Deep Sea Dive to a WW2 Destroyer
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Sunken WWII destroyer finally reached in world’s deepest shipwreck dive
By Kate Sheehy
April 6, 2021 | 1:10pm | Updated
A US Navy destroyer sunk during World War II with a renowned hero captain at the helm has finally been reached in the world’s deepest shipwreck dive, an exploration team says.
Eerie footage posted to Twitter shows the USS Johnston in its watery grave — where it was sent Oct. 25, 1944, during a firefight with several Japanese ships off the coast of Samar Island in the Philippines.
“Just completed the deepest wreck dive in history, to find the main wreckage of the destroyer USS Johnston,” wrote Victor Vescovo, head of the Texas-based underwater technology company Caladan Oceanic, on Sunday.
“As a former Navy officer, and the first people to lay eyes on her since she went down in 1944 – it was an extremely intense experience,” Vescovo said.
“We located the front 2/3 of the ship, upright and intact, at a depth of 6456 meters [4.01 miles]. Three of us across two dives surveyed the vessel and gave respects to her brave crew.
“Her crew and Captain, Ernest Evans – the first Native American in the Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor, were extraordinarily heroic. Here’s video from the dive and the bridge they fought from.”
The ship had been located in 2019, but Vescovo and his team were the first to reach it in a submersible. The destroyer’s bridge, bow and midsection were found intact — and “557” could still be seen on the hull.
The ship’s captain was among the 186 members of the destroyer’s 327-man crew to perish in the sea fight 76 years ago. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
A US Naval Academy graduate with Creek and Cherokee ancestry, Evans said during the destroyer’s commissioning in October 1943, “This is going to be a fighting ship.
“I intend to go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now,” Evans said, according to a US Navy profile.
Victor Vescovo described the dive as “an extremely intense experience.”
One of the ship’s gunnery officers recalled, “The skipper was a fighting man from the soles of his broad feet to the ends of his straight black hair.
“He was an Oklahoman and proud of the Indian blood he had in him. The Johnston was a fighting ship, but he was the heart and soul of her.”
The day the destroyer went down, it had been taking on several Japanese warships.
The front two-thirds of the ship were found upright and intact, at a depth of 6,456 meters.
AFP via Getty Images
One of the battle’s survivors said a Japanese captain involved in the sea fight saluted the Johnston as it sank.
Comments
Interesting story. Another brave crew who gave it all. RIP sailors.
“I intend to go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now..."
The words of a warrior.
This destroyer was part of a escort carrier screen. Due to a mistake the escort carriers and their screen of 3 destroyers and 3 destroyer escorts were surprised at close range by a Japanese fleet of battleships, cruisers and many destroyers. Captain Evans ordered his destroyer about, (several minutes before the fleet admiral ordered all of the screen to attack), made smoke (to shield the carriers) and charged the Japanese fleet. They fired a salvo of torpedoes that took the largest battleship in the world out of the fight (by having to dodge them). A second salvo of torpedoes damaged or sank a cruiser. By some miracle they dodged heavy shells for 3 hours inflicting damage to several Japanese ships before they were finally brought down. If you want all the details I highly recommend the book "The last stand of the tin can sailors" by James D Hornfischer. It is literally a shell by shell description of this fight.
I think it was in the book War and Remembrance that the author writes of this fight. Here is an example of how Americans fight when they don't have the advantage. Our enemies should study this battle. Exactly right.
Those American sailors were the best among us.
Captain Evans died because Halsey raced for glory.
A triumph for the the spirit of the tin cans, but a shameful tactical blunder by the Bull.
As Steve45 notes, the Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors' is an excellent book. Don't plan on putting down before you are done.
Brad Steele
Halsey and McArthur were both glory hounds. Halsey went on a wild goose chase, leaving his destroyers to battle the Japanese fleet, and McArthur actually extended WWII because he wanted to "return" to the Philippines to be a hero. Wonder how many good men died for their egos?
As Steve45 and Don indicated; if you haven't read The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D Hornfischer it is highly recommended. I'm a WWII history buff and cannot think of any single act of valor that occurred during the war that surpasses what the destroyers and destroyer escorts accomplished defending the escort carriers of Taffy 3 and the invasion beaches of Leyte. All of Hornfischer's books are fabulous reads but this one will send chills through you and you'll not forget this act of sheer audacity for the rest of your life.
Checked the book out at the library yesterday.