Hull Number: DE-702
Launch Date: 11/24/1943
Commissioned Date: 03/18/1943
Decommissioned Date: 06/18/1946
Call Sign: NHQM
Class: BUCKLEY
BUCKLEY Class
Namesake: EARL VINCENT JOHNSON
EARL VINCENT JOHNSON
Wikipedia (as of 2024)
Earl Vincent Johnson was born on 28 December 1913 in Winthrop, Minnesota, the eldest child of Dr Otto F. and Salma E. Johnson. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 31 August 1937, and began naval aviation training the next year. He reported to Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) on board USS Yorktown on 18 September 1939, and received a regular commission the following year.
He was detached from the squadron in March 1942 and assigned to the ship’s company. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, he flew a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber with Yorktown’s Scouting 5 squadron, attacking Imperial Japanese Navy shipping in Tulagi Harbor and aircraft carriers in the Coral Sea. Lieutenant Johnson was lost in aerial combat on 8 May, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Disposition:
Stricken 1 May 1967, and sold on 3 September 1968.