Crew of USS Grunion honoured

Antipodean Andy · Aug 17, 2008

World War II sailors' survivors no longer adrift | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Don Reid was only a boy when his older cousin joined the U.S. Navy and then disappeared when his submarine, the USS Grunion, sank off the coast of Alaska in July 1942 during World War II.

But he always remembered the friendly, outgoing Seaman 2C Arnold Post, 18, who took him to the movies or ice skating in Midland, where both grew up and Reid still lives.

It's been almost been a year since the sons of the Grunion's commander found the submarine about 3,000 feet below the surface in the Bering Sea, off the Aleutian island of Kiska, finally ending the mystery for Reid and the families of five other Michigan sailors lost when the vessel sank.

And in the months since its Aug. 23 discovery, family members say they've felt relief in finally knowing what happened to the submarine, which was on its maiden voyage. And many are looking forward to a reunion Oct. 11 in Cleveland, where they will meet other Grunion family members to reminisce.

"We now know what happened," said Reid, 73. "For years, he was just missing. He just wasn't there anymore. His mother never believed he was dead, though.

"She always expected him to come home." Six Michiganders were on the Grunion: Post; Torpedo's Mate 3C Richard McCutcheon, 18, of Detroit; Seaman 2C David Nathaniel Swartwood, 19, of Flint; Seaman 2C Byron Traviss, 17, of Detroit; Seaman 2C Loyal Ryan Jr., 17, of Lansing, and Ensign William Cuthbertson Jr., 27, of Frankenmuth.

Bruce Abele , whose father, Mannert (Jim) Abele, was the commander of the Grunion, launched and funded the search about two years ago with his two brothers. Abele said he thinks the 312-foot submarine lost its depth-control function somehow and sank. The submarine was protecting the harbor near Kiska and had exchanged fire with a Japanese vessel, the Kano Maru.

"In some respects, we started searching the day we learned the Grunion had not been heard from and was missing," said Abele, 78, of Newton, Mass.

Abele was 12 when he heard that his 39-year-old father's submarine was missing. Abele said he never really believed his father, a patriotic man who taught his sons woodworking and discipline, was dead.

"We didn't see him very much," he said. "He was always at sea. So I don't know if I ever believed he wasn't coming home. As a kid, I remember shooting baskets in the driveway. I thought if I could get five in a row, he'd come home.

"But he never did."

That longing for closure haunted many family members of the Grunion crew.

Mary Bentz, whose uncle perished on the Grunion, worked with three other women, called sub ladies, to find family members for all 70 of the Grunion's crew. The last one, Barbara Larish, was found one day after the Grunion was located. Larish of Dearborn was a first-cousin-by-marriage to Traviss, nicknamed Buck.

"As long as people are remembered, they are never really dead," said Bentz, who lives in Maryland.

Although he says he never met his uncle, Col. Bob Swartwood, now 60, a U.S. Army Reserves military police officer on his second tour in Iraq, said he felt joy and peace when the Grunion was found. He regrets, however, that none of his uncle's siblings or parents were alive to get the news.

"I grew up with the agony of what families go through when someone doesn't return from war and is unaccounted for," he wrote in an e-mail from Iraq. "There was a constant, deep sorrow that you could witness every time David's name was brought up. He was the baby of the family and obviously very well-loved and missed.

"I believe that being informed of a military death within a family is easier to accept than the agonizing years of not knowing whether the person is dead or alive and abandoned somewhere."
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Kyt · Aug 18, 2008

Rge website for the search team is full of interesting bits:

Search for the USS Grunion - Lost WWII Submarine near Kiska Alaska

Antipodean Andy · Oct 5, 2008

Navy Confirms Sunken Submarine Is Grunion

Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced October 2 that a sunken vessel off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216).

The submarine Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942. The vessel completed pre-patrol training before departing on its first war patrol June 30. Grunion's commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Abele, was ordered to proceed to the Aleutian Islands and patrol westward from Attu on routes between the Aleutians and the Japanese Empire. On July 10, Grunion was reassigned to the area north of Kiska. Over the next 20 days, the submarine reported firing on an enemy destroyer, sinking three destroyer-type vessels, and attacking unidentified enemy ships near Kiska.

Grunion's last transmission was received on July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy antisubmarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. There was no contact or sighting of the submarine after July 30, and on August 16, Grunion was reported lost.

