What John F. Kennedy Really Thought of the PT Boat

The material for this blog comes from one source. Most of my work has three to five sources so I can keep my story straight. In this case that is not required. I am directly quoting JFK or the editors of the book, Deirdre Henderson and Hugh Sidey, Prelude to Leadership, The European Diary of JFK, Summer 1945 (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1995).

In the summer of 1945 John Kennedy toured England, Germany, France and Ireland to see firsthand the effects of the war in Europe. Kennedy, at age 28, had his first civilian job as a reporter for Hearst newspapers. In a large entourage of American officials and reporters, Kennedy was chosen to go to the German port city of Bremen to look at naval hardware. Kennedy had been the skipper of two PT boats, the PT 109 and the PT 59. The 59 boat had been converted to a gun boat. The torpedo tubes were removed and more guns were mounted on her deck.

The German name for their MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat) is Schnellboote, which means speedboat. The Germans designated their MTB’s with the letter S followed by its number, as in S 136. Early in WWII, some English reporter used the term “E-Boat” to identify the German S boats. The catchy name caught on started mass confusion that reigns to this day. Some new books on the subject of Motor Torpedo Boats are now carrying the correct designator. Hans Frank, retired German Admiral of the Schnellboote command, titled his book, German S-Boats in Action in the Second World War (2006-2007). I have a ten-volume series of books about the MTBs of the World and I never use the “E” designator. One more thing, the numbers in brackets at the end of a paragraph refer to the page number of the book mentioned. Now the quote from JFK:

July 31, 1945
Spent the day in Bremen talking to Navy officials and to heads of military government in this area.

Among other things, the Navy had accurate reports on German E-boats which correspond to our PT boats. The German boat is approximately 105 feet- engines developed 6,000 horse power – had four torpedo tubes [Author note: This would be the late war S-700 Class which is the only model to have forward and rearward torpedo tubes] and a gun equivalent to our 40mm – a couple of 20mms and some light machine guns.

In speed they range from 42 knots to 49 knots in actual trials. Their cruising range was about 700 miles at 35 knots –their displacement about 115 tons – their engines were Diesel.

These figures demonstrate that the German E boat was far superior to our PT boat. It was 25 feet longer, just as fast, nearly twice as heavy, and had a greater cruising range at high speed – in armament it was about equal. Their boat is a better heavy-weather boat, cheaper to operate because it burns oil instead of gasoline-and for the same reason, safer from fire or explosion (65-66).

In one hundred and sixty-seven words JFK elegantly proved the point that the German S-boat was a superior weapon system to the American MTB, the PT boat. What has hurt our understanding of the history of WWII and continues to this day, is the American propaganda. The propaganda machine drove the PT boat crewmen a little crazy with hugely overblown statements. Most American books (then and today) mention the S-boat with a speed at 32 knots, fewer and smaller guns, and, “they were as big as a destroyer.”

On page 114 of the book, three ditors note, “Naturally since JFK had served on PT boats in the Pacific, which were of very poor design and durability” The editors are quoting JFK on the subject of the PT boats he served on. They are expressing his own viewpoint of the PTs. My question is this: if the German S-boat was so bad, why did all our small boat efforts at the end of the war go into duplicating the S-Boat? It is a fact that the S-Boat was faster, could go three times as far, and could go out in weather that kept PTs tied to the dock.

All the MTBs of all the countries did a specific job for their national war effort. The Soviet TKA’s (Motor Torpedo Boat) were of a radical design and sustained success in the cold Baltic Sea and the frozen Arctic Seas. The Italians used their MAS and Ms boat to great effectiveness, and they were beautifully made. (Actually, the Italians had the sexiest boats on the water.) The British carried out many unique designs in large and small versions, and they all performed well. The “Dog Boat” (Fairmile ‘D’) was the only MTB that could match an S-boat in a fight. Same size, same firepower, about the same number of crewmen, and rugged enough to go out in any weather.

The most difficult reality for Americans is to face the fact that America did not win the war all by itself. It was an alliance that won the war all by OURSELVES.

Joe Hinds is the author of The Ship Killers about the evolution of Motor Torpedo Boats.
http://www.nimblebooks.com/aom/shop.php?c=TB&x=Torpedo_Boats

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