By Goya Dmytryshchak
Able Seaman Clearance Diver Ben Johnson is the third generation of his family to join the navy.
Born and raised in Altona, the Royal Australian Navy sailor recently returned to his home suburb from Sydney for a photo shoot on the beach with a replica of his father’s diving helmet.
“I just wanted a photo that tied together my job in the navy, but also back home,” he said.
“My dad, Mike Johnson, was in the Merchant Navy in the UK and then he moved to Australia in the ’70s with my mum.
“My grandfather, George Laurence, was in the Royal Navy in England and he came over and joined the Australian Navy.”
Mr Johnson’s job last year saw him dive at the USS Arizona memorial site in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
“Diving on the Arizona was a very special experience that I was lucky enough to do while deployed on exercise in Hawaii, and one of the highlights of my career to date,” he said.
More than 1000 World War II servicemen were entombed in the wreck when the ship was bombed by the Japanese Navy in December 1941.
“As a clearance diver we do all the specialty diving in the Navy,” Mr Johnson said.
“At the moment I am posted at the Maritime Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit.”
Mr Johnson’s parents and his grandmother, who migrated from the UK with his grandfather, still live in Altona.
