Have They Found The USS Johnston?

"Deepest-ever shipwreck" at 20, 406 feet.
"The deepest ever shipwreck has been found, a WWII destroyer that was annihilated 75 years ago in the Pacific during the largest naval battle in history, researchers say.
The USS Johnston was found at 20,406ft in the Philippine Sea, 75 years after it was sunk by the Japanese on October 25, 1944 in the Battle off Samar, an engagement in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Experts from the Research Vessel Petrel, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, released video of the battered and twisted hull lying eerily on the ocean floor.
Of the 327 US naval personnel aboard the USS Johnston, just 141 survived. Of those who died, around 90 were alive in the water as the ship sank but never seen again.
'There is no hull structure intact that we can find. This wreck is completely decimated, it is just debris,' the crew said on Wednesday.
'This wreck is either the Johnston or the Hoel ... This wreck is in the southern part of where the battle took place and this is one of the reasons why we believe this is the Johnston, because she sank later, after Hoel did.'
The vessel is famed for her brave action in the Battle off Samar. Outgunned by the Japanese, USS Johnston led an attack of a handful of lightships against a colossal fleet until it was surrounded.
According to the US Navy: 'One by one, Johnston took on Japanese destroyers, although Johnston had no torpedoes and limited firepower. After two-and-a-half hours, Johnston - dead in the water - was surrounded by enemy ships.
'At 9.45 am, Evans gave the order to abandon ship. Twenty-five minutes later, the destroyer rolled over and began to sink.'
Her action in the battle was central to the overarching Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered to be the largest naval battle in history with more than 200,000 personnel. "
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7635195/Deepest-shipwreck-discovered-USS-Johnston-sunk-WWII-20-400ft-Philippine-Sea.html

 

The US Navy's finest hour.

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Something I wrote on my Facebook page on 25 October.

75 years ago today a mass of troop ships, oilers and supply vessels were sitting in Leyte Gulf (Philippines) unloading to facilitate the American invasion. Admiral "Bull" Halsey's Third Fleet was to protect the invasion, but was drawn north by a Japanese feint.
This left Leyte Gulf almost wide open for Japanese Admiral Kurita's Center Force to hit Leyte and gut the American invasion. The only thing standing in his way was a small force named Taffy 3, consisting of three Destroyers, four Destroyer Escorts and a motley collection of five "jeep carriers." These light craft were thrown against Kurita's force consisting of four Japanese Battleships (among them Yamato with her 18-inch main guns), six Cruisers, and twelve Destroyers.
It was suicide, but nonetheless these small boys went up against the Japanese fleet. LCDR Robert Copeland of the Samuel B. Roberts, a tiny Destroyer Escort, simply said to his men; “We’re making a torpedo run. The outcome is doubtful, but we will do our duty.” All of these "small boys" made smoke and charged in under the Japanese guns to launch torpedoes and shoot their five and three inch guns at the Japanese cruisers and battleships.
In the end, Taffy 3 lost about half her force, two Escort Carriers, two Destroyers, a Destroyer Escort, with the deaths of over a thousand men. All of the surviving vessels were badly damaged. The Japanese lost three Cruisers, had another three effectively disabled, and Kurita, convinced that these American vessels (because of their aggressive behavior) must be the vanguard of a much superior force, withdrew.
The largely unarmed invasion fleet at Leyte was thus spared, resulting in the liberation of the Philippines.


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