Customer Reviews

PT 105

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The only bad thing I can say about Dick Keresey's memoir "PT-105" is that it is too brief.

In addition to educating the reader of his experiences as a PT Boat skipper during the Pacific War, he also shares with us what it was like to be a young American caught up in great events of his time. He is quite candid about the rather bassackwards way he joined the Navy and eventually ended up at Melville for Motor Torpedo Boat training. Once he becomes a PT man, though, he becomes fiercely loyal to the boats and the men on them.

Great stuff here, not only on how the PTs were fought, but what the day to day routine was and how decisions were made. Mr. Keresey is also about mistakes and problems, not only among his superiors but about his own as well.

This is probably the most fun I've had reading a book on the Mosquito Fleet (I have lots of them). Highly Recommended.

Dick Keresey conveys a gripping and very entertaining story of his experiences as a PT boat commander in the South Pacific. From his fumbling and bumping start at the pier at the first commissioning of his PT boat class, to close-in and brutal fights in the dark with Japanese barges in the straits around Guadalcanal, his story conveys an uncommon realism. If I were to recommend a single book for students to read about the men who fought in WW II, I'd recommend this one.

Dick Keresey's days as a PT commander in the Solomons in 1942 and 1943 are the subject of this excellent memoir. Told in a series of vignettes with a loose narrative line, the book wraps up with a long account of a moral choice made in the field that came back to him years later. Keresey is honest about himself, his men, and the Navy he served in. Especially insightful is his candid admission that what made him appear so calm in combat was his "cornered-rat" impulse. Finally, Keresey loved those little boats, and he defends them against detractors who called them "expendable" and "made of balsa." (He also defends then Lt. John F. Kennedy for his actions in Blackett Strait when he sunk by a Japanese destroyer.) This reviewer did wish that he had elaborated somewhat more on the command arrangements of the PT forces, but this is probably nitpicking. A plea to the publisher : better maps and an index, please!

PT 105 is a must read if you enjoy learning what day to day life was like in the small command Navy. This book is an extremely well written unvarnished account of life in the Pacific thru the eyes of PT 105 commanding officer Dick Kersey. If personal eye witness accounts are for you, then I'm sure you will re read this book again and again.

Although the author is my grandfather, i can honestly say that this book would still have been my favorite personal WWII account even had i never known the man. But since i do know him, i can say that he writes just like he tells stories -- candid, un-embellished, interesting, and highly entertaining. I highly recommend the book and my only complaint is probably the only complaint you'll have if you read it -- that it's over too quickly.

There are more technical, nuts and bolts books out there about PT boats (American PT Boats at War, PT Boats at War, PT Boats in Action). There is some debate about how effective these 80 foot long boats were. But there is no doubting the bravery of these sailors who fought in all theaters of WW2.

As with many weapons, the PT evolved into something different than the designers planned. Originally, the PT boats were to attack other captial ships, harrass and destroy with their torpedos. But, partially due to defective torpedeos, lack of technical means to properly aim the torpedeos, these boats found themselves patrolling in land costal areas looking for Japanese barges. They became "barge busters" and their weapons were constantly upgraded to get more and heavier weapons on the boats. The best way to fight these barges was to get up close and personal. That took guts since there was no armor on the PT boats.

This book is about the human side of those who fought. There are some photos, black and white, just enough to give you an idea of what conditions were for these guys fighting in the early part of the Pacific War. Dick Kersey aka "Gunga Dick" was a great leader and an excellent story teller. Yes, he knew Jack Kennedy on PT109 and discusses Jack when he was a PT Boat Commander.

There's humor, anger, pride, honesty. Author Kersey is open and frank about his experiences, the fear, heat, libations - and that is what makes this an excellent read about the Pacific War. Perhaps the author is most proud of the lives of POWs that he saved, rather than gun them down when he could have. Very glad to have read this book, highly recommended.

This was a book that was difficult to put down. While it did touch on events and history of the war in the Pacific as most books about the PT Boat Navy do, as written it went into the experiences of the men in the crew and squadron shipmates. There were sad and humorous sides to dwell upon. I felt like the author put me into the story. All told it was well written.

I read this book a few years ago. My Father was a PT sailor who spent time in many of the same places covered in this book. I passed it along to my Mother. She was able to vouch for a lot of the stateside information from her personal experience - she told me it brought back some great memories.

I've read most of the books out on PT boats over the years. If I were to recommend a single book to someone who wanted to learn more, this would be the one.

To help my son do the PT 109 Next Generation video series, we read a lot of PT 109 books. After PT 105 was mentioned in the Ballard book, we bought this one. It has much more information about the boats, and how they worked, and combat stories. He explains the plight of one boat that abandoned ship, and had to cling two one of the inadequate life rafts that didn't even have a proper bottom. You could hold onto it, but not sit in it. There is a nice chart of the layout of the boat. Very interesting to read that the boats could do 50 knots if they had to, or fight their way right up against japanese docks to rescue people. Funniest thing was the story that PT boats had no armour - except around the refrigerator after a few got shot up. People could be replaced, but not the refrigerator which was the only way to get a cold drink. He also tells the story of a PT boat which HAD radar, but nearly got run over as they were trying to figure out the position of the ship on the blasted @#$% radar set. It's not a very long book and can be read in sections quite nicely. He also tells at the end about how he was sent to pick up survivors marked by a PBY only to find they were Japanese, and was chewed out for picking them up and dropping them off at the Army. One of these prisoners grabbed a gun and shot one of the PT 109 survivors. After the war, he would be contacted by some of these Japanese ex-prisoners who thanked him for their lives.

This book is very well written. I am no expert on PT boats, but I have read many presonal accounts of WW2. This book is one of the best! In PT 105 Dick Keresey speaks to the reader in such a manner that you feel as though you are sitting across the table listening to him tell you his story. I recomend this book to anyone who enjoys fist hand accounts of the second world war.