Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109
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 the PT-109 made him a war hero, which proved helpful in his political career.
The incident may have also contributed to Kennedy's long-term back problems. After he became president, the incident became a cultural phenomenon, inspiring a song, many 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.
Read more about Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109: Specifications, Under Kennedy's Command, PT-59, The Search For PT-109, Survivors, Legacy
Famous quotes containing the words motor and/or boat:
“This biplane is the shape of human flight.
Its name might better be First Motor Kite.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The utmost familiarity with dead streams, or with the ocean, would not prepare a man for this peculiar navigation; and the most skillful boatman anywhere else would here be obliged to take out his boat and carry round a hundred times, still with great risk, as well as delay, where the practiced batteau-man poles up with comparative ease and safety.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)