns now fitted fore and aft. The refit also added six .50-caliber machine gun nests, with three on each side, behind shields. Shielded twin fifty caliber machine guns were placed behind and on each side of the cockpit elevated on circular mounts, and by some accounts, 2 additional thirty caliber machine guns forward of the cockpit in the front of the boat on each side. The higher caliber guns were added to increase range and power and to make the59 more effective against both Japanese barge traffic, which had powerful guns, and heavy caliber Japanese land and shore based garrisons. AdmiralWilliam Halsey and other high ranking naval officers had concluded that the torpedo tubes andBliss–Leavitt Mark 8 torpedoes assigned the old PTs, were highly unreliable and inaccurate; the torpedoes very rarely hit their mark against larger craft, particularly Japanese destroyers and cruisers. The new PT gunboat was given slightly higher quality radar, and a taller radar mast that could, in theory, boost reception and transmission to 75 miles (121 km).[11] Kennedy lived on the boat during its refit, and worked extremely hard according to Lieutenant Alvin Cluster, who stated, "I never saw a guy work harder, longer hours". Kennedy's gunboat, sometimes referred to asPT-0001 was the first completed, and it carefully followed the design and planning of both Kennedy and squadron commander Cluster.[12] Another PT gunboat was given to Lenny Thom, who helped in the refit, and later commanded. Thom had been Kennedy's former executive officer onPT-109.[2]
Both sides ofPT-59's highly flammable 3000 gallon gas tanks, housed below decks and immediately behind the cockpit,[13] and thegunwales were reinforced with armor plate to protect them from return fire. Kennedy was aware that the PT's wooden hulls without armor plating could not withstand even a single bullet or bomb fragment, and that the tiniest shard of hot metal could ignite the gas tanks, instantly destroying the boat and killing the crew.[4] The59's crew set up some of the armor for live fire tests and found they could be breached at short range by .30 and .50-caliber machine guns at a frontal angle.[14] On 7 October 1943, the five-week redesign ofPT-59 was completed, and on the following day Kennedy was promoted to full lieutenant.
Kennedy's new executive officer was Lt. (j.g.) Robert Lee "Dusty" Rhoads. Rhoads later stated he was impressed that so many men (five[15]) fromPT-109 followed Kennedy to his new command. Kennedy's loss of the109 was not viewed as a shortcoming by his crew, many of whom had been on other craft that had sunk or been run aground.[15] Two other gunboats were also converted. The plan was to attach one new gunboat to each PT boat section to add firepower and range, though the extra armor and guns reduced their speed.[16]
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On 18 October 1943, as American Marine paratroopers first landed on Choiseul Island as a diversionary tactic,PT-59 and crew were ordered to move northwest from their base on Tulagi, to Lambu Lambu Cove, onVella Lavella Island, a new advanced PT boat base. Over the next month,PT-59 took part in thirteen patrols, initially expected to discourage Japanese barge traffic in the north of Choiseul Island. Kennedy described his month on patrol as "packed with a great deal in the way of death".[17] Constantly tracked by aircraft, Kennedy's refittedPT-59 evaded bombs dropped by Japanese floatplanes on 26 October, though one bomb landed only 150 yards (140 m) away.[18][19]
Operation Blissful was a diversionary raid on Choiseul Island by Marine forces led by Lt. Col.Victor H. Krulak, on 28 October. It was hoped that the raid would convince the Japanese that they needed to send more troops to Choiseul from Bougainville—the Allies' real objective because of its airfields.[20]
On the evening of 1 November 1943, Kennedy was asked by Lt. Arthur Berndsten, the temporary base commander at Lambu Lambu, on the northeast side of Vella Lavella Island, if he would takePT-59 to support a rescue operation around 65 miles (105 km) north near the base ofChoiseul Island's Warrior River. Berndsten had been contacted by Krulak, the leader of Operation Blissful, who had requested rescue for marines trapped near the base of Choiseul's Warrior River. (Berndsten had formerly skipperedPT-171 when it helped in the rescue of Kennedy and his109 crew the previous August.)
Choiseul Island became a very new Allied target, as the Navy and Marines pushed farther northwest into territories in the Solomons formerly held by the Japanese. With time of the essence, Kennedy was not able to fully re-fuel his boat. Berndsten knew Kennedy did not have enough fuel to make the trip there and back with his gas tanks less than a third full, around seven hundred gallons, so he sent two additional PT's to accompany him and provide support if necessary.[21] Completing their Northbound route to Choiseul,PT-59 first arrived near the shore of the Marine outpost at Voza Village and picked up Kennedy's friend from Rendova, Lieutenant Richard Keresey, and Lt. Col. Krulak, who acted as guides. The officers were picked up from a landing craft near the shore. Motoring around 25 miles (40 km) further northwest, and following Choiseul's coastline, the59 arrived in the rain and darkness at the base of the Warrior River around 6:00 p.m. on 1 November, and helped personnel landing craft evacuate 40 to 50 marines from a company led by Marine Major Warren T. Bigger.
