Search for World War II submarine USS Grunion

Commissioned on April 11, 1942, the submarine USS Grunion (SS-216) was lost on her first war patrol. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mannert L. "Jim" Abele, Grunion sank two Japanese ships while patrolling near Kiska Island. Shortly thereafter the U.S. Navy lost all contact, following her last report on July 30, 1942. Lieutenant Commander Abele was among the crew of 70 that was never heard from again. Now Abele's three sons have mounted an expedition to the fridge seas hear Kiska Island in search of their father's lost sub. The brothers have contracted a Seattle-based ocean-surveying firm to go search the waters near Kiska Island with side-scan sonar. Financing for the project came primarily from John Abele, who became wealthy after founding Boston Scientific Corp., a manufacturer of medical equipment. The family declines to say how much the expedition has cost. The sonar scanning, done from a crab fishing boat, had gone on for two weeks with no luck. Meanwhile Bruce Abele waited at home in suburban Boston. Then he received an email from Art Wright, the leader of the search team stating: "We found a submarine-shaped hard target about 320 feet long and 12 meters wide. On a low altitude pass, the shadow reveals a possible conning tower and periscope. Target is sitting upright on the bottom at the base of the slope in [over 2,000 feet] water depth. "Considering all the information we have, this is almost certainly the Grunion." The sonar image shows a vessel the same size as the Grunion. The location is right, and there are no other wrecks of similar size in the area. But after 64 years of not knowing what happened to Grunion, Bruce Abele says they would like to be certain. They hope another expedition can go next August, when the weather is the least hostile, perhaps to send a small robotic submarine to explore the site.

Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey, Daring World War II Submarine Skipper, Dies at 93

By Richard Goldstein - the New York Times

Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey, one of America’s most daring submarine commanders of World War II and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, died Thursday (June 28, 2007) in Annapolis, Md. He was 93. The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter, Barbara Bove, said.

Fluckey (photo above), the skipper of the submarine USS Barb (SS-220) in the Pacific from April 1944 to August 1945, Commander Fluckey was known for innovative tactics. He was the only American submarine skipper to fire rockets at Japanese targets on shore and he oversaw a sabotage raid in which sailors from his submarine blew up a Japanese train. In addition to receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, he was awarded four Navy Crosses, his service’s second-highest decoration. The Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee, which provided final, official tallies for World War II submarine attacks, credited him with destroying 95,360 tons of Japanese shipping, the highest total for any American submarine commander. According to his own findings, based on his 10 years of post-war research, the Barb sank about 145,000 tons under his command during five extended periods at sea. He was credited by military authorities with sinking 16 Japanese ships and taking part with two other skippers in a 17th sinking, the fourth-highest total among America’s World War II submarine commanders. By his own accounting, he sank 28 ships and took part in a 29th sinking. In September 1944, the Barb sank the 20,000-ton Japanese aircraft carrier Unyo together with an 11,000-ton Japanese tanker in the same torpedo salvo.

Richard O’Kane (USS Tang), also a Medal of Honor recipient, ranked No. 1 in sinkings, with 24, but No. 2 behind Commander Fluckey in tonnage destroyed, according to the joint assessment unit, whose post-war findings generally differed from submarine commanders’ reports filed in the aftermath of combat. Telling of the Barb’s attacks on Japanese shipping early in 1945, Clay Blair Jr. wrote in the book “Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan” that when Commander Fluckey brought his submarine back to Pearl Harbor, “he was greeted with a red carpet." "His endorsements were ecstatic. One stated, ‘The Barb is one of the finest fighting submarines this war has ever known.’ ” Eugene Bennett Fluckey was born in Washington on October 5, 1913. When he was 10, he was impressed with a radio speech by President Calvin Coolidge stressing persistence as a prime ingredient for success. He named his dog Calvin Coolidge, and inspired by the admonition to excel, he finished high school at age 15. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1935 and served on the submarine Bonita in the early years of World War II before commanding the Barb and taking as his motto “we don’t have problems, just solutions.” He was awarded the Medal of Honor for the Barb’s attacks on Japanese ships between December 1944 and February 1945 in waters off the eastern coast of occupied China and was cited specifically for the events in the predawn hours of January 23, 1945. The Barb, riding above the surface in shallow, uncharted, mined and rock-obstructed waters, sneaked into a harbor some 250 miles south of Shanghai and scored direct hits on six of the more than 30 Japanese ships there. A large ammunition ship was blown up in the attack, according to the citation. “Clearing the treacherous area at high speed, he brought the Barb through to safety, and four days later sank a large Japanese freighter to complete a record of heroic combat achievement,” the citation said.

