After nearly 70 years of waiting, the families of the 70 crewmembers of the submarine USS Grunion that disappeared not long after her departure from Pearl Harbor on June 30, 1942 finally have closure. The US Navy confirmed her wreckage today.
On August 16, 1942, the USS Grunion and its 70 crewmen were declared lost. Nearly 70 years later, the United States Navy has confirmed that the wreckage of an unknown vessel found last year is in fact that of the Grunion.
Her final communication and journey was described in
Wikipedia:
Departing Hawaii on 30 June after ten days of intensive training, Grunion touched Midway Island; then headed 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.
The submarine was never heard from again.
The three sons of the subs commanding officer, Lt. Commander Mannert L. Abele searched for years and during an expedition of new territory in 2006, sonar revealed an object that had features of a submarine. A year later, a search team found the wreckage of a vessel in about 1,000 meters of water in the Bering Sea off the coast of the Aleutian Islands off of Alaska and according to a
news report, it is indeed the USS Grunion.
After decades of wondering and supposedly hundreds of thousands of personal finances expended, families of those who were reported lost at sea can now have closure. How she met her fate exactly is still a mystery.
