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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 Remove CanOspam to email http://members.aol.com/nookeybear/index1.htm |
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