Did Adm. Halsey want a court martial over PT-109?

I recently came across an unsubstantiated allegation that Admiral Halsey wanted to court martial JFK over the loss of PT-109. Has anyone ever heard of such a claim before?

Does anyone know of any sources where this is actually substantiated?

The after-action report by Kennedy's Commander, which you can easily find on the web, exonerates him of any wrongdoing and states that the loss of PT 109 was due to poor visibility, bad communications and unexpected enemy actions. I am not aware of any report that Admiral Halsey, the Theater Commander many levels up in the chain of command, wanted to court-martial Lt(jg) Kennedy, but I do know he signed the citation awarding the Navy and Marine Corps medal to Kennedy, for 'heroism in saving his crew of PT Boat 109' after it was rammed and sunk in 1943.

Walter S

I drew a blank on Google on this one. According to most reports, PT boats were the Navy's most vulnerable WWII combat vessel, and heavy losses were anticipated due to its plywood construction and relative lack of armor. The possibility that Admiral Halsey might have sought a possible courts-martial against the commander of the PT-109 seems unlikely since he would not have involved himself in events involving the loss of one of the relatively minor naval combat vessels that occurred in the midst of a major naval engagement. He would most likely have relied upon the recommendations, if any, of Lt. John F. Kennedy's commanding officer. Since that officer approved the submission of a post-action recommendation for an award for Kennedy's behavior during that action, it's clearly unlikely that he would have done so if he suspected that some sort of dereliction of duty had occurred.

signed the citation for Kennedy.

Walter S

Walker,

Thanks ^Ö that was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. It doesn't appear that the archives are available online, so I'll just have to stop by the next time I'm in Washington. I've never been to the Naval Archives ^Ö any advice beyond what they post on their web page?

I also noticed that White, in addition to writing part of the after action report, advised against a court martial for JFK. I don't doubt that the rational was sound, but I have to wonder how objective his assessment was, considering that JFK and White knew each other before the war and obviously had a good relationship (JFK appointed white to the US Supreme Court).

Wasn't the Captain of the USS Indianapolis, the only U.S. Navy commander to actually be court-martialed for the loss of his vessel?