USS Johnston - A 'Fighting Ship' Until the End

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  • Опубликовано: 15 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 94

  • @jamesogorek6518
    @jamesogorek6518 4 месяца назад +14

    My father James O'Gorek served on the Johnston when she was sunk. There is so much more to tell about this battle, my father told me many stories about the battle and their battle after the ship was sunk. My father lived until 1997 and still had his purple heart? Love you Dad!

  • @alephalon7849
    @alephalon7849 Год назад +30

    It's like Johnston was specifically built and destined to turn Captain Evans' fierce promise into a stupendous reality. Truly a legendary ship.

  • @williamscottshelton945
    @williamscottshelton945 Год назад +88

    You know when Capt. Evans arrived in Valhalla or where ever DD Capts g, Capt Bernard Roope of H.M.S. Glowworm was waiting for him and handed him a pint of ale!

    • @--Dani
      @--Dani Год назад +13

      Good one...both destroyer men to the last

    • @oglo2011
      @oglo2011 Год назад +8

      I'll raise my ale to that!

    • @Caktusdud.
      @Caktusdud. Год назад +7

      I wonder how many destroyers would end up in valhalla?
      Quite a few.

    • @thatwormhole1760
      @thatwormhole1760 Год назад +5

      Don’t worry only the taffy 3’s finest with the best of the Royal navy

    • @AdmiralDevil
      @AdmiralDevil Год назад

      ​@speedyo2907 far too many

  • @harryshriver6223
    @harryshriver6223 7 месяцев назад +3

    In my opinion, there can be no greater Praise of your actions Band by the men whose lives you have saved, RIP to all of the brave sailors and officers of the USS Johnston 🙏❤ vaya con Dios y en paz descansen.

  • @fabianzimmermann5495
    @fabianzimmermann5495 Год назад +77

    Ernest E. Evans had his reasons for fighting as hard as he did at Samar. He was present at the battle of the Java Sea in 1942 when the ABDA fleet was annihilated by the Japanese. He was aboard one of the four old American destroyers that were the only survivors of the battle, retreating after launching torpedoes and running low on fuel. He was not happy about leaving the other ships in the middle of the fight and so when he was again faced with an overwhelming enemy attacking his unit, he did not hesitate to protect the ships he was supposed to escort at all costs.

    • @AdmiralDevil
      @AdmiralDevil Год назад +2

      wait really?

    • @hourlardnsaver362
      @hourlardnsaver362 Год назад +1

      Another fun fact: Johnston’s gunnery officer, Rob Hagen, was aboard the destroyer USS Aaron Ward during the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and he nearly bled out after shrapnel from the hit by Kirishima cut one of his arteries open.

    • @fabianzimmermann5495
      @fabianzimmermann5495 Год назад +2

      @@AdmiralDevil Yes really

    • @AdmiralDevil
      @AdmiralDevil Год назад

      @@fabianzimmermann5495 i didn't know that...awesome

    • @redbeardedwonder
      @redbeardedwonder Год назад +3

      truth! he was a junior officer on the destroyer USS Alden that fought alongside the cruiser USS Houston at the Battle of the Java Sea

  • @kleenk8
    @kleenk8 Год назад +15

    Captain Evans drilled his crew so much, the nickname of the USS Johnston was "GQ Johnney." Amazing fortitude.

    • @longrider188
      @longrider188 Год назад +2

      It was actually Lt Hagen, the gun boss, that did all the GQs. Evans gave him carte blanc to run as many GQs as he wanted.

  • @colinmartin9797
    @colinmartin9797 Год назад +22

    Imagine being such an angry little ship that you single handedly make the largest assembled warship fleet of world war 2 think that they were facing a main US fleet because you convinced them that you were a heavy cruiser, with how furiously you fought. And blowing kumano's face off to boot. Her rage might only have been matched by both laffeys, the latter successfully being too angry to die.
    I'm convinced that all US DD's were captained and crewed by absolute barking lunatics. fletchera were such tough little tin cans, and the book was one of the best reads I've ever had.
    If someone pitched that battle at a movie, it would get laughed at for being too insane. The yamato alone out weighed all of taffy 3 combined. One of her batteries weighed more than johnston. And yet three dd's, some planes with all the wrong ordinance and the angrier little destroyer escort in history fought off thr entire Japanese navy. Just bonkers.