In the summer of 1945, the Barb became the first American submarine armed with rockets, and it used them to strike a Japanese air station and several factories. On July 23, 1945, the Barb embarked on a sabotage mission. With the submarine standing 950 yards offshore, eight volunteers, aboard a pair of rubber boats, paddled onto Japanese soil on the southern half of Sakhalin Island under cover of night and planted explosive charges on railroad tracks 400 yards inland. Commander Fluckey had considered giving the crewmen a terse Hollywood-style sendoff, but as he told The New York Times afterward, all he could think of was: “Boys, if you get stuck, head for Siberia, 130 miles north. Following the mountain ranges. Good luck.” The crewmen did not get stuck, and as they paddled back to the Barb, a 16-car train came by, triggering the explosives. The wreckage flew 200 feet in the air. Soon after the war ended, Commander Fluckey became an aide to Navy Secretary James Forrestal and to the chief of naval operations, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, soon after the war’s end. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1960. He commanded American submarine forces in the Pacific and was the director of naval intelligence in the 1960s. He retired from military service in 1972. In addition to his daughter, of Summerfield, Fla., and Annapolis, he is survived by his wife, Margaret; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. His first wife, Marjorie, died in 1979. For all his exploits, Admiral Fluckey said he was most proud of one thing. As he put it in his memoir, “Thunder Below!” (1992): “No one who ever served under my command was awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded or killed, and all of us brought our Barb back safe and sound.”

Aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy to be decommissioned in Florida after 4 decades

By RON WORD (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

March 23, 2007

MAYPORT, Florida - Sailors in blue lined the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) on Friday as guns boomed to commemorate the decommissioning of "Big John" after nearly 40 years of service. Officers gathered in front of a screen displaying a large American flag, and speakers echoed the words of the carrier's namesake, including the famed line from President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." The Kennedy was active in both Iraq wars and launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe during its service. At 1,050 feet (320 meters) long, it carried a crew of about 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft. Lieutenant Commander Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer, born a month before Kennedy's assassination in 1963, served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy. "It's going to be bittersweet," he said. "Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again." The ship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year. The warship's in-port cabin was designed by Jacqueline Kennedy and is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling, officials said. Among its pictures is one showing the president sailing with his daughter. The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.

Chief Petty Officer Aaron Shelenberger, 39, plans to retire shortly after the Kennedy is decommissioned. A native of the Philippines, Shelenberger became a U.S. citizen earlier this month. He sang the U.S. national anthem at a naturalization ceremony aboard the Kennedy when it made its final port call in Boston, the home of the 35th president. "I'm part of history," Shelenberger said. "With the Kennedy, it's special. You are part of the closing of this chapter." One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during the beginning of operations in Afghanistan. Its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds (24,500 kilograms) of bombs on Iraq since the start of the war. The Kennedy, based in Florida since 1995, recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualification. The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment.

July 2006: A team of Russian divers have reported finding the American submarine USS Wahoo (SS-238). Using information obtained from outside sources Russian divers found the wreck of Wahoo. Lost with all hands in October 1943, Wahoo was the pride of the U.S. Pacific submarine fleet. Under the command of Dudley "Mush" Morton, Wahoo became the most famous American submarine in World War II. Sinking 19 Japanese ships, Morton quickly rose to the top in the U.S. sub fleet. Returning from her successful seventh war patrol in the Sea of Japan, Wahoo was attacked and sunk in the narrow La Perouse Strait on October 11, 1943; all 79 men aboard the submarine died, including Commander Dudley Morton. Yeoman Forest J. Sterling was the last man off Wahoo and later wrote the book "Wake of the Wahoo." Of Wahoo's loss, Navy Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr. wrote in his book "Sink 'Em All"; "It just didn't seem possible that Morton and his fighting crew could be lost. I'd never have believed the Japs could be smart enough to get him."

Diving from the sailboat Iskra, the Russian's, from the Far Eastern State Technological University combed the dark depths and found the famous sub resting up-right on the bottom of the La Perouse Strait at a shallow depth of just 185 feet.

