Japanese Who Sank Kennedy PT Boat Dies
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TOKYO — The commander of the Japanese destroyer that sank President John F. Kennedy’s PT-109 in the Pacific Ocean in World War II has died of pneumonia, hospital officials said last week. He was 86.
The officials said Katsumori Yamashiro died Jan. 25. They gave no other details.
On Aug. 2, 1943, the destroyer Amagiri collided with the torpedo boat commanded by Kennedy off the Solomon Islands. Kennedy and his crew swam three miles to a small unoccupied island, where they were rescued several days later by natives.
Kennedy was sent home as a result of injuries to his back which bothered him the rest of his life.
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