Memorial: USS Grunion SS-216 Ohio WWII Lost Boat Memorial
USS Grunion SS-216 Ohio WWII Lost Boat Memorial
USS Grunion SS-216 Memorial Stone in Ohio Reserve National Cemetery, Seville, OH
Description
Ohio's Lost Boat is the USS Grunion SS-216. It has a memorial Stone in the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 1 March 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 22 December 1941; Commissioned USS Grunion (SS-216), 11 April 1942; Final Disposition, last report 30 July 1942, reported overdue from patrol off Kiska Island, Alaska, 5 October 1942, all hands assumed lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 2 November 1942. Grunion received one battle star for World War II service. Newpaper article says the Grunion has been found http://www.ussgrunion.com/ 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 Search 07 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 other pages on LCDR Abele) Thanks to Charles Hinman for photos and information.
Location
Address:
Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery 10175 Rawiga Road Seville OH 44270
Website:
http://www.ussgrunion.com/searchteam.html
Phone:
Phone: (330) 335-3069
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USS Grunions SS-2126 at Sea
Radar photo of the USS Grunion as found by the USS Grunion Search Team in Aug 2006 and Confirmed Aug 2007
a Memorial