Several marines were wounded, and came from the 2nd Parachute Battalion of the1st Marine Parachute Regiment that had been lost in the jungle and trapped by Japanese shore fire during the recentraid on Choiseul Island, still in progress. The trapped marines originally numbered around 87, and had faced as many as 900 Japanese during the height of the fighting.[22] Kennedy was reluctant to have his gunners fire on the shoreline, afraid of hitting any of the marines waiting to evacuate. The59 acted as a shield, positioning itself between the Japanese shore battery and both the escaping marines in the water and one landing craft bearing marines, 250 yards (230 m) from shore, that had been damaged after running aground on the coral reef.PT-59 took aboard ten marines near the crippled craft and fed them canned peaches, the first meal they had had in days. Three marines were wounded, including Corporal Schnell who died in Kennedy's bunk that night, attended by his Marine doctor, whom Kennedy had also picked up.[23]
Kennedy's PT may have slowly departed, as she carried the extra weight of ten marines. Several of the unwounded marines held on to gun mounts to steady themselves as the59 departed. The two PT's, including Kennedy's, then escorted the slow-moving landing craft they had shielded from fire back to Voza, and when it was clear they would safely reach their destination, they left the landing craft and returned to their base at Lambu Lambu.
With their speed and maneuverability, the mission demonstrated thePTs' suitability for search and rescue operations, their greatest strength throughout the war.[24][25] Around 3:00 a.m. on 2 November,PT-59 ran out of gas about halfway back to Lambu Lambu and had to be towed byPT-236.[26] Both PT's were vulnerable to Japanese airstrikes during the slow towing process, and Kennedy called for air support. To Kennedy's dismay, all of the 4-6 Australian P-40's that responded were eventually shot down.[27]
On the evening of 3 November,PT-59 and four other craft traveled around 45 miles (72 km) from Lambu Lambu back to the Marine base at Voza Village and screened and escorted several landing craft that carried additional marines back to Vella Lavella Island.[28] The59 and several other PT's arrived in darkness at Voza around 11:30 p.m. and interspersed themselves around the landing craft waiting to pick up the marines. The Japanese were stationed near the shore, and began setting off booby traps. By around 1:50 a.m., the marines began boarding the landing craft, having been ordered to withdraw by Lt. Col. Krulak, who was concerned the Japanese might begin to mortar his troops. When the marines had fully boarded the landing crafts, the59 and other PT's escorted them around 45 miles (72 km) back to Vella Lavella island.[29]
Operation Blissfull's diversionary raid on Choiseul was, for the most part, a success. The Japanese did send reinforcements to Choiseul, weakening their reaction to the Allied Bougainville landing. The Choiseul operation destroyed several hundred tons of enemy fuel and supplies, sank two barges, and destroyed the barge station at Sangigai, Choiseul, disrupting Japanese barge traffic along the coast of Choiseul.
At 5:30 a.m on 5 November,PT-59, accompanied by two other PT's, destroyed three Japanese barges they found beached on Moli Island on the Northeast coast of Choiseul Island, near the base of the Warrior River. Though the barges were believed to be unmanned, they would likely never return to duty.[30] Attacking manned barges required the superior use of firepower, and then a quick retreat, and were usually brief, but important actions as barges could ferry both troops and supplies.
