22. Ballard’s expedition found the wreckage of PT 109 in 2002
The search for the remains of PT 109 presented difficulties and challenges far different from those of Titanic, Yorktown, and Bismarck. The search area was much smaller than those in the open sea. The depth of the waters to be searched was also much shallower. But the amount of wreckage and debris in the area was large, due to the many sea and air battles which had raged in the area during the war. There was also the problem of not knowing where the vessel had sunk, since it was last known to be adrift, without power, subject to the whims of nature. It was also in two pieces, with the stern section having sunk an unknown distance from the bow, and also in an uncertain location.
Data provided by the Navy allowed Ballard to focus his search in an area of roughly five by seven miles. The shifting sea floor obscured many targets while others found and examined were revealed to be other wreckage from the war. On May 22, 2002, the expedition discovered a torpedo tube and a torpedo, photos of which were sent to the US Navy for examination. After confirming that the tube and a cranking mechanism used to angle it outboard for firing were from a World War II PT boat the Navy examined its historical records and learned that no other such boats had been lost in the area. The Navy confirmed that the remains were the wreckage of PT 109’s forward section, and the site was treated as a war grave. The remains of the stern section have yet to be found.
