By DeAhna Brown

Prince Algernon Johnson was born on January 14, 1896, to his mother Emma Johnson, and his father. He was born and raised in Franklin, Virginia, and then went off to school after graduation. He attended Norfolk Mission College. Norfolk Mission College is now Norfolk State University and he transferred to Howard University for Dental school in 1916. He was a freshman when he enlisted in the Navy.

Johnson enlisted on December 6, 1917, which is just after his first semester at Howard. He entered as a Petty Officer 2nd Class as a result of his previous schooling. He was a mess attendant/cabin steward which now known as a culinary specialist in the Navy. When he joined the Navy, he was stationed in Norfolk before he went out to sea on the U.S.S. Lakemoor (also Lake Moore). On April 11, 1918, Lake Moore was on a voyage from Newport News, Virginia to Glasgow, Germany. The ship arrived March 24, 1918, to Lamlash, Scotland for duty during World War I. While on this voyage a German submarine UB-64 sunk the ship by a torpedo. The ship was 2.75 miles off Corsewall Point Light shore and 46 persons were lost, including 5 officers and 41 sailors.

Sources:

Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Howard University, District of Columbia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalogue_of_the_Officers_and_Students_o/P5pIAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=prince+algernon+johnson+howard+university&pg=RA2-PA265&printsec=frontcover

Norfolk Historical Society (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.historicforrest.com/norfolkHistoricalSociety/highlights/59.html

American Ship Casualties of the World War. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/american-ship-casualties-world-war.html

Report. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/

SS Lakemoor [+1918]. Retrieved from https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?30969

DeAhna Brown is a student at Norfolk State University.