USS Johnston (DD-557)

Johnston in Seattle, 27 October 1943
History
United States
Name	Johnston
Namesake	John V. Johnston
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	6 May 1942
Launched	25 March 1943
Commissioned	27 October 1943
Stricken	27 November 1944
Nickname(s)	"GQ Johnny"[1][2]
Honors and awards	Presidential Unit Citation, 6 Battle Stars
Fate	Sunk 25 October 1944, Battle off Samar
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,100 long tons (2,134 t) (standard)
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Installed power	4 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 60,000 shp (45,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed	38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range	6,500 nmi (7,500 mi; 12,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	273
Sensors and processing systems	1 × QC series sonar 1 × Mk 4 or Mk 12 fire-control radar 1 × SC-2 early-warning radar 1 × SG surface-search radar
Armament	5 × single 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns 5 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns 7 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 2 × quintuple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × single depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge racks

USS Johnston (DD-557) was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant John V. Johnston, an officer of the US Navy during the American Civil War. Johnston was laid down in May 1942 and was launched on 25 March 1943. She entered active duty on 27 October 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans and was assigned to the US Pacific Fleet. Johnston provided naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in January and February 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, while assigned as part of the escort to six escort carriers, Johnston, two other Fletcher-class destroyers, and four destroyer escorts were engaged by a large Imperial Japanese Navy flotilla. In what became known as the Battle off Samar, Johnston and the other escort ships charged the Japanese ships to protect nearby US carriers and transport craft. After engaging several Japanese capital ships and a destroyer squadron, Johnston was sunk with 187 dead, including Evans. Johnston's wreck was discovered on 30 October 2019 but was not properly identified until March 2021. Lying more than 20,000 feet (6,100 m) below the surface of the ocean, it was the deepest shipwreck ever surveyed until the 22 June 2022 discovery of USS Samuel B. Roberts, sunk during the same engagement.