Kennedy and Ross found a small canoe, packages of crackers, candy and a fifty-gallon drum of drinkable water left by the Japanese, which Kennedy paddled another half mile back to Olasana in the acquired canoe to provide his hungry crew.  Native coast watchers Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana first discovered the 109 crew on Olasana Island and paddled their messages to Ben Kevu, a Senior Scout who sent them on to coast watcher Lieutenant Reginald Evans. On the morning of August 7, Evans radioed the PT base on Rendova.   Lieutenant "Bud" Liebenow, a friend and former tentmate of Kennedy's, rescued Kennedy and his crew on Olasana Island on August 8, 1943, aboard his boat, PT-157.[56][57][58][59]

Commanding PT-59
After a month's recovery Kennedy returned to duty, commanding the PT-59. He and his crew removed the original torpedo tubes and depth charges and refitted the vessel into a heavily armed gunboat, mounting two automatic 40mm guns and ten .50 caliber Browning machine guns. The new plan involved attaching a gunboat to each PT boat section, adding gun range and defensive power against barges and shore batteries which the 59 went on to encounter on several occasions from mid-October to mid-November.