Decades After The Vessel Sank, Experts Explored The Eerie Remains Of The Deepest-Known Shipwreck

Deeper and deeper into the gloom the Limiting Factor descends. Pilot Victor Vescovo has taken her 4 miles down beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. In the murky, frigid waters, nothing moves, and there is nothing to see. Until suddenly the faint shape of a ship looms up. Is this at last the USS Johnston?

It’s certain that the wreck in front of Vescovo is one of the ships that sank during action off the coast of Samar Island in the Philippines. But it’s not certain which one. It will take a careful survey of the ship, becoming more clearly visible in the deep waters of the Pacific.

Vescovo pilots the Limiting Factor ever deeper. More of the ship’s bow becomes clear to him. Although these depths are dark and silent, he can clearly make out the ship’s armaments: its gun turrets and its torpedo racks. And finally, Vescovo is able to find proof of which ship has been found.

The USS Johnston was one among many – a Fletcher-class destroyer just like 174 others built during World War II. She was given her name to honor John V. Johnston, a Civil War lieutenant of clear bravery. And despite her light armament, she too would add to the luster of the Johnston name.

The Johnston went down during a fierce conflict against the Japanese near Samar Island in the Philippines. It happened as part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was a battle of enormous scope. So large, in fact, that it’s been called the biggest ever. In the bigger battle, the United States had an edge, but at Samar, the Americans were outnumbered and outgunned.

The ship’s captain was a three-quarters Native American Oklahoman by the name of Commander Ernest Evans. And he certainly kept up his people’s tradition of being brave. When his ship was commissioned, he gave a speech to his men in which he promised that he wouldn’t “run from a fight.” And he suggested to his crew that “anyone who did not want to go in harm’s way had better get off now.” Fierce stuff!

Certainly Evans was willing to take his men into harm’s way. At Samar, he did exactly that. The Johnston went full steam ahead into a line of Japanese ships to defend the other American vessels arriving in to the Philippines. This gallantry brought a heavy cost, with 190 of the 327 men in the ship’s crew sacrificing their lives, including Cdr. Evans himself.

The battle at Samar was a turning point in the bigger battle, determined by bravery. A small group of destroyers, backed by planes from escort carriers, sailed out on an October 1944 day. And they weren’t to know that they’d be confronted by a powerful Japanese task group that included four battleships, among them the mighty Yamato.

The group that USS Johnston was a part of was called Taffy 3. It consisted of half-a-dozen escort carriers, protected by four destroyer escorts and three destroyers. The escort carriers had planes that would be important in the landings on the Philippines. So the Japanese wanted to stop them, and they surely would, with their overwhelming power.

It must have felt hopeless to Evans and his crew, but neither he nor they flinched. They powered towards the Japanese, taking out a heavy cruiser. A hail of shells from the huge guns of the battleships smashed the Johnston, leaving her with little gunnery to fight with – and not a single torpedo. Unfazed, her crew set about the fight again, unloading 30 shells into a huge Japanese ship.

Why on earth fight at such impossible odds? Well, the group of destroyer escorts knew that if they were taken out, the carriers were a goner, and then the invasion fleet would be next. So it had to distract the powerful Japanese force. And Johnston gave her all: in the end, battered and unable to move, she had to be abandoned.

The Johnston had managed to cause real damage to the Japanese Kumano, a much bigger heavy cruiser. But in doing so, that had sealed her fate. The battleships had taken their revenge on the American destroyer. And the fight had lasted for two-and-a-half hours, but now it was over, and the Johnston sank.

It was a terrible price to pay for the success of the invasion of the Philippines, with many of the crew perishing. Evans’ sacrifice did not go unnoticed, though. He became the Navy’s first Native American to receive a Medal of Honor. As a measure of how rare that would be, only one other captain of a destroyer would be similarly honored in the whole of World War II.

When Rear Admiral Samuel E. Morison wrote about the action in his book History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, he said, “In no engagement in its entire history has the United States Navy shown more gallantry, guts and gumption than in the two morning hours between 07:30 and 09:30 off Samar.”

On the Naval History and Heritage Command’s website, its director, retired Rear Admiral Sam Cox, said, “It was a brutal and bloody fight that serves as a sobering reminder for today’s Sailors: after all that’s asked of them in day-to-day service, they, like their shipmates aboard Johnston, may one day be asked for far more.”

The spot where the battle occurred happens to be above a deep trench in the Pacific Ocean. So for many years historians simply had the idea that the sunken ships were lost for good. But in 2019 explorers led by Robert Kraft aboard the R/V Petrel found a wrecked destroyer 21,180 feet down.

This is incredibly deep for a shipwreck, in fact, no wreck has been found further down. It was thought to be the Johnston, but another Fletcher-class destroyer, the Hoel, had also gone down in the action. And the ship featured elements that it wasn’t clear the Johnston even had, but the Hoel definitely did.

Thus the Petrel sent out a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to take a closer look at the wreck. But it could not resolve the mystery of which ship it was because the ROV could only go down as far as 20,000 feet. And even though the front end of the ship was sitting upright, it was no way near it.

It was just impossible to look more closely at the ship; it was so far down. To give a better idea of just how far, we can compare it to the Titanic. Yes, it was three quarters further down than the doomed superliner had been when it comes to the seafloor. In fact, it would take the deepest dive yet achieved just to be able to see it close up.

So the stage was set for another expedition to unveil the wreck’s secrets. Funded by private money and run by two men who had been officers in the U.S. Navy themselves, Caladan Oceanic mounted the dive. And one of them would lead the way himself, twice taking the eight-hour trip to and from the wreckage.

