DEWEY G. JOHNSTON, LT, USN
Dewey Johnston '34
Lucky Bag
From the 1934 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Dewey was lost when USS Reuben James (DD 245) sunk by a torpedo attack from German submarine U-552 near Iceland on October 31, 1941. He was survived by his parents, Albert and Mary.
Obituary
From Find A Grave:
11/1/1941- The Daily Oklahoman
Lieut. Dewey G. Johnston, 31 year old son of Mr & Mrs Albert Johnston, Amber, Grady County, who was listed among the officers of the torpedoed destroyer Reuben James, still missing Friday night, had been on the Reuben James more than 3 years, his mother said. He had been in Iceland in September and October. The last letter the Johnstons received, however, was postmarked Portland, Maine. Johnston, listed by the navy department as one of the seven officers on the ship, was a native of Newcastle.
He attended high school in Amber and was appointed to the naval academy in Annapolis in 1929, being graduated in 1934. Before his service on the Reuben James, he had been assigned to the cruiser Chicago and the battleship Arkansas. He also attended the U.S. Naval finance and supply school in Philadelphia before joining the staff of the destroyer.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
July 1936
Ensign, USS Yarnall
September 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Finance and Supply School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Others at this command:
January 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Finance and Supply School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Others at this command:
July 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Reuben James
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Reuben James
June 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Reuben James
Others at this command:
November 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Reuben James
Others at this command:
April 1941
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Reuben James
Others at this command:
Class of 1934
Dewey is one of 41 members of the Class of 1934 on Virtual Memorial Hall.