So its confirmed the wreck is USS Johnston ?

Shebadotfr said:

So its confirmed the wreck is USS Johnston ?

She was shot to pieces and suffered a depth charge explosion on the way down. The extensive wreckage discovered pretty much confirms that it's indeed Johnston.

Moving back to the picture itself, it's very heart-warming. A daughter finally returning from a difficult war, and in time for Thanksgiving, even.

I don't get this "return home" thing. It's not like they will be refloated or dismantled, then taken back to their country of origin. As far as I know they stay as sunk as they were before, except by some memento civilians aren't allowed to retrieve.

rom_collector said:

I don't get this "return home" thing. It's not like they will be refloated or dismantled, then taken back to their country of origin. As far as I know they stay as sunk as they were before, except by some memento civilians aren't allowed to retrieve.

I feel it's under the same umbrella of finding the killer in a long-cold murder case. It doesn't bring back the murdered, but it brings closure, and that relaxing of tension has often been artistically represented as the spirit "finally coming home," also sometimes "finally crossing over to [the spirit world of choice]." Shipgirls are also commonly represented as the spiritual manifestation of the warship, some even going so far as to suppose that the Abyssals are restless ship spirits and are "put to rest" so the can "come home" to the human naval base or vice-versa.

rom_collector said:

I don't get this "return home" thing. It's not like they will be refloated or dismantled, then taken back to their country of origin. As far as I know they stay as sunk as they were before, except by some memento civilians aren't allowed to retrieve.

Basically, the ship and her crews were lost at sea. So when we find them, we welcome them back.

OOZ662 said:

I feel it's under the same umbrella of finding the killer in a long-cold murder case. It doesn't bring back the murdered, but it brings closure, and that relaxing of tension has often been artistically represented as the spirit "finally coming home," also sometimes "finally crossing over to [the spirit world of choice]." Shipgirls are also commonly represented as the spiritual manifestation of the warship, some even going so far as to suppose that the Abyssals are restless ship spirits and are "put to rest" so the can "come home" to the human naval base or vice-versa.

Or finding long lost war dead.

People who are lost at sea generally remain lost. I'm sure the retrieval of the dead, even war-time allowing, is something that is preferred to be handled, but even when that is the case, they're probably going to put them right back in the water after a ceremony. Even when they're not particularly related to the sea, personally or professionally.

When a ship is lost at sea, the sea swallows it whole along with any dead still aboard. It's like it just disappears. There's no grave, no body. It's surreal. Finding the wreckage of Johnston brings closure. Seeing her emerge from the nether at the bottom of the sea, brings us back to that day so long ago. She was here. And she's still there.

On October 30, 2019, after seventy-five years and five days, a heroine came home.