When Japan Sank a Future President

Thank you War Thunder for sponsoring this video

It's August 1943 and future president, John F. Kennedy is the Commander of the US patrol torpedo boat PT-109. He was participating in a hunt for the famous "Tokyo Express" - Japanese destroyers operating in the Solomon Islands that carried supplies to the island garrisons during the cover of night. While on this mission his boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. As his boat was torn apart he managed to save the majority of his crew and make his way home. Several months later Kennedy and his men risked their lives again, going to the rescue of marines trapped on Choiseul Island.

00:00 Chapter 1: A hard trip to Tulagi
01:10 Chapter 2: A plan is made
01:52 Chapter 3: Jacks’ first ship
03:04 Chapter 4: Devil boats go hunting
03:35 War Thunder
04:36 Jack and his crew patrol the dark waters
06:04 Chapter 5: Dead in the water
07:52 Chapter 6: Shipwrecked on a desert island
09:19 Chapter 7: Unexpected visitors
10:26 Chapter 8: Another boat for JFK
13:18 Chapter 9: Rescue the marines
15:15 Chapter 10: JFK is dismissed

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[Yarnhub]

Thank you War Thunder for sponsoring this video

[TechLeafRanger]

Some more points of interest. JFK's crew 'acquired' a 37mm Anti-tank cannon to mount on their boat. They found it to be effective enough to replace it with the 37mm autocannon from an Aircobra fighter. Which THAT proved so effective it became standard armament for every PT boat afterwards.

[AdVapidKudos]

They neglected to mention that JFK actually kept that coconut with the distress message on his desk in the White House.

[chawboy]

Cool thing is that Kennedy had that coconut on his desk when he was president as a reminder

[AppleHistoryGuy]

I would love it if Yarnhub did a video on the Monchy 9 of Newfoundland. 9 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment positioned at Monchy-le-Preux during the Battle of Arras in 1917 hid behind shrubbery and defended the town from a German force anywhere from 200 - 300 men strong for 11 hours to prevent a German break through. I think it is a very cool and very underrated battle that sounds like the plot of a movie.

[nickatkinson]

The rescue of JFK and crew was entirly down to one Australian Coastwatcher Reg Evans and two Solomon Islander men, their job was to operate behind Japanese lines and report on enemy troop and naval movements by SW radio. He watched the sinking at night and sent two of his Solomon Islander men to investigate, they returned with the coconut and Reg passed the co ordinates on. Reg survived the war, so JFK entertained and thanked Reg personaly at the White House.

Coastwatchers were spread across the Pacific and operated in secret until after the war.

A total of 33 Australian and 22 Islander people Coastwatchers were killed by the Japanese.

US Admiral of the Fleet, William F. Halsey, World War II
"The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific".

[AnonAnon-wtpk]

JFK to the islanders, "Ask not what the shipwrecked crew can do for you but what you can do for the shipwrecked crew."

[torgover-ln]

Amagiri was the head of a column of four Japanese destroyers, Amagiri, Hagikaze, Arashi and Shigure. Hagikaze, Arashi, and Shigure opened fire on "two burning torpedo boats", which was just the halves of PT-109. Tameichi Hara was the captain of Shigure and wrote about the encounter in his book "Japanese Destroyer Captain".

[MaidenPasadena]

In March 2015, in Tokyo, the "JFK: His life and legacy" exhibition was held, where Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, and Kazuko Hanami, wife of the captain of the destroyer that collided with the boat, met and confirmed the partnership between Japan and the U.S.
At the exhibition, a letter sent by JFK to Captain Hanami in 1953 and a photograph of him with a handwritten message "To Captain Hanami, late enemy and present friend" were displayed. The two had been corresponding, and letters of encouragement were sent from Captain Hanami and former crew members of the destroyer when JFK ran for president. This was featured in the official magazine "American View" of the U.S. Embassy in Japan.

[ShubhayooBanerjee]

It is 1 am and my parents are telling me to go to bed BUT I HAVE MY PRIORITIES SET.

[LancelotChan]

Very touching moments for the late president. It's sad to see he was assassinated in such a way, but also good to see how he had always been a good leader, leading his men out of miseries and tragedies. His speech scenes in the story are all tear-inspiring. Thank you so much for the story, not to mention the resemblance of his look really bring it to the point!

[pokefan-ixsh]

information from wikipedia:


PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat (patrol torpedo boat) last commanded by Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. Kennedy's postwar campaigns for elected office referred often to his service on PT-109.

[charlessaint]

In the movie "PT-109" the helmsman for the Amagiri was newcomer George Takei, the future Mr. Sulu of Star Trek.

[frankydman]

During JFK’s inauguration there was a parade that included a PT boat painted to look like PT 109; many of the surviving crew “manned the boat” as part of the celebration

[sharonrigs]

I was shocked at the number of people who went into the Navy without knowing how to swim. They got remedial pool instruction and had to pass a very basic swim test

[Shotty]

I can’t tell you guys how much this page means to me. It brings back nostalgia from watching battle 360 on the history channel when I was home sick from school in the early 2000s. You guys encapsulate everything there is to love about history in a beautiful way.

[AR_]

The graphics, voice acting, storytelling and script all keep getting better and better. THIS is how you run a channel.

[SweFromSe]

from great 2D animations to the best non-photorealistic 3D aimations to uncanny valley to Beautiful Photorealistic 3D animations

[ColinFreeman-khus]

The Solomon Islander that found Kennedy named his son after him and then his son did the same thing. I seen an interview with them both on a die wreck channel on YT. True story

[steveshoemaker]

What a fine video of my very good friend Jack K and the story about him and his am in my late 80's....Thanks
Old Shoe🇺🇸