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| USN Crew Armament |
Captain Lt. (jg) Stanley L. Manning USNR Ship History Wartime History The next morning at 0705, two American F4Us from VMF-215 spotted the boats behind the demarcation line, climbed to 6000' and dived on the targets. Major Dill in command later stated: "there was no recognition signals of any kind." From two miles away, both started strafing and then circled once. The two boats tried unsuccessfully to contact the unidentified planes using daytime frequency. PT-347 blinked "S" and "V" with searchlight during the whole attack. Both had US Stars painted on roof and were flying US flag. Crews waved their arms frantically. When the strafing started, Captain williams ordered his boat to return fire, and shot down the wingman: F4U 13307. The other F4U piloted by Dill returned to Green Island, and ordered an immediate attack on the enemy gunboats. No one aboard PT-347 was hurt, but PT-350 sustained 3 KIA and 3 WIA, and departed the area. PT-347 was dispatched to assist PT-347 still on the reef.
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