    • @DLordSadow
      @DLordSadow 2 месяца назад +1

      It should be further noted that after the discovery of her wreck Japan made a large increase in her defense spending. 😁

  • @williamashbless7904
    @williamashbless7904 Год назад +12

    Simply said:
    You did justice to a fine ship and her amazing crew.

  • @RAD-RC
    @RAD-RC Год назад +9

    It is also to be noted that the Johnston is also the second deepest shipwreck in history. Presumably on the posthumous mission to get in range of hell to fight the devil himself next.

  • @iamrichrocker
    @iamrichrocker Год назад +25

    Sky: do not worry that Taffi 3 has been discussed multiple times..do your video with full content..this epic story of Johnston/Sammy B deserves all the accolades and honor that they surely deserve...to see these Tin Cans on the bottom with their guns still aiming up and out at a long gone enemy has touched many a viewer..what a story of heroes..on eternal patrol..

    • @Straswa
      @Straswa Год назад +3

      Well said.

  • @edwardpate6128
    @edwardpate6128 Год назад +7

    That jellyfish story brought back memories for me! My old ship USS Preble DDG-46 was in Chile in 1982 participating in UNITAS XXIII. One harbor was full of jellyfish and our condensers got clogged with them. They also clogged the heat exchangers on our AN/SPS-49 radar which used water from the fire mains. Cleaning those things out was nasty and gloves definitely required as the remains still had those stinging cells in place!

    • @scrunchymacscruff1244
      @scrunchymacscruff1244 7 месяцев назад +1

      They sting. Feels like electricity building in intensity.

  • @seanbigay1042
    @seanbigay1042 6 месяцев назад +3

    "We have found the wreck of the USS Johnston, and our initial ballistic exam shows she has ... holes. Lots and lots and LOTS of holes."

  • @michaelbowes9894
    @michaelbowes9894 3 месяца назад +2

    Arguably the greatest naval battle in history.

  • @kennethdodge3779
    @kennethdodge3779 Год назад +13

    I tell you what,the men on the Johnston were one of the Worlds Best teams of Fighting Men.a Perfect example Courage Under Fire.
    Top Shelf Leadership,Top Shelf Crew.
    The Johnston,and the Samual B. Roberts saved not only the rest of Taffy 3,but they the lives of possibly Thousands of our Soldiers on the beaches of Leyte.
    ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

    • @paxriv
      @paxriv 7 месяцев назад +1

      Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. The landing force of half a million was otherwise defenseless, Halsey having been lured northward by the IJN decoy force.

  • @abrahammorrison6374
    @abrahammorrison6374 8 месяцев назад +3

    USS Samuel B Roberts is a must as well.

  • @craiglilly3657
    @craiglilly3657 Год назад +6

    I attended high school in CA in the mid-1960’s. One of my teachers was a Korean War vet, but he pointed to one of our chemistry teachers, Ellsworth Welch, and said he was the real deal, a true war hero. He was a LTJG on Johnston when it was sunk. You can read about him in “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors”.

    • @muskrat3291
      @muskrat3291 Год назад +2

      Dr Welch was my high school chemistry in the 60s. He was a great teacher that made a lasting impression.

  • @samaguirre3283
    @samaguirre3283 Год назад +8

    We salute you captain Evans and your valiant crew with many many twenty one gun salutes for all eternity may you watch over us and inspire us with tells of your bravery live long in the memories of heroes DD-557 USS Johnston, captain n crew on patrol for all eternity !!

