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The wreck of the USS Grayback, a
World War II submarine, has been found off the coast of Japan 75 years after
its sinking by a Japanese bomber. Records indicate that the sub and its
80-member crew were sunk by a 500-pound bomb dropped in February 1944.
The submarine was found on June 5,
by the Lost 52 Project, which locates lost U.S. World War II submarines.
In a statement translated from
Japanese, the Lost 52 Project explained that the USS Grayback (SS-208) is the
first U.S. submarine discovered off the coast of Japan.
Japanese records indicate that the
sub was sunk by a 500-pound bomb dropped by a naval bomber in February 1944.
The bomb hit aft of the Grayback’s conning tower and the sub sank with the loss
of her 80-strong crew.
The
exploration team used an undersea drone to locate the Tambor-class sub, which
lies at a depth of 1,427 feet, 50 nautical miles south of Okinawa. The sub’s deck
gun was located 384 feet away
The USS Grayback was launched on
Jan. 31, 1941, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command
and quickly earned a fearsome reputation in the Pacific Theater. During 10 war
patrols, it sank 14 enemy vessels, including Japanese submarines,
totaling 63,835 tons of shipping. In January 1943, the sub’s
crew also rescued six downed U.S. aviators from Munda in the Solomon Islands,
for which her commanding officer was awarded the Navy Cross.
The wreck of the USS Grayback was
found 50 nautical miles south of Okinawa. (Ocean Outreach/Lost 52
Project/YouTube)
In the statement, Lost 52 Project
founder Tim Taylor described the discovery as “absolutely amazing.” The
research team, he explained, was analyzing some of the final pieces of the
sonar data that they had collected when they spotted what proved to be the USS
Grayback lying on the ocean floor.
Taylor is also the CEO of Tiburon Subsea, which
provides underwater technology equipment and is also the founder of
exploration organization, Ocean Outreach. 
Japanese historian Hiroshi Iwasaki
also played a crucial role in the discovery. The expert retranslated a primary
record of the Grayback’s sinking and found that the longitude differed from a
record created in 1946. Armed with the new coordinates, the Lost 52 Project was
able to target the area where the wreck was subsequently found.
The USS Grayback is the fifth sub
discovered by the Lost 52 Project. Earlier this year, the team located the bow of World
War II submarine USS Grunion 77 years after the sub went missing off the remote
Aleutian Islands in Alaska on her first war patrol.
The discovery provides closure for
the families of the USS Grayback’s crew. “[Seventy-five] year old mystery
solved and families of 80 Sailors have closure: USS Grayback has been found,”
tweeted the Naval History and Heritage Command on Sunday.
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An amazing discovery to be sure.
Until next time,
Fair winds,
old Salt
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