USS Johnston was a
Fletcher-class destroyer built for the
United States Navy during
World War II. She was named after Lieutenant
John V. Johnston, a navy officer during the
American Civil War. The ship was
laid down in May 1942 and was launched in March 1943, entering active duty later that year as part of the
US Pacific Fleet.
Johnston provided
naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1944 and again, after three months of patrol and escort duty in the
Solomon Islands, during
the recapture of
Guam in July. Thereafter,
Johnston was tasked with escorting
escort carriers during the
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the
liberation of the Philippines. On 25 October 1944,
Johnston and various other ships were engaged by a large
Imperial Japanese Navy flotilla, in what became known as the
Battle off Samar. After engaging several Japanese
capital ships and a destroyer squadron,
Johnston was sunk with 187 dead.
Johnston's wreck was discovered in 2019, and at a depth of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 m) below the surface, is one of the deepest shipwrecks ever surveyed. This photograph shows
Johnston in
Seattle in October 1943.
Photograph credit: unidentified US Navy photographer; restored by Adam Cuerden and Cobatfor
United States
_underway_on_27_October_1943_(NH_63495).jpg)
