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PT Boats of WWII
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PT Boats - General
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[StartQuote] Here we go again... All wartime photographic evidence extant of PT 109 in the Solomons, which shows the boat from angles from which the mast could possibly be seen, DOES NOT SHOW THE MAST RAISED. This is based on close examinations of the following three vintage photos: #1) PT 109 idling into Tulagi Harbor on December 1, 1942 with 93 survivors of the sunken U.S. heavy cruiser Northampton on her deck (prior to JFK's taking command) -- NO MAST UP. #2) PT 109 underway at sea off Guadalcanal (unknown date, but during JFK's command period) -- NO MAST UP. #3) JFK and some crew members, on PT 109's foredeck in front of the charthouse -- NO MAST UP. Unless I'm mistaken, there are approximately nine known and identified WWII -vintage photos of PT 109 "in the forward area;" the three I've mentioned, three shots of JFK in the boat's cockpit, a shot of PT 61 taken from the 109's foredeck in which the 109's port depth charge and tip of the port forward torpedo tube can be seen, and the two recently-posted-here Ken Prescott color shots of the boat moored next to PT 61, showing the port side torpedo tubes and the amidships/stern area with a shirtless crewman standing on deck. I repeat -- the only three known photos of the 109 in the forward area taken from an angle that the mast could be seen that I know of SHOWS NO RAISED MAST! There also exits an intriguing photo of seven PTs (four 77' Elcos and three 80' Elcos), moored side-by-side at Tulagi, published in several books -- NOT ONE OF THE THREE 80-FOOTERS IN THE PHOTO HAS A MAST UP. Since PT 109 was one of the first 80' Elcos at Tulagi, one of those 80-footers in that photo MAY HAVE BEEN THE 109 (WITH NO MAST UP). I'm personally getting tired of this argument, and will (hopefully) end my part in it by stating -- AGAIN -- that, based on the photographic evidence extant (existing), PT 109, like a number of other 80' Elco PT boats in the Solomons, MOST PROBABLY DID NOT HAVE ITS MAST UP WHILE IT WAS COMMANDED BY JFK. It's a free country, so make your models, paint your pictures, write your articles, and think of PT 109 any way you want to. Mast up or down, it doesn't really matter. Unless, of course, you're interested in historical accuracy, based on the best possible evidence -- which points to the 109 without a mast (at least in the period from December 1, 1942 to August 1-2, 1943). Period! [EndQuote]
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