Motor Torpedo Boat PT 346

"USS PT-346" was a motor torpedo boat which suffered the worst friendly fire casualties of World War II, with 9 men killed and 9 wounded. Eighty five percent of all friendly fire PT boat casualties during World War II occurred in the Southwest Pacific in two separate incidents occurring over the span of one month- the first on March 27, 1944, and second on April 29, 1944. PT 346, skippered by Lt. James Burk, USNR, was the rescue vessel in March, and victim in April. PT boat Squadron 25 took the brunt of both incidents with resulted in 22 PT boat men killed including Lt. James Burk, captain of PT 346, and 28 wounded.

On March 27, 1944, PT 346 along with PT 354 rescued the survivors of PT 353 and PT 121 which had been mistakenly destroyed during a mission off the coast of New Britain by five fighter planes under the command of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Just over a month later, PT 346 was itself the victim of friendly fire. The morning of April 29, 1944, PT 346 was send to the aide of PT 347 skippered by Lt. Robert J. Williams, USNR, and PT 350 skippered by Stanley L. Manning, USNR. PT 347 had become stuck on a reef during night patrol to intercept enemy barges and destroy shore installations off the coast of Rabaul in Lassul Bay, located off the Northwest corner of New Britain Island in New Guinea. (The waters of the Pacific were not well charted and during World War II more PT boats were lost to reefs than to enemy fire.)

At 7 a.m. PT 350 was attempting to dislodge PT 347 from the reef, when two American Marine Corsair planes mistook the PT boats for Japanese gunboats and attacked. Taking heavy fire from the planes, PT 350 shot down one of the two attacking Corsair fighters believing them to be Japanese Zeros. With three dead and four wounded and serious mechanical problems, PT 350 headed back to base. PT 347 remained stuck on the reef. Lt. James Burk, USNR, skipper of PT 346, headed out with his crew and the base commander of the 25th squadron, Lt. James R. Thompson, USNR, and Chief Pharmacist First Class John Frkovich, USNR, to render medical aide. When PT 350 could not be boarded because of extensive damage, PT 346 headed out to PT 347 to provide assistance and dislodge them from the reef.PT 346 arrived at 12:30 p.m., and at 2 p.m. PT 346 was still attempting to dislodge PT 347 from the corral heads when planes appeared. The Corsair plane from the morning run brought back an entire squadron of 21 planes (four Corsair F4U fighters, six Avenger dive-bombers, four Hellcat F6F fighters, and eight Dauntless dive-bombers). Recognizing the planes as American and thinking they were the air cover he had ordered, the squadron commander ordered the men to keep working; however the planes attacked PT 346 and PT 347 still mistaking them for Japanese gunboats. PT 346 did not respond defensively until it was too late, and took heavy casualties. The skipper of PT 347, Lt. Williams, who had experienced the earlier attack, ordered his men into the water and to stay dispersed but still suffered two men dead and three wounded.

PT 346 and PT 347 were completely destroyed by bombs and the men were strafed in the water for approximately one hour, continuing to dive under the water to survive as the planes approached. Heroes of the day included Wilbur Larsen, USNR, motor machinist’s mate third class, of PT 347 who received the Navy Marine Corps medal for saving wounded non-swimmer Forrest May’s life, and Lt. James Burk, skipper of 346, who received the Purple Heart. Mortally wounded, Lt. Burk ordered medic John Frkovich to take his life jacket so he could survive and treat the wounded.

Factors that contributed to the incident included an influx of new pilots and planes that lacked experience in recognition of PT boats, poor capability for the planes and PT boats to communicate, and the fact that the incident occurred in an area of the Pacific which was the “line of demarcation” between Nimitz and MacArthur’s Pacific commands and coordination of reports between the two commands did not always occur. A formal inquiry into the incident was conducted and improvements instituted as a result of the tragedy.

External links

Casualties: U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Vessels, Sunk or Damaged Beyond Repair during World War II, 7 December 1941-1 October 1945

Wanapela, Justin. “Victims of Friendly Fire- PT 347 & 346” [Online] Available
* http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/ptboat/PT-346.html

Williams, Dan. “Tragedy at Sea.” (Online) Available
* http://www.danwilliamsgraphics.com/PT347/PT347-1.html

References

Associated Press. “Two PT Boats, Two Planes Lost in South Pacific Error.” San Francisco Chronicle. May 4, 1944, page 1.

Bulkley, Robert J. Jr. At Close Quarters: Pt boats in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962, pp. 232-234.

Hoagland, Edgar. The Sea Hawks: With the PT Boats at War. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1999, pp. 89-91.

Naval Historical Center. Friendly fire statistics. http://www.history.navy.mil/index.html

Official Naval Documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act: Report of Action of PT Boat 350, night of April 28-29, 1944; Memorandum to all Hands, J. Paul Austin, USNR, Intelligence Officer; Order Directing Investigation; Investigative Conclusions & Recommendations, Commodore T.J. Moran, USN, Investigating Officer; Statement by Major Dill; Damage report for PT 350; War Diary of Marine Aircraft Group Fourteen.United Press. “U.S. Planes Sink 3 U.S. PT Boats; 2 Shot Down in Mix-up of Signals.” New York Times, page 1.