  • @bkjeong4302
    @bkjeong4302 Год назад +30

    One of the most memed ships ever, especially in recent years.
    Her performance at Samar is definitely meme-worthy, but sadly it has come at a huge expense to the other ships of Taffy 3 (bar Sammy B) and the ships of Taffy 1 and Taffy 2, especially the escort carriers from the three formations that played the biggest role in the American victory. People tend to think of Samar as a surface action, when it was decided in large part by airpower (albeit only Taffy 2 had aerial torpedoes at the ready when Centre Force opened fire; Taffy 3 ended up having to launch and then rearm aircraft while being shelled, but once they did...).
    It's also interesting to see that Johnston puts the "battleships were absolutely vital for fire support during landings" myth to rest. Save for the rare cases where the targets were just too far out of reach of smaller-calibre guns, destroyers were usually enough for that job (and they had the advantage of being able to get closer to shore for greater accuracy as shown here).

    • @colinmartin9797
      @colinmartin9797 Год назад +3

      Well I mean texas was firing so far inland her captain counter flooded a gangster lean of a list just to yeet shells even further. A 5 inch gun can only do so much, vs a 16 inch which could destroy tank columns miles inland, or in the gulf War the supersonic freight train sound alone of the Iowa class 16 inch guns made an Iraqi garrison surrender to her spotter done.
      I know big guns are too expensive but dammit I wish we still had one battleship, lol.
      And the air power was more of a hypothetical threat than a real one. Kurita likely pulled back because he expected planes to come and hadn't made the headway he wanted, thanks to the lunatics of Heerman Hoel Johnson and Sammy b, and the pilots just being as annoying as possible. I don't think it's fair to imply that those four little Davids didn't really did fight off the biggest massed force of Goliaths in history.

    • @pranavshinde4472
      @pranavshinde4472 Год назад

      Yep!She and USS Samuel B,Roberts were praised by Japanese and Americans as
      Quote,"Destroyers who fought like Battleships!!". Even the Japanese respected The sailors,throwing overboard Rafts,Rations and Chocolates.and cheering them "Samurai!"for their bravery,The ship being g none ther than Light Crusier,IJN Yubari,she being her own legend,being called "Yubari Who survives."She being on almost all major battles of Pacific theatre such as,Pearl Harbour,Leyte Gulf,Sammar,Philippines Sea,The sinking of the Three Yamato class Battleship,Midway,Solomon Islands,Coral Sea,etc.

    • @metaknight115
      @metaknight115 10 месяцев назад

      In particular, I feel like the story of USS Kalinin Bay, one of the escort carriers present during the battle, is disturbingly underrated.
      She was first hit by a battleship caliber shell (Probably a 16.1-inch shell from Nagato, Yamato and Kongo never targeted Kalinin Bay while Haruna explicitly only scored straddles throughout the engagement). The shell disabled her aircraft elevator, crippling her ability to launch aircraft. Nagato was then temporarily forced out of the engagement by destroyer torpedoes, but Kalinin Bay then came under fire from the heavy cruiser Haguro, a battle hardened veteran, responsible for the sinking of the heavy cruiser Exeter, the light cruiser, De Ruyter, and the destroyer Kortenaer during the battle of the Java Sea. The experience showed in her gunnery performance, as Kalinin Bay was hit by ten 8-inch shells and heavily crippled. In exchange, she hit Haguro twice, one 5-inch shell hitting the bridge and the other disabling one of her turrets. After she switched fire to the destroyer Johnston, Kalinin Bay was then targeted by the heavy cruiser Tone and hit four more times. After the engagement, Kalinin Bay was hit by two Kamikazes, and still survived.
      Unlike the escort carrier White Plains, permanently damaged by a debated hit/near miss from Yamato's main battery, Kalinin Bay would be fully repaired, and serve in the frontlines for the rest of her career.

  • @derekhieb7458
    @derekhieb7458 Год назад +3

    Excellent job bringing the most complete history of the Johnston and her fighting life.

  • @markmclaughlin2690
    @markmclaughlin2690 Год назад +3

    My Father served on Gambier Bay that day. He passed in 1969 Kenneth McLaughlin when I was 3.

