Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 - The Search For PT-109

The Search For PT-109

The wreckage of PT-109 was located in May 2002 when a National Geographic Society expedition headed by Robert Ballard found a torpedo tube from wreckage matching the description and location of Kennedy's vessel in the Solomon Islands. The boat was identified by Dale Ridder, a weapons and explosives expert on the U.S. Marine Forensics Panel. The stern section was not found, but a search using remote vehicles found the forward section, which had drifted south of the collision site. Much of the half-buried wreckage and grave site was left undisturbed in accordance with Navy policy. Max Kennedy, who joined Ballard on the expedition, presented a bust of JFK to the islanders who had found Kennedy and his crew.