USS Grunion:

After shakedown out of New London, Grunion sailed for the Pacific on 24 May. A week later, as she transited the Caribbean Sea for Panama, she rescued 16 survivors of USAT Jack, which had been torpedoed by a German U-boat, and she conducted a fruitless search for 13 other survivors presumed in the vicinity. Arriving at Coco Solo on 3 June, Grunion deposited her shipload of survivors and continued to Pearl Harbor, arriving 20 June.

Departing Hawaii on 30 June after ten days of intensive training, Grunion touched Midway Island before heading toward the Aleutian Islands for her first war patrol. Her first report, made as she patrolled north of Kiska Island, stated she had been attacked by a Japanese destroyer and had fired at him with inconclusive results. She operated off Kiska throughout July and sank two enemy patrol boats while in search for enemy shipping. On 30 July the submarine reported intensive antisubmarine activity, and she was ordered back to Dutch Harbor.

Grunion was never heard from nor seen again. Air searches off Kiska were fruitless; and on 5 October Grunion was reported overdue from patrol and assumed lost with all hands. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 November 1942. Captured Japanese records show no antisubmarine attacks in the Kiska area, and the fate of Grunion remained a mystery for 65 years until discovery in the Bering Sea in August 2007 of a wreck believed to be the ship. In October, 2008, the U.S. Navy verified that the wreck is the Grunion.^[5] The reason for her sinking is still a mystery.

The Web site[1] (maintained by the Public Affairs Office of Commander Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC)) states that Yutaka Iwasaki, "a gentelman [sic] in Japan," had a Web site with information about Japanese ships sunk during World War II. The numerous misspellings, bad syntax, and incorrect grammar make COMSUBPAC Public Affairs Office's description of the site difficult to understand (and contrast sharply with the preceding Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry). However, it is possible that on the morning of 31 July 1942 a troop transport was attacked by Grunion. Only one of the four torpedoes hit and detonated, and Grunion surfaced to finish her target by gunfire. However, Kano Maru returned fire with her own three-inch deck gun and .50-caliber machine guns. Allegedly, a single shell hit on Grunion's conning tower sank her.

The search for the Grunion

Lt. Cmdr Abele left behind three sons, Bruce, John, and Brad, when the Grunion disappeared in 1942. For years, they engaged in a search for the final resting place of the ship. The search had been mostly funded by John Abele, founder of Boston Scientific, who began funding it personally after discussion with Robert Ballard (who declined to take part). The search was conducted mostly around the Aleutian Islands, an extremely volatile part of the sea.

In 2002, with Iwasaki's translation in hand, the search took on a new vigor, and with the enthusiastic cooperation of Japanese officials and veterans, the Abele brothers also began to search for several lost Japanese subchasers, SC-25 and SC-27, and the destroyer Arare, all of which sank in the same area.

In August 2006, an expedition led by Williamson & Associates onboard the ship Aquila, relayed sonar images to Bruce Abele. The images depicted a "smooth, oblong object with features that could be a conning tower and periscope mast."^[6] Subsequent imaging passes have revealed more detail about the object that could be the long-lost USS Grunion.

On 22 August 2007 USS Grunion was found by the search team in the Bering Sea off the coast of the Aleutians in about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) of water.^[7]^[8] The findings have been confirmed by the U.S. Navy as of Oct. 3, 2008.^[9]^[5]^[10] A memorial service was held in Cleveland, Ohio at the USS Cod on Saturday, October 11, 2008.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, pp. 285-304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, pp. 271–273. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
^ ^a ^b "U.S. Navy Confirms Lost WWII Sub Found Off Aleutians". via AP. Fox News (2008-10-03). Retrieved on 2008-10-03.
^ Ranalli, Ralph (20006-08-16). "After six decades, a submarine's fate may surface". Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
^ "Search for the USS Grunion". USS Grunion.com (2007). Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
^ Jeannette J. Lee (October 5, 2006). "Shadowy Object May Be Lost Submarine", The Washington Post.
^ Associated press (October 3, 2008). "Navy confirms lost WWII sub USS Grunion has been found in water off Aleutians Islands", Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
^ Drake, John C., "Relatives Honor Submarine Crew", Boston Globe, October 6, 2008.

USS Grunion

The search for the Grunion

References

External links