Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Today in Naval History
August 2
Javascript required!
Please enable javascript
in your browser to use
this feature.

1943 - (PT 109), commanded by Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy, is rammed by the Japanese destroyer, Amagiri, which cuts through the vessel at Blackett Strait.
On This day

1865

CSS Shenandoah, commanded by James I. Waddell, encounters the British merchant bark, Barracouta, in the Pacific Ocean and receives the first firm report the Civil War ended in April with the defeat of the Confederacy. Shenandoah rounds Cape Horn in mid-September and arrives at Liverpool in early November, becoming the only Confederate Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe. There she hauls down the Confederate ensign and turns over to the Royal Navy.

1943

(PT 109), commanded by Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy, is rammed by the Japanese destroyer, Amagiri, which cuts through the vessel at Blackett Strait near Kolombangara Island. Abandoning ship, Kennedy leads his men to swim to an island some miles away. With the aid of a Coastwatcher and local residents, they return to Rendova PT base on Aug. 8.

1944

While in action with the German submarine (U 804), USS Fiske (DE 143) is torpedoed mid-ship, breaks in two and sinks. Thirty of her crew members are lost with her.

1964

USS Maddox (DD 731) engages three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats. In the resulting torpedo and gunfire, Maddox hit all the boats, while she was struck only by a single 14.5-millimeter machine gun bullet. Air support arrives from USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14) and her planes strafe the three boats. Both sides then disengage.