USS Grunion (SS-216) - The Search For The Grunion

The Search For The Grunion

In 1998 Lieut. Col. Richard Lane purchased for $1 a wiring diagram from a Japanese cargo ship, the Kano Maru, which had been involved in World War II activities. Later, in an attempt to authenticate the document, Lane posted it on a Japanese naval historical website, asking if anyone could help. He received a reply from a Japanese naval historian, Yutaka Iwasaki, who not only authenticated the document, but suggested that he knew what happened to the Grunion. Lane contacted ComSubPac, and their public affairs officer, Darrel Ames, placed that information on ComSubPac’s Grunion website.

When the Grunion disappeared in 1942, the captain, Lt Cmdr Abele, left behind three sons: Bruce, Brad, and John. For almost 65 years they searched for information about the loss of their father’s submarine.

A few years after Lane's research, when the Abeles discovered that information, they were able to contact Yutaka Iwasaki, who provided them with a translated article by the military commander of the Kano Maru. He described a confrontation with a submarine near Kiska Island in the Aleutians which took place at the time the Grunion was reported missing.

A few years after the Yutaka discovery, John Abele, who was cofounder of Boston Scientific, had an opportunity to meet Robert Ballard. Dr. Ballard provided the Abeles with an introduction to the process of finding a wrecked submarine; John Abele then decided to fund an expedition in an attempt to find the Grunion.

In 2006, Williamson Associates, using side-scan sonar, located a promising target that was almost exactly at the location indicated by the commander of the Kano Maru, one which had many other characteristics of a wrecked submarine.

In 2007, using a ROV, DSSI/Oceaneering returned to the site, and took video recordings of the imploded remains of a submarine, one which had markings in English, and propeller guards and limber holes identical to those on the Grunion. In 2008, the U.S. Navy acknowledged that the find was, in fact, the Grunion.

Although there is no absolute certainty the evidence strongly suggests that the Grunion was lost as a result of horrific torpedo performance in the confrontation with the Kano Maru. One torpedo ran low, but despite the magnetic pistol it did not explode; two others bounced off the Kano Maru without exploding. The last one circled back, hitting the periscope supports on the submerged submarine without exploding.

That event, coupled with a jammed rear dive plane, triggered a sequence of events that led to loss of depth control. At about 1000 feet the sub would have imploded, then hit the bottom, breaking off about 50 feet of the bow. It then slid 2/3 mile down the side of an extinct volcano, finally coming to rest on a notch on the underwater mountain.