USS Johnston

1944

Samar, charged Kurita's battleships, 6,469 m Location: Philippine Sea, off Samar · Coordinates: 11.50°N 126.30°E · Casualties: 186 · Survivors: 141 · Depth: 6,469 m · Cause: naval gunfire — Led a counterattack against Admiral Kurita's Centre Force at the Battle off Samar on the morning of 25 October 1944. Charged into the Japanese battle line including the Yamato, firing torpedoes and 5-inch guns until destroyed by combined gunfire from four Japanese battleships and cruisers. Sank at 10:10. · Fate: abyssal · located 2019 · Type: destroyer · Fletcher class · Tonnage: 2,050 tons · Crew: 327 · Flag: United States · Launched: 1943 American Fletcher-class destroyer, commanded by Ernest E. Evans, part of Taffy 3's escort screen at the Battle off Samar. On the morning of 25 October 1944 she led the counterattack against Admiral Kurita's Centre Force, charging alone into a battle line that included the battleship Yamato. Fired every torpedo, expended every 5-inch round, and kept going until she was destroyed by the combined gunfire of four Japanese battleships and cruisers. 186 dead including Evans, who received a posthumous Medal of Honor. Located in 2019 at 6,469 metres, the deepest wreck of any ship then on record. The Vessel USS Johnston (DD-557) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, commissioned at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation on 27 October 1943. She was 114 metres long, 2,050 tons standard displacement, armed with five 5-inch guns and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, designed for 36 knots. The Fletcher class was the most numerous United States destroyer type of the Second World War, 175 ships built; Johnston was one of the first to be commissioned with the improved director-fire control system that would become the fleet standard. Her first commanding officer, Commander Ernest Edwin Evans, was a Cherokee and Creek Native American from Pawnee, Oklahoma, a 1931 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a veteran of a pre-war South Atlantic deployment. Evans took command of Johnston at her commissioning and held her through her subsequent 11 months of service. His first address to the crew, recorded in the ship's log of 27 October 1943, included the statement that would define his own fate and that of his ship: "This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way. Anyone who does not want to go along had better get off right now." She sailed to the Pacific in early 1944 and was assigned to Task Force 58 during the Marianas and Palau campaigns. Her combat record through 1944 included anti-aircraft fire support at Saipan, shore bombardment at Guam, and screening duties at Palau. By October 1944 she was assigned to Task Unit 77.4.3 (call sign "Taffy 3" The Disaster Johnston's charge toward Kurita's force commenced at 06:55 on 25 October 1944. Her objective, unstated but evident from Evans's manoeuvre, was to close the range and launch a torpedo attack at the nearest Japanese heavy cruiser. Evans pressed his ship through a wall of 16-inch Yamato shells without taking a hit; his crew, firing back with five 5-inch guns that were effectively pea-shooters against battleship armour, kept up an accurate rate of fire against the Japanese superstructures. At 07:10 Evans launched a full ten-torpedo spread at the Japanese heavy cruiser Kumano. The spread struck Kumano three times; she was forced to retire from the action. Johnston was now out of torpedoes, her 5-inch guns still firing, and alone in front of the Japanese battle line. A 14-inch shell from the battleship Kongō struck her at 07:20 and destroyed her after engine room, reducing her speed to 17 knots and knocking out her after main battery. She continued firing her forward 5-inch guns at every Japanese ship that came within range. Evans, wounded by shrapnel and bleeding from multiple wounds, remained on his bridge, encouraging his crew over the ship's PA system. Between 07:20 and 10:10, a period of nearly three hours, USS Johnston continued to attack Kurita's force alone. Her 5-inch guns fired at Japanese destroyers, Japanese cruisers, and even at the Yamato herself (though the 5-inch shells could not penetrate Yamato's armour). She drew fire away from the escort carriers; she maneuvered