The most ably commanded destroyer of Taffy III, JOHNSTON was repeatedly referenced by the Japanese as a "heavy cruiser." She was credited as the first ship of Taffy III to attack Centre Force and charged the four ships of Cruiser Division Seven at 30 knots. After launching a full spread of ten torpedoes, the heavy cruiser HIJMS KUMANO was hit and put out of action. Aggressively screening the escort carriers throughout the entire morning, JOHNSTON finally sank with a loss of 186 men.
