THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS: JFK did not deserve to be court-martialed for the sinking of his PT BOAT, especially not in light of his extreme heroism AFTER his boat was sunk.
First of all, the Patrol-Torpedo (PT) Boat was a SMALL boat made of plywood that attacked LARGE Japanese naval ships. PTs by their very nature were expendable. And the crew of a PT boat had to act almost like Kamikazes to pull off an attack on a major naval ship.
The US Government describes a PT Boat as follows: “PT boats were small, fast, and expendable vessels for short range oceanic scouting, armed with torpedoes and machine guns for cutting enemy supply lines and harassing enemy forces. PT boat duty was very dangerous and the squadrons suffered an extremely high loss rate in the war.” PT Boats of World War II: From Home Front to Battle (U.S. National Park Service)
I am sure the US Navy recognized that the survival rate for PT boats was rather low. So, why punish a commander when his PT was sunk?
SECONDLY — AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, the circumstances of PT-109’s sinking and the JFK’s heroic actions thereafter spoke against court-martialing JFK.
On the night of August 1–2, PT-109 was on its 31st mission with fourteen other PTs ordered to block or repel FOUR Japanese destroyers. On that dark and moonless night, Kennedy spotted a Japanese destroyer and attempted to turn to attack, but PT-109 was rammed and cut in half by another destroyer.
Kennedy gathered his surviving crew in the water and ordered them to swim towards a small island 3.5 MILES from the remains of PT-109.
Despite suffering severe injury to his back in the collision, Kennedy towed a badly burned crewman through the water to the island with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth.
Kennedy made an additional two-mile swim that night in an attempt to hail a passing American PT boat to expedite his crew's rescue.
On August 4, 1943, Kennedy assisted his injured and hungry crew on a demanding swim 3.75 miles to a larger island, which was visible to the crew from their small barren island. They swam against a strong current, and once again Kennedy towed the badly burned crew member by his life vest.
Kennedy kept his men alive long enough to be rescued on August 7th.
Again, the simple answer is that JFK did NOT deserve a court-martial. He deserved a medal … and that’s what he rightfully got!
Source: Preston Mitchell (Quora)