"I am honored to announce that, with records and information provided by the Abele family and assistance from the Naval Historical Center, USS Grunion has been located," said McAneny. "We are very grateful to the family of Grunion's Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele for providing the underwater video footage and pictures that allowed us to make this determination. We also appreciate the efforts of the USS Cod Submarine Memorial for their assistance in this matter. We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion."

Abele was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for heroism. A destroyer, USS Mannert L. Abele (DD 733), was commissioned in his honor, and was later lost in action off Okinawa in 1945. Japanese anti-submarine attack data recorded no attack in the Aleutian area at the time of Grunion's disappearance, so the submarine's fate remained an unsolved mystery for more than 60 years.

After discovering information on the internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location, the sons of Grunion's commanding officer, Bruce, Brad, and John Abele, began working on a plan to find the submarine. In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts hired by the brothers located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean's surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage of a U.S. fleet submarine.

"This discovery has come about through a stream of seemingly improbable events; it's like we won the lottery 10 times in a row," said Bruce Abele, eldest son of Grunion's commanding officer. "It is so dramatic to see the underwater photo and be certain it was in fact Grunion; not only is this announcement important for the families of the crew members, it's also important for the Navy and the country."

The Abele brothers then contacted the USS Cod Submarine Memorial for assistance in identifying the wreckage. The vessel is lying at a depth of about 3,200 feet. Very cold water and lack of significant currents has preserved much of the wreckage.

Dr. John Fakan, director of the USS Cod Submarine Memorial, remarked about the importance of having an unmodified example in USS Cod, a fellow Gato-class submarine, in identifying the wreckage of USS Grunion.

"USS Grunion and USS Cod shared the same blueprints," he said. "It is very gratifying for me and my crew to help with the identification of the submarine."

With the information provided by the Abele family and the USS Cod Submarine Memorial, COMSUBPAC and the Naval Historical Center examined the evidence and historical records and determined that the submarine found at the reported position could only be USS Grunion.

"The synergy of our group working together with the Navy for the common cause has been a wonderful group effort," Bruce Abele said. "The teamwork combined with everyone's compassion and wisdom has resulted in our success."

According to Bruce's brother John Abele, those responsible for contributing to this discovery included historians and engineers from the United States, Australia, Israel and Japan. Of particular note was the involvement of Japanese naval architect Yutaka Iwasaki, who provided information critical to pinpointing the location of the submarine.

Bruce and John's brother, retired Lt. Brad Abele, who recently passed away, also played a significant role in the find. As his brother John explained, "Brad's experience as a Naval aviator helped a great deal by helping us to plot the strategy for the discovery."

Unfortunately, the cause of Grunion's sinking remains a mystery. No matter what the cause, the end result was the loss of all hands. As the Naval Historical Center noted, "no amount of analysis or speculation will change or alter the fact that families lost fathers, husbands, uncles and brothers… the Navy and the nation will always be grateful for their service and their sacrifice."

Former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz once said, "When I assumed command of the Pacific Fleet on 31 December 1941 our submarines were already operating against the enemy, the only units of the Fleet that could come to grips with the Japanese for months to come. It was to the Submarine Force that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of great peril."

By the end of World War II, submarines had made more than 1,600 war patrols. Pacific Fleet submarines like Grunion accounted for more than half of all enemy shipping sunk during the war. The cost of this success was heavy: 52 U.S. Pacific Fleet submarines were lost, and more than 3,500 submariners remain on "eternal patrol."

A representative of the submarine force will speak on behalf of the U.S. Navy at a memorial service in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 11. The service, hosted by the USS Cod Memorial, will honor the 70 crewmembers killed when USS Grunion was sunk near the Aleutian Islands on or about July 30, 1942.

"To provide ourselves and the families this closure, it's icing on the cake," said John Abele. "The memorial service is a symbolic event; we've discovered family we didn't know we had. Not only is this an honor for all of us, it increases the feeling of community we've been able to achieve."
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liverpool annie · Oct 5, 2008

Antipodean Andy said: ↑

Navy Confirms Sunken Submarine Is Grunion
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They were talking about the USS Grunion on the TV the other night ....

Theres a list of casualties on this site !

USS GRUNION

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