Marlow Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Another for the thread. A little smaller than the last three I posted. The USS Johnston. (My Great Grandpappy’s last name ) A Fletcher class destroyer of 2300 tons (one twentieth the displacement of the big boys). Main guns are 5 x 5 inch and an assortment of AA. Carries torperdoes. This scrappy little ship’s claim to fame was it’s prominent role in the battle off Samar (part of the Leyte Gulf campaign). It was one of 5 destroyers and escorts to engage Admiral Kurita’s Center Force, consisting of four battleships, 8 cruisers, and a gaggle of destroyers. The American ships were protecting the landing beaches and a number of light escort carriers, and did their duty by directly engaging the much heavier enemy fleet. The Johnston, and two other of the escorts was suck, but their efforts (along with those of the pilots from the carriers who attacked without anti-ship munitions) drove off the enemy fleet. The Johnston’s skipper, Commander Ernest Evans, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. An account of the events can be found here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nero's Cat Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Excellent post - very interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Dave Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I have sometimes wondered... WHY? The fascination with... war-ships. OK. First of all, that breathing, REACHING!! Ocean IS... intimidating. Miles & miles & miles of... nowhere to go... but DOWN. :eek: They say that we, once upon a simple-cellular time, hove ourselves up out of that free-form miasma, and used little flimsy fins to saunter on over to a nearby tree... then somehow climbed the tree and soon after, commenced a very merry SWINGING! (... which continues to this very day, in the way that some will trade-off Life-partners, and the like.) Anyway, since you are out on that vast and awesome water-expanse, BEST To have bristling turrets!! and super-thick armor so to PROTECT yourself from... Monsters of the Deep? :eek: Or, little tiny coastal-gunships that can't navigate or shoot so straight (... as, once upone a screw-loose time... in The Tonkin Gulf?). It's like... the hyper-masculine back-brain fantasy... absolutely realized... you can swagger along, big broad bull-shoulder blunt to the sissy boulevard, and KNOCK ANYBODY'S BLOCK OFF who gets IN YOUR WAY!! Here, that deep and unforgiving water is... surely able to swallow and easily drown ANYONE or ANYTHING on Earth or maybe, in Heaven also. Yep, these bristling war-ships are like... a bulwark... a gathering promise... NOTHING!! Can defeat one 'a them... Behemoths!! No slimy grasping Monsters, no mighty Bismark, no terrific Tsunami... NOTHING! Or, Maybe not. Maybe they all ARE... ONLY stunning technological MARVELS, after all, worthy of anyone's avid worship! For my part, I have always stood oddly diminished... in an almost reverential AWE, as well. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Boggs Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by Immer Etwas: Miles & miles & miles of... nowhere to go... but DOWN. :eek: Let's try and keep the Lewinsky references in the General Forum. I blame Marlow for posting his Johnston picture here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Immer, "...once upone a screw-loose time... in The Tonkin Gulf?)." I was in high school when it happened and we discussed it in my history class. At that time I was an extreme rightwing lunatic of a kid with a short fuse and a much shorter attention span, especially for things that seemed obvious to me. One of the girls asked an interesting question "-- But what were our ships doing there in the first place? I don't understand." Well, Big John had no such problems with stupid things like justification and logic. I proudly proclaimed, "We're the United States of America and we can go anyplace we want!" The teacher, a WWII vet, of course, had one of those start and stop laughing streaks for the remaining half hour, looking at me in disbelief, shaking his head, and that's when it would start again. SirJames, Let me get this straight, you're picking on our friend Marlow because he's shown us a photo of a destroyer that was named after his grandaddy?* Marlow Enjoyed the post, perfect elaboration on what we were discussing earlier. Great photo. The tragic difference between these sailors and the men stranded in the Indianapolis loss, is the cruiser was only listed as overdue and not sunk. In the case of these destroyers the exact location of the survivors was known and it was deemed too risky to rescue them till long after the sinkings. I don't know if the Navy was right or wrong in it's decision; it is sometimes necessary to make cold hearted choices and I don't envy those called upon to make them. == *Yes, I know, that isn't what it said, the ship was named after someone else, or was it? [ February 13, 2004, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Boggs Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by JerseyJohn: SirJames, Let me get this straight, you're picking on our friend Marlow because he's shown us a photo of a destroyer that was named after his grandaddy?* == *Yes, I know, that isn't what it said, the ship was named after someone else, or was it? No NO No, I'm picking on Marlow because he's............ Marlow!!!! [serious]-That fight in Leyte Gulf was one of the most stirring fights in naval history. The calm self-sacrifice of those tin cans and escort carriers put to shame the Japanese moral superiority claims. Much like the torpedo squadrons at Midway. My hat is off to both groups of America's finest.[/serious] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Jim My faith is restored, I knew you'd have a sensible reason! