Famous Captain Dies

When a Japanese kamikaze plane was heading towards the bridge of the destroyer
that Roland Johnson was steering, he stayed at his post and kept the vessel on
course.

The plane struck the stern. Twenty-one members of the crew were killed and 15
were injured, but the USS Stormes with Johnson at the helm was able to make it
to port.

Johnson, formerly of Gilford, who was captain of the M/V Mount Washington after
retiring from 26 years in the Navy, died Sept. 29. He was 82.

"He was an expert boat handler; they’d don’t come any better," recalled Jim
Morash of the Winnipesaukee Flagship Company who formerly worked with Johnson.

Following his lengthy stint in the Navy as a helmsman, Morash recounted,
Johnson saw action on several occasions and could tell a war story or two.

"He was a Navy man through and through," he continued.

It is tradition in the Navy to call the senior officer "Old Man" in recognition
of his skill and knowledge. Morash said he bestowed the same moniker on Johnson
when he joined the Flagship Company.

But Johnson’s skills extended far beyond the wheelhouse. Morash said Johnson
was a master carpenter. When the Mount was cut in half in 1982 and enlarged,
Johnson and fellow carpenters Ed Driscoll of Meredith and the late Brian Avery
of The Weirs did much of the work.

Among Johnson’s hobbies was model shipbuilding. He crafted a
three-and-a-half-foot-long model of the Mount that includes a cutaway showing
the interior of the ship, with all of the details, right down to the tables. It
took Johnson about two years to complete the model that now is housed at the
Mount’s winter quarters in Center Harbor, according to Morash.

"He was a very talented individual and made ships in bottles and ship models
from scratch," he said.

During his service in the Navy, Johnson served aboard or skippered nearly every
type of vessel, from icebreakers to battleships, according to Daryl "Doc"
Watson, longtime fleet engineer for the Flagship Company.

When Johnson told Watson about his encounter with the kamikaze plane at Okinawa
in 1945, Watson recounted hearing that the fighter passed so close to the
bridge that Johnson could see the pilot’s face.

Watson said Johnson also told him of being in seas so rough that the ship
rolled violently enough to almost make the wing of the bridge touch the ocean.

"He said he’d been told that if [a ship] got that far over it couldn’t
right itself, but it did," Watson said.

"Rollie had a lot of good knowledge and you could learn from him if you were
willing to," Watson concluded.

"He used to bring his [wartime] diaries in for me to read. During the invasion
of Okinawa, they really caught hell from the kamikaze," recounted Harry Welch
who served as pilot on the Mount while Johnson was captain.

"He was a very typical Yankee and he certainly had opinions on everything. He
wasn’t shy about letting you know his attitudes on things," Welch continued.

As with most longtime sailors, Johnson was known for his colorful language,
which he worked hard to keep in check while he was aboard the Mount.

Welch recalled having the engine room radio the wheelhouse about some problem.
When Johnson went to reply he accidentally keyed the public address system that
broadcast all over the ship and announced, "That’s a hell of a note," causing
passengers to crane their heads.

Johnson spent so much time at the helm that Welch said he could run a vessel
subconsciously.

"If he stopped and thought about it, that was when things could get screwed
up," Welch continued.

Known for his picture-perfect landings, Welch recounted when Johnson was at the
helm and Welch spotted three of the Flagship Company’s top brass standing at
the edge of the dock. He told Johnson to make sure his landing was spot on, as
there was an important welcoming committee in attendance.

"He nearly forgot to go astern; the props were thrashing water and everybody
stepped back," Welch recalled of the near miss.

"He has salt water in his veins and it was a privilege to work for him. I
learned an awful lot from him," Welch said.

Even as a Navy-trained navigator, Welch said he gleaned information from
Johnson.

"He knew rates of closure and intercepts I didn’t even know. He was that
good," Welch concluded.

There was a memorial service for Johnson on Monday in Massachusetts. He and his
wife, Raewyn (Dale) Johnson, had moved from the Lakes Region to Kingwood,
Texas, about a year ago. He is to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in
Washington DC early next year.

-Heather
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