All Hands Lost by Darryn Carroll             Nautical Disasters & Mysteries at Sea

Home     Purchase     About Author     News     Reviews     Video Promo

Authorized seller of Remember Productions “The Search For The U.S.S. Grunion”

USS GRUNION (SS 216)

All Hands Lost

The submarine GRUNION arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20 1942, reporting for duty from the West Coast. This vessel engaged in the pre-patrol training given to all submarines reporting from new construction yards, and on 30 June, left for patrol.

Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele from Newton Ma, in command, was ordered to proceed to the Aleutian Theater and patrol westward from Attu on routes between theAleutians and the Japanese Empire. On July 10 Grunion was reassigned to the area north of Kiska. Grunion made her first report on July 15: Dutch Harborreceived her message that she was attacked by an enemy destroyer and had fired three torpedoes towards the destroyer but missed with all.

Shortly after this message was received Grunion sent another relating that she had sunk three destroyer-type vessels on July 15. This message was garbled to the extent that details of the attacks were never learned (Japanese information reveals that Grunion sank patrol boats 25 and 27 and damaged a third patrol vessel). On July 19 Grunion, S-32, Triton and Tuna were assigned areas in the approaches to Kiska, all to be there by daylight July 22.

There was a strong concentration of enemy vessels at Kiska, this time being only a month and a half after the enemy had taken that island. The vessels patrolling there were told to watch particularly on the afternoon of July 22 1942 for departing enemy naval vessels, since our own surface forces were scheduled to bombard Kiska that afternoon. The bombardment did not take place in accordance with the original plans, but our forces did stage the operation on July 28 and Grunion was told to guard the exits from Kiska during darkness on this date. On this day Grunion reported an attack on unidentified enemy ships six miles southeast of Sirius Point, Kiska. She had fired two torpedoes, made no hits, and been depth charged, but sustained no damage.

Grunion's last transmission was received July 30 1942. She reported heavy antisubmarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that she had ten torpedoes remaining. On the same day, Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor. She was not contacted or sighted after July 30, despite every effort to do so, and on August 16 was reported lost. Planes observing the approaches to Kiska for indications of enemy salvage operations in connection with Grunion reported negatively.

Japanese antisubmarine attack data available now record no attack in the Aleutian area at this time, and Grunion's fate remains an unsolved mystery. We know of no enemy minefields which were in her area; thus her loss may be presumed to have been operational or as a result of an unrecorded enemy attack.

Grunion Update 2007
On Wednesday August 22 2007, Bruce Abele and his 2 brothers may have discovered the remains of the USS Grunion, culminating a five-year search led by the sons of its commander, Mannert Abele, and may finally shine a light on the mysterious last moments of the doomed vessel.
A remotely operated vehicle snapped pictures and captured three hours of video footage of the Grunion on a rocky underwater slope north of the volcanic island, according to another brother, John Abele, who was in Kiska Harbor with the search team on Thursday.
The submarine lies 1,000 feet below the surface and had been crushed by water pressure, said Abele, the youngest of the three brothers. "The most surprising thing was the damage," he said. "It was much more than we or anyone else imagined. Initially it was very hard to recognize as a ship." The hull had imploded so severely that the interior, including bunks and a dive wheel, were clearly visible, Abele said. No identifying markings or lettering could be seen, however, the location and appearance of the vessel indicate it is the missing sub.

Click Here to visit the official Search For USS Grunion web site with many updates and blog.

Official web site of All Hands Lost, all rights reserved

Copyright @ 2007-2008 by Darryn Carroll