Ships
- USS David W. Taylor (DD-551) Captain from 18 September 1943
William Harry Johnsen (15 May 1907 – 18 February 1973) was a United States Navy officer from Burlington, Iowa, a graduate of the Naval Academy in the class of 1931, who commissioned and commanded the Fletcher-class destroyer David W. Taylor from 18 September 1943 to 23 February 1945. In her he screened the Marianas operation, took part in the destruction of a Japanese submarine on 4 July 1944, and on 5 January 1945 was bombarding Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands when an underwater explosion tore into his ship. He brought her back to Saipan under her own power. He received the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit, retired as a rear admiral, and died at sixty-five.
He was born on 15 May 1907 in Burlington, Iowa, on the Mississippi. The sources examined here do not name his parents or describe his family. The 1931 Lucky Bag says that he finished the Junior College of Burlington before the Naval Academy.
The yearbook calls him "Dooley" and "Iowa." Its sketch begins with his arrival: "Those who were first to arrive were soon aware of the fact that they had in their midst an adventurous lad from Burlington, Iowa, the city with thirty thousand people, seven cemetries [sic], a police force, and a bridge across the 'Missy.' If Dooley is a true representative from this metropolis, its inhabitants are without doubt a friendly lot." He had "graduated from the Junior College of Burlington with high honors, although it's needless to mention this if you take a look at his class standing." His academics, they said, "hold no great charm for him when he has something else to think about." No sport had ever drawn him into taking part, but the writers credited him for "willingly lending his business abilities to the athletic association." Only on rainy days did they find him in the Radiator Club, and then he devoted his time to the "Cosmo" or to his mail: "Did someone say mail? It's not only one femme." The sketch ends: "Dooley's friends find him congenial, his enemies never find him." The activities line under his name lists class soccer, the gymkhana, a petty officer's rank, and service as manager of basketball and as feature editor of the Lucky Bag itself.
He graduated in June 1931, at twenty-four. A compilation of Register dates gives him the rank of lieutenant on 1 July 1939, temporary lieutenant commander on 15 June 1942, and temporary commander on 1 November 1942. His service number was 0-70260. The sources examined here do not name the ships in which he served between 1931 and 1942.
His first command that can be dated was the George E. Badger, an old flush-deck destroyer converted into a small seaplane tender. A compilation of commanding officers lists him in her from 9 July 1942 to 22 April 1943. He was thirty-five. The sources examined here do not describe her work under him.
The David W. Taylor had been launched on 4 July 1942 at Chickasaw, Alabama, and was commissioned on 18 September 1943 with Lieutenant Commander W. H. Johnsen in command. He was thirty-six. The ship was named for Rear Admiral David W. Taylor, who had died in 1940. She escorted a convoy from Charleston, South Carolina, to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 20 January 1944. Three days later she sailed to screen a support convoy to the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, returning on 29 February. After escorting the carrier Intrepid to San Francisco she patrolled in the Marshalls from April until 12 May.
From 15 June to 4 August 1944 she served in the screen of escort carriers and fleet oilers supporting the Marianas operation. On 4 July she and the destroyer escort Riddle attacked and sank the Japanese submarine I-10, according to the Navy's ship history. Johnsen's Legion of Merit citation, awarded by the Commander in Chief, Pacific, in July 1945, is more modest than the ship history: "While on station as an anti-submarine screen of a Task Group, his ship was ordered to assist a fellow ship which had made underwater sound contact. He promptly proceeded to the vicinity and gained immediate sound contact upon a submerged submarine. He then effectively and skillfully maneuvered his ship and made a deliberate depth charge attack. Thereafter sound contact could not be regained even though a thorough and persistent search was made." Debris and oil came to the surface, and the citation calls this "probable sinking." It adds that his "keen judgment and outstanding efficiency were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
In the autumn she joined the Third Fleet, sailing out of Manus to screen the logistics group supporting the carrier raids on the Palaus, and from 29 October she operated from Ulithi. On 22 November she joined the carriers for the air attacks on Luzon. On 29 December 1944 she sailed from Ulithi for the air raids on the Bonin Islands, and on 5 January 1945 she bombarded Chichi Jima.
The Silver Star citation, awarded by Commander Force Area Pacific on 7 March 1945, is the fullest account. He was "participating in operations against strongly defended shore batteries" and "fought his ship gallantly throughout the action, delivering smashing naval bombardments upon formidable shore installations." Penetrating "deep into enemy-home waters," he kept firing on "vital hostile strongholds" until his ship "struck a presumed mine, which demolished a part of the keel, bulkhead and decks and started a fire in the magazine." Remaining "steadfast at his station until directed to retire," the citation says, he "quickly expedited judicious, effective damage-control measures and succeeded in bringing his crippled ship into port." The ship's history gives the time as 07:45, says that the explosion was probably a mine, and records that four men were killed. She reached Saipan under her own power on 7 January. He was thirty-seven years old. The citation uses the word "cool courage in the face of grave peril." The records examined here give no further account of what he did or said on the bridge, and no action report in his words was found.
The ship went on to Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, California, for repairs from 13 February to 7 May 1945. During that time, on 23 February, a compilation of commanding officers records, Commander Francis O. Fletcher Jr. relieved him. He had commanded the ship for seventeen months.
The rest of his career is known in outline. He retired as a rear admiral, according to the Military Times Hall of Valor. The compilations do not give the dates of his promotions after 1942, his later commands, or the year of his retirement. The sources examined here do not name a wife or children.
He died on 18 February 1973, at sixty-five. A later notice has not been found, and the place of death and burial are not recorded in the sources examined here.
What survives of him is the yearbook's picture of a cheerful student with a head for the business side of things and little patience for a textbook, two citations, and a ship. The David W. Taylor was leased to Spain in 1957, served in the Spanish navy as Almirante Ferrándiz, and was stricken in 1987.