Kenneth W. Prescott

A Pt Skipper in the South Pacific: a Naval Officer's Memoir of Service on Pts and a Pt Boat Tender Kenneth W. Prescott

Merriam Press Military Monograph MM110. Second Edition (December 2011). From training at Melville, Rhode Island, to the South Pacific where as XO and CO of PT 61 and CO of PT 48 he served at Tulagi-Florida Island, Guadalcanal, and the Russells, as well as on different assignments in Torokina, Bougainville, and Emirau, New Ireland, back to Melville and on to the USS Jamestown (AGP-3) as XO, home based in the Philippines, and finally to his post-war career in the Navy. Included are his bird collecting and taxidermy efforts during and after the war, as well as an encounter with future president John F. Kennedy. Contents: Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Pearl Harbor and Joining the Navy; Chapter 2: Motor Torpedo Boat Training, Melville, Rhode Island; Chapter 3: To the South Pacific; Chapter 4: The Old-Timers: Heroes of the PT Saga; Chapter 5: Calvertville; Chapter 6: XO of PT 61; Chapter 7: Patrolling and Boxing; Chapter 8: The Russells, Rats, and Poker; Chapter 9: Taxidermy?South Pacific Style; Chapter 10: CO of PT 61; Chapter 11: Kennedy, Crocs, and Gunboats; Chapter 12: CO of PT 48; Chapter 13: Torokina and Malaria; Chapter 14: Bougainville and Bird Collecting; Chapter 15: Emirau and Back to the U. S. ; Chapter 16: Melville Again; Chapter 17: Back to the Pacific; Chapter 18: XO of the Jamestown; Chapter 19: Japan Surrenders and Jamestown Returns Home; Chapter 20: Recuperating in Hollywood; Chapter 21: My Post-War Studies; Chapter 22: Naval Reserve and Civilian Life; Chapter 23: Epilogue. 100 photos/illustrations.