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0555707 |
89k | John Vincent Johnston was born at Granville, Ohio, about 1826. He entered the Navy as a volunteer in September 1861, initially serving as First Master on gunboat St. Louis. He assisted in the Union gunboat attacks that captured strategic Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, 06 February 1862. The night of 01 April 1862 he served as Navy commander of a combined Army-Navy boat expedition from St. Louis which landed and spiked the guns of Fort No. 1 above the Confederate stronghold of Island No. 10. He was promoted to Acting Volunteer Lieutenant on 01 August 1862 for gallantry in this expedition. After joining in the bombardments of Vicksburg, he took command of tinclad Forest Rose, patrolling the Mississippi River and its tributaries. On 15 February 1864 his gunboat repelled an attack of Confederate raiders, saving the town of Waterproof, Louisiana, and its federal garrison. Lieutenant Johnston resigned from the naval service 23 June 1864. He died 23 April 1912 at Armstrong, Missouri, and is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. | Robert M. Cieri/Bill Gonyo |
USS Johnston (DD-557)
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0555702 |
495k | USS Johnston (DD-557) sliding down the building ways at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard, Seattle, Washington, 25 March 1943.
Naval Hostory & Heritage Command photo NH 63496, courtesy of Mrs. Roger Dudley | Fred Weiss |
Shortly after launching at Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Washington, 25 March 1943.
Naval History and Heritage Command photos NH 63497 and 63498 | Mike Green |
0555704 |
408k | Lt. Commander Ernest E. Evans, USN, at the commissioning ceremonies of USS Johnston (DD-557), Seattle, Washington, 27 October 1943. He was Johnston's Commanding Officer from then until she was sunk in the Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944, and was lost with the ship.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 63499 | Bill Gonyo |
0555705 |
500k | USS Johnston (DD-557) commissioning ceremonies on the ship's fantail, at Seattle, Washington, 27 October 1943. Lt. Commander Ernest E. Evans, USN, her Commanding Officer, is speaking in the left center.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 63368 | Bill Gonyo |
0555701 |
563k | USS Johnston (DD-557) on the day of her comissioning, 27 October 1943.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 63495, courtesy of Mrs. Roger Dudley | Fred Weiss |
Two views of Johnston (DD-557) passing through the formation of TG 53.2 during 17-20 July 1944. This was one of several assault transport groups staging to land at Guam on 21 July 1944. The transport at left is President Polk (AP-103). Photographed by Ensign Spayth aboard USS Ringgold (DD-500). | John Chiquoine and Dave Schroeder |
0555706 |
243k | USS Johnston (DD-557) coming alongside USS Millicoma (AO-73) to fuel, 12 September 1944. They were part of the train force operating as TU 30.8.8, supporting heavy units in the Peleliu operation. Photo made from USS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82), in unrep to Millicoma's port.
National Archives photo 80-G-334967 | John Chiquoine and Dave Schroeder |
0555708 |
327k | USS Johnston (DD-557) gunfire damage and loss diagram from 25 October 1944 off Samar, Philippine Islands.
Navy Department Library: Destroyer Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage Report; War Damage Report No. 51 | Mike Green |
Report of the Johnston's actions during the battle off Samar on 25 October 1944. | Ed Zajkowski |
Wreck of USS Johnston (DD-557)
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On 30 October 2019, Petrel, a research vessel (RV) belonging to Vulcan Inc., discovered the remains what was believed to be Johnston at the bottom of the Philippine Trench. The remains consisted of a deck gun, a propeller shaft, and some miscellaneous debris that could not be used to identify the wreck, but additional debris was observed lying deeper than the RV could go. On 31 March 2021, it was announced that the research vessel DSV Limiting Factor of Caladan Oceanic, financed and piloted by investor and explorer Victor Vescovo, surveyed and photographed the deeper wreck and definitively identified it as Johnston. She sits upright and is well preserved at a depth of 21,180 feett (6,460 meters), making it the deepest shipwreck ever surveyed. |
0555719 |
63k | Her hull number still bright, the bow of USS Johnston looms out of the abyssal darkness. Photo taken from inside the submersible DSV Limiting Factor by pilot Victor Vescovo during a dive on 31 March 2021 to 6,425 meters.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons | Dave Wright |
0555720 |
306k | Mount 51 still aiming to starboard 76 years after Johnston's last battle. Photo taken from inside the submersible DSV Limiting Factor by pilot Victor Vescovo during a dive on 31 March 2021 to 6,425 meters.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons | Dave Wright |
0555721 |
420k | The bridge and Mark 37 fire control system of Johnston. Photo taken from inside the submersible DSV Limiting Factor by pilot Victor Vescovo during a dive on 31 March 2021 to 6,425 meters.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons | Dave Wright |
186 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty.