On the night of 11 November, the59's gunners fired at two Japanese armored barges emerging from the Warrior River on Choiseul, but they quickly fled. Barge traffic in the vicinity had begun to diminish slightly by this period in the Solomon campaign, as thousands of exhausted Japanese troops on Choiseul began to hope for evacuation northwest to Bouganville Island.[31][32]
On 13 November,PT-59 had success shelling Sipassa and Guppy Island at the mouth ofChoiseul Bay, only 2–3 miles northwest of the Warrior River, shown in map at right. According to Christiansen, the59 then saw the flash of a muzzle farther back on the high bluffs of the Warrior River on northern Choiseul Island during return fire, and pinpointed heavy automatic fire at the flash, likely knocking out the shore battery. Flushed with his successes, Kennedy, developed a plan for a daylight raid up the Choiseul's Warrior River, shown in the raid on Choiseul map, above. The concept of a daylight raid was rejected by both his Chief Petty Officer, Christiansen, and his senior squadron commander, Lieutenant Alvin Cluster, who considered the plan risky to the extreme. Though the Warrior River acted as a base of operations for many of their barges, it was fortified by large numbers of Japanese shore batteries, and would have been a deadly mission in daylight.[28] As evidenced by his plan for a daylight raid, many of the59's crew were concerned that Kennedy volunteered for the riskiest missions and constantly sought out danger, but they were usually willing participants.[33]
Cluster gave Kennedy a perfect 4.0 for his leadership asPT-59's commanding officer, writing that Kennedy "demonstrated a cool effectiveness under fire and exhibited good judgement and determination in entirely strange conditions."[34] With Kennedy suffering from a host of ailments, Cluster relieved him of command on 18 November, after a routine patrol off Redman Island in Choiseul Bay. Kennedy had lost twenty pounds in the three previous months and had put back little of the weight, weighing only around 145 pounds at six feet of height. In Lambu Lambu's hospital, Dr. Wharton, concerned about Jack's worsening back problems and continued weight loss, diagnosed "chronic disk disease" and colitis, and passed the news to Cluster who worked to get Kennedy back to the states.[35] First sent to Tulagi for medical care and diagnosis, Kennedy was sent home to the States on 23 December 1943, aboard theUSS Breton, and arrived in San Francisco on 7 January. He obtained a Navy desk job at theSubmarine Chaser Training Center in Miami in March, was transferred to theChelsea Naval Hospital near Boston by May, and, after months of recuperation, was finally given an honorable discharge in December 1944. After working as a journalist, he would begin his run for the House of Representatives in 1946, using his war time experience as a major feature of his candidacy.[36]
PT-59 remained in the Solomons until August 1944, when she and five other 77-ft Elco PT boats, includingPT-36 andPT-47 were transported back to theMotor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center atMelville,Rhode Island. It is safe to assume repairs were performed on the boat by the MTB Base Repair Training Unit.PT-59 was redesignated as a "Small Boat" and renumbered C102583 on 14 October 1944, and along with ex-PT-47, used briefly as acrash rescue boat atNAS Norfolk, before being transferred to thePhiladelphia Navy Yard on 15 December 1944 to serve as a test subject for dehydration tests. Surveyed on 21 March 1947, she was then stricken and sold.
PT-59 quietly ended her days in the 1970s after having served as a fishing boat inManhattan. BecausePT-59 was thought to be the formerPT-95, a 78-footHuckins PT boat of very different design, no efforts were made to save or salvage her. The actualPT-95 had been scrapped in Newport, Rhode Island, after her services were no longer needed, in September 1945. When the actual identity of the fishing boat was discovered, James "Boat" Newberry, founder of PT Boats Inc., attempted to obtain her; however, her ownership was tangled up inNYCprobate court. After an unexpected fire, the boat sank at its moorings, beside the207th St. Bridge over theHarlem River, around 1976. The hull sat for years at the bottom of the river and slowly rotted away.[37]
In May 2017, Kennedy biographer William Doyle announced preliminary explorations in the Harlem River near 208th Street indicated a strong possibility thatPT-59 could be found and recovered. He is looking to raise funds from Kennedy focused organizations to fully explore the area.[37] In June 2020 theMetropolitan Transportation Authority announced that parts of the boat had been recovered during preparations to construct aseawall.[38][39][40]
Byron "Whizzer" White served as deputy attorney general under Kennedy, who later appointed White as an associate justice to the Supreme Court in the early 1960s. White had acted as the intelligence officer for Commander Thomas Warfield, Kennedy's commanding officer while he served in Rendova, and had investigated the sinking of thePT-109. He joined Kennedy on several patrols ofPT-59, while Kennedy captained the boat from Lambu Lambu. Kennedy appointed Paul Burgess ("Red") Fay Jr., skipper ofPT-167, as Under Secretary of the Navy. Several of the crew of PT-109 rode on a patrol boat float at his inauguration.[41] In 1948, as a member of the House of Representatives, Kennedy came out strongly in favor of retaining the Marines as a separate division of the armed services.[42]
| Surviving boats | |
|---|---|
| Notable boats | |
| Builders | |
| Boats of history | |
| Classes | |
| PT-MTB Squadron | |
| PT training - PT bases |
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| Notable missions | |
| Similar | |
| Media | |
| Museum - Restoration | |
| Related | |
Preceded byUS patrol boats - Followed byPTF boat | |
