9 August 1944 Part 5

9 August 1944 US Navy Page recollection of the loss of PT 509

Editorial note: Later testimony published in May 1945. Placed on 9 August using the contemporary reports; the press account gives the night of 7 August and a different commander name. Those discrepancies remain unresolved.

Page recalled PT 509 and PT 508 meeting three German minesweepers and a converted fishing boat in very poor visibility. Torpedoes missed. During a subsequent firing run the commanding officer at the wheel was hit; PT 509 went out of control and rammed a minesweeper, catching fire while lodged in its hull. Page believed the others had been killed or thrown into the water. With a broken arm and shrapnel wounds in his back, he crawled across the burning deck and was pulled aboard by German sailors. The release says no report of other survivors had yet been received. [I page 632]

The press account places the action on the night of 7 August, whereas the contemporary Maloy and squadron reports place PT 509’s loss on 9 August. It names the commanding officer as Lieutenant Harry Christ, while the squadron report identifies Lieutenant A. M. Crist. The release’s wording is retained as testimony rather than used to correct the contemporary chronology or identify the officer anew. [I page 632; D pages 2–3; G page 2]

US Navy. US Naval Forces in Europe, release 32 dated 16 May 1945, Missing US Sailors Found on Channel Islands, source set I, page 632. Supplied compilation: Jersey Convoy Action 13 to 14 August 1944.docx. Set letters and page or screenshot numbers refer to that compilation.