American carrier USS Oriskany scuttled

May 18, 2006: American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) has been scuttled 24 miles off the south coast of Pensacola, Florida. The largest ship ever intentionally sunk as an artificial reef the "Big O" needed about 500 pounds of explosives to rip a large hole in the vessel's hull sending the 888-foot carrier to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With hundreds of veterans watching from a safe distance, Oriskany (oh-RISK'-uh-nee) slipped beneath the sea in 37 minutes, going down stern first in approximately 212 feet of water.

Launched October 1945, due to the end of World War II, construction on Oriskany was suspended in August 1947. Later modernized, the carrier was finally commissioned in September 1950. The 32,000-ton Oriskany made one Korean War combat cruise before being placed out of commission from January 1957 until March 1959. During that time a second up-date included a new angled flight deck, steam catapults and many other improvements. The Navy sent Oriskany into the Vietnam War in 1965. Tragedy struck the vessel on October 26, 1966, during her second Vietnam War deployment, when fire ravaged her forward compartments, killing 44 crew members. Following repairs Oriskany returned to the war zone in mid-1967. Senator John McCain, (R-Arizona) was shot-down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam following his flight which originated from the ship in 1967. The Korean War movie "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" was filmed on board Oriskany. After 26 years of service the vessel was decommissioned in September 1976, and sold for scrap in 1994. However, when the ship was never broken-up she was repossessed in 1997.

Sunken American World War II sub USS Perch found by accident near Java

By Gregg K. Kakesako - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

January 21, 2007

The wreck of a World War II submarine was discovered by accident near Java on Thanksgiving Day 2006, according to officials of the "USS Bowfin Submarine Museum." Charles Hinman, the museum's education director, said the 300-foot diesel submarine USS Perch (SS-176) was discovered in 190 feet of water in the Java Sea by an international team of divers and photographers who were hoping to photograph the wreck of the British cruiser Exeter. The news of the discovery was welcome news to Robert Lents, who was a 20-year-old torpedoman when the Perch was sunk on March 3, 1942. "I got $35 still in my locker," said Lents, 85, who now lives in Mountain Home, Arkansas. "The only thing I grabbed when I left the ship was my toothbrush and the Japanese took that away." U.S. Navy records show that the Perch, after a shakedown cruise in the North Atlantic, reported to the Pacific Fleet in November 1937.

On March 1, 1942, the Perch was on the surface 30 miles northwest of Soerabaja, Java, when it was attacked by an enemy convoy that was landing troops west of Soerabaja. Two Japanese destroyers forced the Perch to the bottom with depth charges, damaging the submarine's starboard engines. Two days later the Perch, while on the surface and unable to dive because of extensive damages, was attacked by two Japanese cruiser and three destroyers. At that point, David Hurt, commander of the submarine, ordered the Perch to be scuttled. The crew of 54 sailors and five officers was taken prisoner by the Japanese. Six later died in prison camps of malnutrition. Lents spent 3 1/2 years in two Japanese prison camps and was released on September 18, 1945. He recalls that one of the camps housed nearly 600 sailors from the Exeter. He had only been on the Perch for six months when it was sunk. "There are only five of us left now." Lents said in a telephone interview last week.

Hinman said a team of divers led by Vidar Skoglie, who owns and operates the vessel MV Empress, found the wreck north of Surbaya City, Java. It was first discovered by the ship's sonar. Dive team members Kevin Denlay, Dieter Kops, Mike Gadd and Craig Challen discovered a plaque, (see photograph above) covered with more than half a century of marine growth, that read "USS Perch Submarine." Hinman said Denlay contacted him and Navy officials in early December and sent the museum photographs and a DVD of the dive. Hinman said the wreck, like all Navy warships sunk at sea, is protected from salvage operations by U.S. and international laws. Commander Mike Brown, spokesman for "Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces," said the information he's seen indicates that the vessel looks like the Perch. "However, official confirmation will have to come from higher headquarters."

The discovery of the Porpoise-class submarine follows other announcements last year of the location of three other submarines lost in World War II: the USS Wahoo north of Hokkaido in 1943, the USS Grunion near the Aleutian chain in 1942, and the USS Lagarto, which was sunk 62 years ago by a Japanese minelayer in the Gulf of Thailand. More than 3,500 submariners lost their lives aboard 52 submarines that were destroyed during World War II, which is about the number of nuclear attack submarines that now make up the Navy fleet. Hinman said the museum has played a crucial role in the attempts to find the Lagarto, Wahoo, Grunion and Perch. "In the Wahoo and Perch discoveries, we were the people who contacted the Naval Historical Center and the local Naval commands, and provided them with the dive photos and historical material. We assisted with the Navy with the identification of Lagarto and Wahoo, and will be the site of the memorial ceremony for the Wahoo families this October."

