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Title: The Sinking of PT-109

Subtitle: The History of the Controversial Incident That Made John F. Kennedy a War Hero

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: R. Keith Miles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-31-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

"There's nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you have families, and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose." (John F. Kennedy after the collision with a Japanese destroyer)

On the night of August 1, 1943, and in the early morning hours of the next day, one of America's many patrol torpedo boats in the Pacific, PT-109, with her crew of 12 men, was performing its usual role in the Pacific Islands: a night patrol of the Blackett Strait in search of enemy convoys transporting large numbers of Japanese troops to Southern Guadalcanal and other strategic locations. However, on this dark, moonless night, PT-109, with its engines idling to avoid creating wake, was severed in two by a collision with a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri. With only seconds to respond after sighting the destroyer, the crew was unable to get the boat out of the Japanese destroyer's path, and it's unclear whether the Japanese destroyer even knew the other boat was there. While the destroyer suffered minimal damage, two crew members on PT-109 were instantly killed, and the other 10 who initially survived would have to struggle for their lives. In many ways what happened following the collision is remembered better than the actual sinking, in part because the survivors' tale was so harrowing, and their survival was marked by their own bravery. Though the role and effectiveness of PT boats continues to be a topic of debate, the crew's survival is a story of undisputed valor and providence. Of course the story's association with a future president never hurts, and like so much of John F. Kennedy's life, the PT-109 incident is controversial.

Members Reviews:

Provided some facts that I had not read before

This book provided a synopsis of President John F Kennedyâs pre-military and military career. The book named the prestigious high schools that the future president attended and described his college career. In my prior readings about the president I did not realize that his back injury occurred before he joined the military. Also I did not realize that he was pretty sickly through his high school and college career. I also didnât realize that the Army turned him down when he attempted to volunteer; nevertheless, months later he was accepted into the Navy. The rest of the book describes his experiences while saving several of his crew members after the sinking of PT 109. Iâm curious has to whether his PT boat was the only one rammed by an enemyâs ship? I like the book well enough and I will give it a four.

so that was good. However

The book was interesting and had a number of details that were new to me, so that was good. However, the book was far shorter in overall length than I expected and the amount of text devoted to the patrol, the wreck, and the surviving effort was less than I had hoped.

There was a very obvious and unfortunate error that apparently escaped the editors: early in the book there was a picture of two PT boats cruising in front of a larger ship. Your caption said "two PT boats alongside the destroyer USS Hornet". The ship shown is clearly the Hornet and has its aircraft on the deck and distinctive "island" very visible.