One of the more glamourous aspects of the Pacific War was the idealized picture of United States Navy (USN) PT Boats racing under fire to attack Japanese surface ships many times their size. Using their bravery and torpedoes, PT Boats were devastatingly effective, at least according to wartime propaganda. The reality of PT operations was much different but was still a compelling story.

The struggle for Guadalcanal was a key point in the Pacific War but it is little known that PT boats were first used in significant numbers during this campaign. The principal opponent of the PT boats was Japanese destroyers which were renowned for their night fighting capabilities and well-trained crews. The duel between these two asymmetrical opponents makes for an intriguing history.

During the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign, from mid-1942 to mid-1943, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s (IJN) destroyer force was instrumental in moving and supplying Japanese ground forces. Japanese destroyers possessed a combination of speed and combat capabilities which made them ideal for this mission. The regularity of these missions, first seen during the Guadalcanal campaign, prompted the Americans to refer to the nocturnal runs as the “Tokyo Express.” The USN was hard-pressed to disrupt these supply missions. Though the Americans ruled the air during this period, Japanese destroyers were fast enough to complete their mission during darkness and get out of air attack range by morning. When the USN attempted to use cruisers and destroyers to stop the Tokyo Express, the result was often a costly failure. Reluctant to risk large ships at night, the USN turned to fast and powerfully armed PT boats. These small units were expendable and did enjoy some success against the Japanese, particularly when they were forced to resort to using small barges for supply missions.

Faced with the possibility of air and surface attack, and forced to contend with increasingly aggressive PT attacks, the Tokyo Express was forced to adapt its tactics. Operating at night gave them a large degree of cover, but when PT boats arrived at Tulagi, across Iron Bottom Sound from Guadalcanal, the Japanese faced another complication. At first, the destroyers would slip into a cove and unload their cargo using small boats. This became too dangerous and later the Japanese were forced to resort to delivering supplies by use of steel drums which were dropped offshore and towed ashore by the garrison. Such techniques were unable to deliver the required supplies and by late in the campaign the Japanese garrison was reduced to starvation levels.

Using their attributes of stealth but forced to use unreliable torpedoes and lacking sufficient numbers to make a significant impact, PT boats were unable to derail the Tokyo Express during the Guadalcanal campaign. Though PT tactics were ineffective against the much more powerful Japanese destroyers, the PT skippers did score occasional successes, sinking one IJN destroyer and damaging another. The small, fast boats were also ideal for shooting up Japanese supply drums.

As the campaign moved into the Central Solomons, the Japanese still relied on destroyers to move men and supplies to forward garrisons. Having gained a naval advantage, the USN attempted to disrupt the build-up of Japanese forces on New Georgia Island and other Japanese strongholds by using cruisers and destroyers, but this approach resulted in heavy losses at the hands of Japanese destroyers. After the large ships took over the responsibility for interdicting the Tokyo Express, PT boat operations increasingly focused on attacking Japanese barge traffic. On the one occasion during the Central Pacific campaign that a large number of PTs were used against Japanese destroyers, the result was total failure. The saga of PT-109, under the command of future president John F. Kennedy, was part of this unsuccessful operation. Though unable to contend with destroyers, PT boats proved themselves to be useful weapons in littoral areas and remained active for the remainder of the war.

This book examines the reasons behind the scant successes of PT Boats during the Guadalcanal and Solomons campaigns. Nevertheless, despite arduous operating conditions, bad torpedoes, and the inherent difficulties in trying to hit a fast and maneuverable target while under fire, PT Boats did score occasional successes. More importantly, they were another element in the increasingly tight blockade imposed by the Americans against Japanese attempts to resupply their beleaguered garrison on Guadalcanal. As such, PT Boats were a cost-effective measure against the vaunted Tokyo Express.

You can read more in USN PT Boat vs IJN Destroyer: Tokyo Express 1942–43 - available now!