Plot
U.S. Navy Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy (Cliff Robertson) uses his family's influence to get himself assigned to the fighting in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Theater during World War II, much to the surprise of Commander C.R. Ritchie (James Gregory). Kennedy lobbies for command of a PT Boat, and is assigned to the "109", a badly-damaged boat that is in dire need of repair and overhaul. Initially, Ritchie seems to regard the young, inexperienced Kennedy as something of a lightweight, but his enthusiasm to build a crew and refurbish the "109" to operational status eventually earns Ritchie's grudging respect. The crew includes Kennedy's executive officer, Ensign Leonard J. Thom (Ty Hardin), and sailors "Bucky" Harris (Robert Blake) and Edmund Drewitch (Norman Fell).
On one mission, the PT 109 is sent to rescue a paramarine patrol trapped on an island. Kennedy successfully takes aboard the survivors, but barely gets out of range of Japanese guns before running out of fuel. The tide starts to carry the boat back toward the island. Kennedy, his crew, and the rescued Marines face the prospect of a desperate fight for their lives, but in the nick of time another PT boat arrives and tows the 109 to safety.
Another sortie is less successful. While on patrol one, dark, moonless night in August 1943, a Japanese destroyer appears suddenly out of the darkness, rams and slices the 109 in two, killing two crewmen. Kennedy, having survived the collision searches for survivors, despite suffering from a back injury. When Kennedy and his men are presumed dead by nearby allies, Kennedy leads the survivors in swimming to a deserted island, while himself towing a badly-burned crewman. After a few days, Kennedy encounters two natives and gives them a carved message on a coconut. Fortunately for the sailors, they take it to an Australian coastwatcher, who sends more natives to the island who take Kennedy with them and the coastwatcher arranges for a rescue. Afterward, Kennedy is eligible to transfer back to the U.S., but is assigned command of another PT Boat that has been modified as a gunboat, PT 59, and elects to stay in the fight.
Read more about this topic: PT 109 (film)
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