  • @Straswa
    @Straswa Год назад +4

    Well played Commander Evans and Johnston. o7
    Great work Skynea.

  • @kiphowland4660
    @kiphowland4660 Месяц назад

    Ken, you and your team did an excellent job on this. Thank you !

  • @alpha3in1
    @alpha3in1 6 месяцев назад +2

    You left out the Japanese saluted her as they passed her sinking form, they fought to the death and proudly demonstrated their metal, something even the Japanese recognized.

  • @davidbradley3735
    @davidbradley3735 10 месяцев назад +2

    This battle would make a great movie !!! Just like the Alamo, except the enemy bought the bluff, and the defenders prevail!

    • @FrenchieQc
      @FrenchieQc Месяц назад +2

      Sadly the events were so exceptionally spectacular that any movie depicting them accurately would be painted as some Hollywood bullshittery by those unfamiliar with this battle.

    • @davidbradley3735
      @davidbradley3735 Месяц назад

      @FrenchieQc Most historic stories like this can't be accurately explained in a few hrs!! a multi hr mini series could make an accurate representation, with all participants realistically represented! The actual history with no added Hollywood drama and over the top digital effects like a superhero movie would help in actual understanding of the HUGE rabbit they pulled out of a hatl!!

  • @J.R.Spencer
    @J.R.Spencer 2 месяца назад +3

    Contrary to popular belief, the Johnston, Hule, and Samuel B Roberts did not sink due to Japanese ordinance. The combined weight of the giant brass balls on board finally drug them down. They truly were America's greatest generation. Fair winds and following seas gentlemen

  • @steveb6103
    @steveb6103 Год назад +11

    Captain Evans is the first native American to earn the MOH.

  • @thomasshoe92
    @thomasshoe92 Год назад +3

    Thank you 🙏

  • @moosifer3321
    @moosifer3321 Год назад +4

    Seen many presentations of Samar but NO previous History of this Gallant Ship and Crew, so thanks for this prequal to a now much anticipated `Skynea Battle of Samar`! I`M SURE you`ll give credit to ALL involved.

  • @harrymurphey2634
    @harrymurphey2634 Год назад +23

    Our Aircraft Carriers should be named after those awarded the MOH ... the Ernest E Evans ... the John Basilon ... not polititions ... ( I can not remember the "Coat Guard" seaman that won the MOH ... but him too ... )

    • @fredbielawski2600
      @fredbielawski2600 Год назад +2

      I totally agree

    • @harrymurphey2634
      @harrymurphey2634 Год назад +2

      I did some research ... CG Signalman Doug Munro ... the only CG man" ever awarded the MOH, it was at Guadalcanal manning a landing boat ... w/ the US Marines ...

  • @seanbigay1042
    @seanbigay1042 6 месяцев назад +1

    If it hasn't been mentioned yet, it should be: Ernest E. Evans was a full-blooded Native American warrior -- half Creek, half Cherokee. This might go a long way toward explaining how ferociously he fought his ship. Going on the warpath just came naturally to him.

  • @soarabove337
    @soarabove337 Год назад +4

    That was a great conclusion: "with her guns pointed to, she sank". Idk if you're quoting or that's original... beyond a citation if the latter, it's brilliant all the same. USN Capt EE Evans would be proud indeed. Great vid.

    • @Chaosmech
      @Chaosmech 9 месяцев назад +1

      I think Evans kicked Davy Jones' ass, took over his job, and is the reason the Johnston's guns are still pointed in the direction of the enemy.

  • @edwardpate6128
    @edwardpate6128 Год назад +1

    A role model for all future US Navy destroyer sailors to follow!

  • @chasegrant2817
    @chasegrant2817 Год назад +2

    You know she did enough damage to where her bow was blown off. Absolute legend

  • @abrahammorrison6374
    @abrahammorrison6374 Год назад +4

    Do a video on the USS Samuel B. Roberts as well. The destroyer that fought like a battleship.

    • @seanbigay1042
      @seanbigay1042 6 месяцев назад +1

      Nah, she didn't fight like a battleship. How many battleships have emptied their magazines into the enemy, right down to the star shells? (The only one I know of that came close was, inevitably, HMS Warspite.)

