Motor Torpedo Boat PT 105

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PT-105 in a hurry.

PT 105 was a US Navy PT boat in WWII commanded by Dick Keresey, which fought in the same battle in which the PT 109 was lost. It is also a book by the same title, mentioned in a book by Robert Ballard, and Keresey return to the Solomons with Ballard to find the wreck of the PT 109.

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The author writes about many boats. One boat abandoned ship, and the crew clung to one of the inadequate life rafts that didn't even have a proper bottom. It was meant to hold onto, but not sit more than one or two persons. The book contains many photographs of the boat and bases, and a diagram of the layout of the boat. The boats could do 50 knots if they had to. Some fought their way right up against Japanese docks to rescue people. The PT boats had no armour, but after a few refrigerators got hit, they were often fitted with armour plate. Another boat which was fitted with radar was run over as they were trying to figure out how to read the signals on the screen. PT 105 was sent to pick up survivors marked by a PBY only to find they were Japanese. One of these prisoners grabbed a gun and shot one of the PT 109 survivors. After the war, Keresey would be contacted by some of these Japanese ex-prisoners who thanked him for their lives.