1943 CE: JOHN F. KENNEDY’S PT BOAT IS CUT IN HALF

It was “cut” by a Japanese destroyer in the South Pacific (Aug 3): Ferguson Passage, Blackett Straits:

Despite the trauma and his own (back) injuries, (Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy, 26, managed to save the lives of most of his crew (of the eventually to be legendary motorized patrol boat PT #109).