    • @abrahammorrison6374
      @abrahammorrison6374 6 месяцев назад

      @@seanbigay1042 The Samuel B. Roberts fought against Japanese two heavy cruisers to a draw and blew the #3 turret off of one. 623 5" shells. Read Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and the Battle of Samar.

    • @seanbigay1042
      @seanbigay1042 6 месяцев назад

      @@abrahammorrison6374 I know, I know! Just making a joke, dude! (Speaking of which, the fact she literally emptied her magazines into her enemy is a good measure of how ferociously the Sammy B. fought.)

  • @OGFC
    @OGFC Год назад +1

    One of the greatest!

  • @jollyjohnthepirate3168
    @jollyjohnthepirate3168 Год назад +6

    Where repeat Where is Task Force 38? The world wonders.

  • @mikeallen2292
    @mikeallen2292 Год назад +1

    Thank you. Your video means much to me.

  • @mr.m1garand254
    @mr.m1garand254 Год назад +1

    My favorite ship of the war

  • @pranavshinde4472
    @pranavshinde4472 Год назад +1

    Fun fact:When Uss Johnson was shot and behan sinking a Japanese ship passed by it Destroying sailors hope for a split second until the Japanese sailors over the ship throw overboard rations and Rafts for sailors of Uss Johnston and The Captain over the ship saluted them over their bravery and the sailors aboard the ship cheered for the sailors calling them Samurai.This ship was none other Than The Light Crusier IJN Yubari and The
    Captain Masao Sugiura The Ship also having her own legends in history,The Yubari was given the title "Yubari Who Survives" she was present on every major battle of WW2 including Pearl Harbour,Philippines sea,Leyte Gulf,Okinawa,Solomon islands,Coral sea ,Midway,Guado canal,The sinking of The Three Yamato class ship,etc.She was what Uss William D Porter was To Us Navy,The most unluckiest ship of The Imperial Japanese Navy,the sailors of other ships loathe her whenever she was in the fleet,saying "We all will die but The Yubari will survive".For how unlucky she was,she brought home all the sailors aboard her back safe and sound "everytime".with her Captain,Masao Sugiura being his legend too writing the book After The Storm.with his perspective of naval warfare,The Yubari didn't capture the sailors or killed them but helped them by Throwing overboard Rations,Chocolates and Rafts for sailors to send them home safely just like she does.

  • @FrenchieQc
    @FrenchieQc Месяц назад

    Johnston and Sammy B: "We didn't hear no bell!"

  • @mr.s2005
    @mr.s2005 Год назад +2

    may have gone done...it went down hard, to the deepest depth of any ship discovered so far. If I heard right.

  • @Cobalt_Dragon0716
    @Cobalt_Dragon0716 11 месяцев назад

    "A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can." Captain Ernest Edwin Evans, on the morning of Oct. 24, 1944 upon hearing about the Japanese fleet bearing down upon them.

  • @m.streicher8286
    @m.streicher8286 Год назад +1

    Imagine battleship AP rounds poking holes straight through Johnston

  • @kristelvidhi5038
    @kristelvidhi5038 Год назад +3

    Instead of a massacre for the Americans, it became Japan's most humiliating defeat. Incredible.

  • @Semper_Iratus
    @Semper_Iratus 9 месяцев назад +1

    Why they have never made a movie of this, I’ll never know.

    • @FrenchieQc
      @FrenchieQc Месяц назад

      A movie accurately depicting the events would appear far too unbelievable to those unfamiliar with the battle.

  • @johnsanders6348
    @johnsanders6348 Год назад +3

    As on Fire Controlman on USS Mullany 528 and USS Uhlmann 687 this a tribute to gave their lives to freedom and democracy and should live on and on...Bottom line folks VOTE to keep DEMOCRACY ALIVE for all...

  • @Merble
    @Merble 7 месяцев назад

    That little ship went full Rorschach on the Japanese center fleet.

