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LCDR Abele was born on July 11 1903 and went down with his ship, the USS Grunion SS-216 on July 30,1942 near the entrance to Kiska Harbor, Alaska. The Grunion was sunk by the armed Japanese freighter Kano Maru.
LCDR Abele was authorized to wear the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart. In August 06, with information supplied by a remarkable Japanese gentleman, Yutaka Iwasaki, and help from numerous other sources, the Abele brothers initiated a search for the USS Grunion, their dad’s sub, lost since 1942. Using the services of Williamson Associates and a side scan sonar they found a target near the tip of the Aleutian chain, almost a mile down that was about the right length and breadth and that appeared to have an appendage called a prop guard characteristic of that class of submarines.
(Please look at the above website for many pictures and more informaiton about he search and the Abele Family)
In addition they were able to locate the three Japanese wrecks in the area so it seems unlikely that there is confusion between wrecks.
On the 23d of August the 2007 Search team lead by John performed the first of two dives at a location based on data from last year’s sonar search. The goals were to:
1.Find last year’s target
2.Confirm that it was the Grunion
3.Determine what caused the sinking.
The first two were accomplished. Although they did not find a plaque that says "USS Grunion" nor the numbers 216, the presence and style of the prop guards, the style of the conning tower arrangement, the fact that it was the only American sub lost in that area, and the precision of the predicted location are overwhelming evidence that it was the Grunion.
LCDR Abele has a memorial stone in Sec E of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington VA. He also is listed on one of the Tablets of the Missing in the Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, HI. (See the other page on LCDR Abele)
Thanks to Charles Hinman for photos and information.
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