How Parks Stephenson’s passion for naval history led him to Baton Rouge

From exploring the Titanic’s ruins at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean to planning the USS Kidd’s restoration in Baton Rouge, Parks Stephenson’s fascination with ships has no geographic limits.​

After serving 20 years in the Navy, Stephenson transitioned to working in the aerospace industry in San Diego, but he never gave up his passion for naval history.

This passion, once just a hobby, led to an opportunity that very few get to experience. Stevenson connected with James Cameron, the director of Titanic, and shared the research he had conducted on the infamous shipwreck. Equipped with curiosity and deep historical knowledge, Stevenson was recruited as the technical advisor for a  TV film Cameron was working on. And in 2005, the two dove over 3,000 meters underwater to the Titanic.

“My passion was in the side gig, which I did whenever I could,” Stephenson says. “Diving on the Titanic and working for Cameron got me the attention of other people who introduced me to diving on other ships.”

Stephenson’s favorite ship is the USS Johnston, an American destroyer deployed in World War II. In 1944, the Johnston outmaneuvered a much larger Japanese fleet but was sunk in the process. Eventually, Stephenson’s interest in the ship evolved into a project. He was recruited to work on a film about the Johnston, which had not yet been discovered. In 2021, he discovered the ship, then the deepest shipwreck ever found.

He says that this dive was special compared to his others. “Of all the wrecks that I’ve been on, Johnston is the one that got me personally,” he says. “Titanic didn’t do it, some other ones that I’ve been on haven’t, but Johnston got me. I can’t explain it; it just did. “

In preparation for his dive to the Johnston, the researcher traveled to Baton Rouge to board the docked USS Kidd, the Johnston’s sister ship. Stephenson says the two vessels were basically interchangeable, so he studied the Kidd to become familiar with the layout.

​Then, in 2022, Stephenson received a call suggesting he apply for the executive director position at the USS Kidd Veterans Museum, which housed the ship that was so important to his journey. He and his wife packed up their home in California and traveled south.

The Kidd has meant a lot to Stephenson both personally and professionally. This is clear from his work to help restore and properly display the ship. Last year,  the ship received a massive overhaul, with upgrades that should endure for another 40 to 60 years, according to Stephenson.

Stephenson believes his connection to the Kidd was no coincidence. “Finding the deepest wreck in the ocean is part work and research. The rest of it is luck,” he says. “If you were meant to find it, you’ll find it. And I was meant to find Johnston, and then the call came to take her sister ship, Kidd. I couldn’t turn that down.”

This article was originally published in the July 2026 issue of 225 Magazine.