PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy

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PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy by William Doyle is the extraordinary World War II story of shipwreck and survival that paved John F. Kennedy's path to power

In the early morning darkness of August 2, 1943, during a nighttime skirmish near the Solomon Islands, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri barreled through thick fog and struck the U.S. Navy's motor torpedo boat PT 109, splitting the craft nearly in half and killing two American sailors instantly. The sea erupted in flames as the 109's skipper, John F. Kennedy, and the ten surviving crewmen under his command desperately clung to the sinking wreckage. "All hands lost," came the reports back to the Americans' base: no rescue was coming for the men of PT 109. Their desperate ordeal was just beginning, one of the most remarkable tales of World War II.

Drawing on original interviews with the last living links to the events, previously untapped Japanese wartime archives, and a wealth of archival documents from the Kennedy Library, including a lost first-hand account by JFK himself, bestselling author William Doyle crafted the definitive account of the sinking of PT 109 and its shipwrecked crew's heroics. Then Doyle explores in detail how this extraordinary episode shaped Kennedy's character and fate, proving instrumental to achieving his presidential ambitions.

Elegantly designed and enriched by more than 500 photographs and facsimiles of Kennedy’s marginalia on drafts of speeches, his notes from important meetings, letters, and other fascinating documents, JFK will be a major addition to any personal library.

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (June 7, 2016)