The discovery of a 100-year-old shipwreck site last year did more than resolve the question of where the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McCulloch was buried.

It unearthed a web of personal stories behind the 1917 collision.

Among them: the lost tale of John Arvid Johansson, who lies in an unmarked grave in San Pedro’s Harbor View Cemetery.

“There was such an amazing connection to San Pedro in this whole story,” said Robert Schwemmer, who served as the chief scientist on the discovery mission that was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Coast Guard.

The wreckage of the McCulloch was located last fall but was just announced on June 13, the century anniversary of when the ship went down following a collision at Point Conception off Santa Barbara County.

The vessel, which earlier served in the Spanish-American War and had been on its way from San Pedro to San Francisco to be outfitted with bigger guns for its role in patrolling the coast during World War I, collided in heavy fog with the passenger steamship SS Governor on June 13, 1917.

It took all of about 35 minutes for the ship to sink.

While the 90 crew members were all successfully evacuated to the Governor and survived the initial crash, Johansson, the ship’s water tender whose bunk was located at the collision point, died three days later at San Pedro Hospital from the injuries he sustained.

And it was Johansson’s story that captivated the imagination of Schwemmer, the West Coast regional maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Piecing together a tale

Tapping into local archives that included newspaper accounts of the incident, the Santa Clarita resident began researching Johansson’s story, a process that eventually led him to the town’s historic cemetery at 24th Street and Grand Avenue.

“He was brought back to San Pedro and put in the hospital, where he died three days later, on June 16 (1917),” Schwemmer said. Johansson, a Scandinavian who lived in San Pedro, was 38 years old. His mother in Finland received his pension following his death.

“He was buried on June 19.”

But where?

“He was buried at a ‘cemetery in San Pedro’ is all we knew,” Schwemmer said. “I wasn’t getting anywhere finding a grave.”

An Internet search led to a telephone call to the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, which manages Harbor View Cemetery.

“Sure enough, there was a Johansson buried there on June 19 (1917). I thought that’s got to be my guy,” Schwemmer said.

But, as it turned out, there was more to the story.

A family tie

After giving one of his several public presentations about the discovery of the McCulloch wreckage, Schwemmer received a call from Bill Dean of Oregon.

According to a story conveyed to Dean by his grandmother years ago, it was his grandfather, McCulloch crew member Charles Lester Mahoney, who was assigned to the bunk where Johansson sustained the injuries that later caused his death.

Mahoney arrived at the ship late and his bunk already had been reassigned to Johansson. So Mahoney got on board as part of the crew without his regular bunk assignment and was on deck when the collision occurred.

He’s the only family connection to a crew member who has surfaced so far, said Schwemmer, who dug up some old news articles about the event.

From the San Pedro Daily News on June 18, 1917, the A1 banner headline was: “Coast Guard ship M’Culloch cut down in fog: All on board saved and only one man hurt in collision.”

Johansson’s funeral was covered in one local paper, noting that services were provided by the Moose Lodge, of which Johansson was a member, and drew a crowd of “shipmates, comrades from other naval vessels in the city, officers under whom the sailor had served and a representative gathering of the city folks who left their business to pay this token of respect to the sailor.”

The 10 a.m. funeral service also included “a score of motor cars,” the news account said, after a call went out to the community for automobiles to be provided for the occasion. “Floral offerings were profuse, the casket being covered with blossoms …”

Caring for the crew

Schwemmer said he was struck by how the town came together to care for — and pay tribute to — the men of the McCulloch.

“Here you had this simple water tender and the community of San Pedro said we’re going to take care of this guy,” he said.

And the hospitality didn’t stop there.

The crew was given accommodations at the local women’s club, according to another news account with the headline “Sailor men in Womans Club house.”

“With cots spread about the great room,” the article stated, “the Woman’s Club house has been transformed from the gathering place of the owning body to a barracks for the shipwrecked sailors.”

The connection Schwemmer made with Johansson’s life and death left a personal impact, and he’s launched an effort to create a gravestone so that the sailor’s resting place no longer will be anonymous.

“We have this part of the history now and my dream is to get a headstone here,” Schwemmer said, adding that fundraising will be part of the effort.

Earlier this week, Dean and Schwemmer made a pilgrimage to the cemetery where Johansson lies and where Dean’s grandfather, who died in a motorcycle accident 10 years before Dean was born, would have stood during his shipmate’s funeral 100 years ago.

“Things could have been different, it could have been my grandfather who lost his life at that point,” Dean said in a four-minute video posted on YouTube. As taps played, he saluted the unmarked grave that has now been marked off by Coast Guard flags.

“It’s an honor to be here today,” Dean said. “It’s pretty emotional, too, almost beyond words.”