Description:

JAPANESE TANTO, BELT, AND FLAG CAPTURED BY A PT BOAT OFFICER (3)
Three Japanese military relics captured by an American PT boat officer who served aboard the ill-fated PT-44, destroyed Dec. 12, 1942 by the Japanese destroyers KAWAKAZE and SUZUKAZE resulting in the loss of all but two crewmen - including two who had transferred to the vessel only a few weeks earlier from the famous PT-109 which would later be commanded by John F. Kennedy. Included in the lot is: a Koto tanto, 8.5 in. blade, 13.25 in. overall, wood grip and scabbard, the blade very good and still bearing a keen edge; a sweat-stained Japanese 'senninbari' or thousand stitch belt, a 37 x 6.5 in. padded cotton sewn closed at both ends with an 8 in. opening at the bottom. Within is contained three printed messages and a printed packet still containing a small bit of symbolic rice, the separate cloth inside bears 1,000 red knots. The knots would each be sewn by a different woman and the belt was then given as an amulet to soldiers on their way to war; and a 33 x 20 in. two-piece Japanese national flag, stained. These historic relics originate from the untouched footlocker of PT-44 boat officer and Navy aviator Lt. Charles M. Melhorn. He and a fellow PT-44 crewman were plucked from the water by PT-40 and PT-109, President John F. Kennedy's future command, following his ship's destruction. Melhorn would later become a Navy aviator, leading the torpedo bomber attack that sunk the battleship HARUNA and earning Melhorn the Navy Cross.

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April 26, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000