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Focker Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by JerseyJohn: Jim My faith is restored, I knew you'd have a sensible reason! But does he have sensisible chic is what the forum really wants to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Boggs Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by General Focker: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by JerseyJohn: Jim My faith is restored, I knew you'd have a sensible reason! But does he have sensisible chic is what the forum really wants to know! </font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Jim Now now, we must watch those little slips. Always overjoyed to welcome a new member, Ga-hhh -- jeez, now you've got me doing it! -- General Focker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Focker Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Why thank you Jersey John, oh and Jimmy boy.....Do or do not, there is no try - Yoda, ESB, 1980. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlow Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by Jim Boggs: I blame Marlow for posting his Johnston picture here. Better my Johnston than your dingy. Anywho, more on the Johnton It was during the time of her brave torpedo attack that ROBERTS got a first-hand look at how the gallant destroyers of Taffy 3 were fairing.... "...about the time of the torpedo attack, the destroyer JOHNSTON came by us and I saw her for the last time. That picture is engraved in my memory...She had taken a terrific beating. Her bridge was battered and had been abandoned. Her foremast, a steel tubular mast...had been split from shellfire and then bent down over itself...the mast was doubled over on itself and dangling down with its radar swinging just like a pendulum.... It gave me a hurt feeling to look at it. Her searchlights had been knocked off. One torpedo mount was gone and her No. 3 gun had completely disappeared. As she went by...she was limping along at a pretty slow speed...I saw her Captain. He was a very big man with coal black hair...he was standing on the fantail conning his ship by calling down through an open scuttle hatch into the steering engine room. I can see him now. He was stripped to the waist and was covered with blood. His left hand was wrapped in a handkerchief...he wasn't over one hundred feet from us as he passed us on our starboard side...he turned a little and waved his hand at me. That's the last time I saw him because JOHNSTON was sunk, too, a few minutes after we were." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leopard Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 WWII Warships-you really are trying to bring me back here more often, Jersey John. Glad to see you are back and posting again. http://www.angelfire.com/co4/u_673/images/outsideDoraI.JPG The biggest threat to the Allied war effort was the underwater devils known as U-boats. Looking out of Dora I, the U-boat bunker in Trondheim. On the left, U861 (type IX-D2) and U953 (type VII-C; call sign:U-Kater, and Commander was Karl-Heinz Marbach) is on the right in this photo. I love the photo below, one of my favorite war photos: http://uboat.net/allies/personnel/photos//gallery2.jpg Officers from USS Guadalcanal in the conning tower of the captured U-505. From left to right: Commander Trosino, Captain Gallery and Lt. Albert David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Boggs Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by Marlow: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jim Boggs: I blame Marlow for posting his Johnston picture here. Better my Johnston than your dingy. </font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Bringing up the subject of inflatable dolls which can be awfully handy after a shipwreck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Leopard It's always good to see you posting and especially looking forward to your maritime posts in this Thread. The Forum moves in rushes and slumps, it's most enjoyable when a bunch of us hardcores start posting and a synergy develops. -- Thanks on the recovery. Two days after walking around with an IV line I came home and we were hit with a snow storm and with no one else around to shovel ... atrocious timing. [ February 14, 2004, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutch Army Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Picture How can you take a picture in the Replay???? :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Dutch Army Use photos or other images that are on the internet, right click on the picture, left click properties, copy the path (highlight it and hit control+C), go to your posting, left click the spot you want it on, left click IMAGE, hit control+V in the path area -- the photo's path should appear in it, hit return, and the picture appears in your posting. Try not to use large ones. If you see it stretches the frame too far delete it and find a smaller one -- by too far, I mean anything that stretches it more than the first page of this Thread. Looking forward to seeing those images! left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutch Army Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Letse si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutch Army Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Free Web site hosting - Freeservers.com | Web Hosting - GlobalServers.com the map of the attack of Pearl Harbor 1941 thanks fore helping me out John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutch Army Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 :mad: GRRRRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 My pleasure, Dutch Army, Sometimes the photos don't show up, usually because the site is offline at the time, which might be the case with the one above. Other times they appear then vanish later, these are all normal problems -- you're really borrowing some else's picture and they don't always keep it available. When these things happen you can always find another to try. The blank space, to me, looks as though you've done it right and it isn't available now. If you'd have done it wrong there would have been a pathname missing something. The first is always the most difficult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dutch Army Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 That probably it I will trey it again tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin P. Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 Great idea -- that would sure give it a livelier touch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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