That man, Victor Vescovo, is not just a retired seaman. He’s also something of a daredevil. It’s not enough for him to have been to the deepest points of each of the five oceans. No, the man has been to the highest points of each continent too, including scaling Mt. Everest. Oh, and he’s fitted in jaunts to both Poles.

Vescovo went down in the DSV Limiting Factor. She’s a different type of vehicle to the ROV that had visited the wreck in 2019. Because she has no limit on how deep she can go and no need to tether herself to a surface ship, that she’s perfect for sea exploration. She’s also loaded with a bunch of top high-def cameras.

You may have seen the Limiting Factor if you watch Discovery Plus. She’s gained attention as the vehicle that Vescovo took down to the very deepest parts of the globe’s oceans. In 2019 Vescovo completed the Five Deeps Exhibition, which culminated with a trip to Challenger Deep, the furthest down you can go on Earth at nearly 36,000 feet.

Naval historian Parks Stephenson plotted the wreck’s position. In a Caladan Oceanic press release from March 2021, he said, “We used data from both the United States and the Japanese accounts and, as is so often the case, the research brings the history back to life. Reading the accounts of the Johnston’s last day are humbling and need to be preserved as upholding the highest traditions of the Navy. This was mortal combat against incredible odds.”

But the Limiting Factor didn’t just shoot down to the wreck and start taking pictures. No, Vescovo consulted with the Navy Heritage and History Command throughout the process. He wanted to make sure that he would preserve the wreck and also show it the respect it was due as the burial site of so many brave men.

Stephenson said, “We need to take great care to make sure that the ship remains completely undisturbed, and I believe that can be very effectively done in manned craft, especially as the depth here precludes most remotely operated vehicles. We could see the extent of the wreckage and the severe damage inflicted during the intense battle on the surface.”

Stephenson continued, “It took fire from the largest warship ever constructed – the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, and ferociously fought back. All of the accounts pay tribute to the crew’s bravery and complete lack of hesitation in taking the fight to the enemy, and the wreckage serves to prove that.”

So with all this in mind, the expedition was mounted in March 2021. The Limiting Factor descended into the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean to precisely the spot plotted by Stephenson. And the ship lay untouched on the seabed, probably looking much the same as it had when it went down.

Because the lack of oxygen meant that the ship had not deteriorated as it would if it had been in less deep water. And Vescovo tweeted about what the expedition found, “We located the front 2/3 of the ship, upright and intact, at a depth of 6,456 meters [21,180 feet]. Three of us across two dives surveyed the vessel and gave respects to her brave crew.”

As Vescovo peered out of the Limiting Factor’s porthole, he could see clearly the number on the ship’s hull. It was 557, indicating that this was in fact the Johnston. The submersible was able to photograph the ship’s five-inch guns and its torpedo racks, which were also set on her deck.

The submersible is a nimble vehicle, more than able to maneuver around the wreck. This allowed it to survey the wreckage closely. It made a map of the layout of the ship and took plenty of high-definition photographs that would prove useful when naval historians studied them. And the return was impressive.

Naval History and Heritage Command’s Rear Admiral Cox explained, “The image is impressive, and we look forward to seeing the rest of the data collected during the expedition because the story of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Johnston (DD 557) and her crew is a perfect example for modern sailors of the honor, courage, commitment and valor of their predecessors from the Greatest Generation.”

Expedition boss Kelvin Murray added, “This was a real team effort requiring the individual skills of everyone onboard. Our EM-124 sonar, Triton submarine’s unlimited depth submersible, a highly practiced team and some excellent sonar and navigation support all combined to enable a successful outcome. With this system we could locate, investigate and film wrecks at any depth in any ocean; it is a fantastic tool.”

Photographs were all the expedition took, though. Nothing else was disturbed, and no bodies, bones or clothes were brought back. And it’s not likely that they ever will. Because the 2004 Sunken Military Craft Act ensures that all U.S. Navy wrecks remain untouched by anyone who comes across them, no matter where in the world they are.

And the public won’t necessarily get to see all the results of the expedition either, barring the photos and videos released by Caladan Oceanic. Everything collected, including field notes, images and sonar data is going to be passed on to the Navy. But what gets shown to the public will be up to the naval authorities at least.

Vescovo explained his position on the data that he collected, which arguably he has a right to disperse as he sees fit. He said, “We have a strict ‘look, don’t touch’ policy but we collect a lot of material that is very useful to historians and naval archivists. I believe it is important work, which is why I fund it privately, and we deliver the material to the Navy pro-bono.”

Rear Admiral Cox added his thoughts on the successful expedition in the Caladan Oceanic press release, saying, “The Naval History and Heritage Command greatly appreciates the efforts of Cdr. Vescovo and his expedition team in positively identifying the wreck of the destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557,) lost on October 25, 1944, in one of the most heroic actions in the entire history of the U.S. Navy.”

Cox continued, “The wreck of Johnston is a hallowed site. I deeply appreciate that Cdr.Vescovo and his team exhibited such great care and respect during the survey of the ship, the last resting place of her valiant crew. Three other heroic ships lost in that desperate battle have yet to be found.”

Stephenson explained the importance of the findings. He said, “This brings clarity to the loss the USS Johnston and helps close a chapter on one of the greatest last stands in all naval history – which ended in a completely unpredictable American victory against enormous odds.” Vescovo concurred, “It was ‘the Alamo’ at sea, but in this case the defenders – unbelievably – won.”

When the surveying side of the job was done, the submersible, the Pressure Drop, ceased work, and the team placed a wreath on the seabed. Vescovo said, “In some ways we have come full circle. The Johnston and our own ship were built in the same shipyard, and both served in the U.S. Navy. As a U.S. Navy officer, I’m proud to have helped bring clarity and closure to the Johnston, its crew, and the families of those who fell there.”