  • @slimeydon
    @slimeydon 10 месяцев назад

    Evans had a lot of John Paul Jones in him

  • @metaknight115
    @metaknight115 Год назад +9

    And they said Yamato couldn’t aim. 3 hits in a single salvo, followed by three more hits in a single salvo, says otherwise.
    I believe that as Johnston torpedo runned Kumano, a 14-inch shell from Kongo landed mere inches away from Johnston and splashed blood red dye on captain Evans.

    • @bkjeong4302
      @bkjeong4302 Год назад +3

      There's a funny story about how Kongo ended up being credited for the hits on Johnston; though the story of how the Japanese mistook the CVEs for the Essexes at Samar due to poor intelligence (and thus also mistook the Fletchers as cruisers and the DEs as Fletchers by going off relative size) is well-known, what isn't so well-known is that the Americans also frequently fucked up their ship identification at Samar, in their case due to sheer confusion. Examples include Haruna getting mistaken for a cruiser (!) and various Japanese cruiser classes being confused for each other. As such, when Yamato fired on and hit Johnston, she was misidentified as Kongo.
      Of course, the actual Kongo was on the other side of the Japanese formation and wasn't shooting at any surface ships when those particular hits occurred, as her logbook shows.

    • @sirboomsalot4902
      @sirboomsalot4902 Год назад

      Iirc it was at long distances where Yamato had accuracy issues because if dispersion. The Iowas had a similar, if less severe, issue as well

    • @bkjeong4302
      @bkjeong4302 Год назад +2

      @@sirboomsalot4902
      Yamato actually had smaller spreads on average than Iowa, though this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, and at very long (over 30k yards) ranges even a narrow amount of dispersion was too wide to reliably hit anything (even before factoring in flight time, wind, etc), hence why no battleship ever was capable of reliable gunnery at those ranges.

    • @manilajohn0182
      @manilajohn0182 Год назад +1

      @@sirboomsalot4902 Yamato fatally damaged Johnston with three 1st salvo hits at just over 20,000 yards, fatally damaged Gambier Bay with one 1st salvo and one 2nd salvo hit, and dropped two shells alongside White Plains at just over 34,000 yards- one of which exploded and knocked White Plains out of front- line service for the rest of the war. The ship had a dispersion rate of 1.3% for a nine- gun salvo.
      The Iowa class had a dispersion rate of 1.9% for a nine- gun salvo and never registered a confirmed main battery hit on any ship of destroyer size or larger in WW2.

  • @ClosedGame75
    @ClosedGame75 9 месяцев назад

    She's still a fighting ship. Her wreck has been located, and she's standing on her keel, her guns still defiantly ready to fire at the enemy.
    There were many, many heroes of the war in the pacific, but Taffy 3 stands head and shoulders above them all in my opinion. They did the impossible.

  • @rickm9244
    @rickm9244 Год назад +1

    The DDs that turned into BBs for a day.

  • @brandondimmitt8467
    @brandondimmitt8467 Год назад

    That’s the bravest thing I think you’ve ever talked about on your channel! Thanks for making these videos! I’m loving them! And realizing how much I like naval history!

  • @robertunderwood6011
    @robertunderwood6011 2 месяца назад

    what more can be said about her and her crew. My kind of crew and CO you know Davey Jones and King Neptune welcome them home with open arms

  • @ahtong1014
    @ahtong1014 Год назад +1

    This destroyer is underrated while Shimakaze is overrated!

  • @issacfoster1113
    @issacfoster1113 Год назад +1

    The Largest Battleship took tail and ran. Shameful dispuray

  • @robertestenzo8466
    @robertestenzo8466 7 месяцев назад

    Heros

  • @abhis8308
    @abhis8308 4 месяца назад

    That’s the Native American fighting spirit. Going all gung ho.

  • @rq83
    @rq83 Год назад

  • @NoonSummit-i3x
    @NoonSummit-i3x 2 месяца назад

    Hernandez Donna Rodriguez Amy Jackson Richard