AN  AMBUSH  GOES  AWRY

Ensign Leonard Jay Thom was the Executive Officer aboard the Motor Torpedo Boat USS PT-109.  In Blackett Strait, south of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands, the starless, moonless night of August 1-2, 1943, was profoundly dark, inky blackness.   USS PT-109 stood at her station, one of fifteen PT boats that had set out to engage the well-known "Tokyo Express," the Japanese navy's supply convoy to soldiers fighting the advance of U.S. forces in the islands farther south.  When the patrol came in contact with the Tokyo Express—three Japanese destroyers acting as transports with a fourth serving as escort—the encounter did not go well.  Thirty torpedoes were fired without damaging the Japanese ships.  Boats that had used up their complement of torpedoes were ordered home.  The few that still had torpedoes remained in the strait for another try.  What then transpired may well be the most famous small-craft engagement in U.S. naval history and surely the only time a vessel skippered by a future American President would be sunk by a Japanese ship.

PT-109 was one of the boats left behind.  The boat’s commander, LTJG John Fitzgerald Kennedy, future U.S. President, rendezvoused his boat with two others.  The three boats spread out to make a picket line across the strait.  Unfortunately, none of the three PT boats was equipped with radar.  At about 2:30 in the morning, a shape loomed out of the black darkness three hundred yards off PT-109's starboard bow.  Kennedy and his crew first saw the luminous wake and believed it was another PT boat.  When it became apparent that it was a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy attempted to turn to starboard to bring his torpedoes to bear but there was not enough time.  The Japanese destroyer, later identified as the AMAGIRI, had begun a 400-mile high speed run for Rabaul when a lookout spotted something small dead ahead.  Correctly believing the unidentified boat to be an American PT boat the AMAGIRI’s commanding officer ordered the helmsman to speed directly toward the object.  PT-109 was struck by AMAGIRI just forward of the forward starboard torpedo tube, ripping away the starboard aft side of the boat.  Most of the crew were knocked into the water.  The one man below decks miraculously escaped, although he was badly burned by exploding fuel.

Fear that PT-109 would go up in flames drove Kennedy to order the men who still remained on the wreck to abandon ship.  When the fire began to subside, Kennedy sent his men back to what was left of the boat.  Floating on and around the hulk, the crew took stock and discovered that two crewmembers had disappeared in the collision, very likely killed at impact.  All the men were exhausted, several were injured and some had been sickened by the fuel fumes. There was no sign of other boats or ships in the area and the men were afraid to fire their flare gun for fear of attracting the attention of the Japanese who were on islands on all sides.  Although the wreckage was still afloat, it was taking on water and it capsized on the morning of August 2.  After a discussion of options, the men abandoned the remains of PT-109 and started swimming for an islet nearby.

ENS Thom was one of the survivors and a key figure in the drama that followed the sinking.  Records report he was the oldest of eight children, lettered in football in high school and was an all-star tackle and guard at Ohio State University.  He also played semi-pro football and was offered a contract by the Chicago Bears.  However, as war clouds darkened, Thom volunteered to serve in the Navy, entered the V-7 program and was commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve.  After training at the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island, he was sent in March 1943 to the South Pacific where he was assigned as Executive Officer of PT-109.  Shortly after the assignment he was pleased to learn the PT-109s new commander would be John Fitzgerald Kennedy with whom he had become a good friend at Melville.  The two men became fast friends, and their lives would be intertwined for the next three years.  A crewmember later remarked about ENS Thom, “He could rule anybody.  You would just look at him and do what he told you.  He was an awfully nice man.”  Many of his fellow officers recalled with great fondness the big man who looked like a figure out of Nordic mythology.

When the survivors managed to reach an uninhabited islet about three miles from the sinking they found there was no drinking water and the only food was coconuts.  LTJG Kennedy left the group several times to swim to nearby islets looking for assistance leaving ENS Thom in charge.  He was later awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal in recognition of his efforts to save the crew.  He was instrumental in convincing friendly natives to contact authorities and inform them of their whereabouts.  After several days of eluding the Japanese the PT-109 survivors were finally rescued.  In recognition of his abilities, Thom was given command of USS PT-587.  He was released from active duty in late 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant and began a master’s program at Ohio State and worked for an insurance company.  Unfortunately, on October 4, 1946, his car was struck by a train and he was killed.  One of the pallbearers at his funeral was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  Lenard Jay Thom was survived by his wife and two young children.  He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown, Ohio, where his memorial marker carries the inscription:  LT – USNR – WORLD WAR II.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)