Johnny Lipes, World War II submarine 'surgeon' dead at 84

Wheeler Bryson "Johnny" Lipes, the Navy pharmacist's mate who during World War II performed the first emergency appendectomy ever done aboard a submerged submarine, died of pancreatic cancer in April 2005—he was 84.

His historic surgery was one of the most famous lifesaving acts of World War II and took place aboard the submarine USS Seadragon (SS-191) on September 11, 1942. His patient was 19 year old Seaman 1c, Darrell Dean Rector. Lipes was not a doctor, and of course had no prior experience in surgery. To that date there had never been an appendectomy performed aboard an American submarine. The surgery took place at a depth of 120 feet and lasted two-hours-and-36-minutes. By the end of the patrol young Rector was back on duty. Upon the American press hearing of the appendectomy, Wheeler Lipes became a war hero. Lipes' operation was later memorialized in the classic films: "Destination Tokyo" (1943) and "Run Silent, Run Deep" (1958). In February 2005, Wheeler B. Lipes belatedly received a Navy Commendation Medal at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for his historic World War II appendectomy. At the Navy ceremony, Lipes downplayed his role, saying only, "I did what I had to do to save a man's life. Darrell Rector was the brave one."

Sadly, Darrell D. Rector did not survive the war. Two years later in October of 1944, Rector was a Gunners mate aboard the submarine USS Tang (SS-306). The 21 year old was among the 77 men lost when Tang was struck and sunk by her own circle-run torpedo.

World War II Japanese I-401 submarine discovered

During a training exercise in March of 2005, Hawaii Undersea Research Lab (HURL) accidentally stumbled upon the wreck of a World War II Japanese submarine. Using a new navigation system HURL researchers found the I-401 resting on the ocean floor off Barbers Point, Oahu. "We thought it was rocks at first, it was so huge" said Pisces pilot Terry Kerby. "The I-401 numbers are clearly visible on the sides of the conning tower, and the antiaircraft guns are in almost perfect condition" he reported. The sunken vessel now lies in 870 meters of water or 2,854 feet—a depth of over two miles! One of three sub's in the I-400 class, they were designed and built in 1944 to carry three aircraft for a top-secret mission to attack the Panama Canal. These submarines were the largest built in World War II and with a crew of 144 men, could sail 37,000 miles with a full load of fuel. Comparable in size to present day American nuclear submarines the massive I-401 now sits upright on the bottom, about 5 stories high and 400 feet long. At the conclusion of World War II the I-401 was surrendered to the U.S. Navy as a war prize and sailed back to Hawaii. The sub was finally sunk by American torpedoes in a target practice exercise in 1946. For more information and photos, please Click here.

James E. Dreiling of Parsons, Kansas, a World War II Navy Veteran, has received the "Purple Heart" Medal 55-years after his injury. Dreiling was injured in a bizarre flight deck accident aboard the carrier USS Petrof Bay in October of 1944. One of two crewmen who were accidentally thrown over the side of the moving ship on the final day of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Dreiling was rescued from the turbulent seas by an escorting destroyer and suffered a broken leg—the other man was lost. 54-years later (in 1998) Dreiling's daughter, Cecilia Baugher purchased Rick Cline's book Escort Carrier WWII which she found at the USS Petrof Bay website. Upon reading the book, which is about the Petrof Bay, Baugher said; "To my surprise my dad is mentioned in the book [and] the book told of his experience." When she read the other crewman was reported 'killed in the line of duty' Baugher said; "It really sparked us to seek this [Purple Heart] further. Continuing, Baugher wrote; "We got together and decided to see if dad qualified for the honor of the Purple Heart. I sent copies of the title page of the book [Escort Carrier WWII] and the pages with the incident on them to our Senator's office to see if he could help. I had everything that was needed including medical records stating he had been injured in the line of duty. In two-days I received a letter back requesting all the records I could come up with on dad. I received word [Veterans Day—November 11, 1999] from our Senator's office that they have received the Purple Heart and Senator Sam Brownback will present it to him in Pittsburg, Kansas." On November 23, 1999, in front of National television and print media, Senator Brownback presented James E. Dreiling his Purple Heart, "On behalf of a grateful Nation." During the presentation, he received a standing ovation. Congratulations to Mr. Dreiling.

Author Forest Sterling dies at 91

By Jeff Porteous

So Long, Yeo.
   Retired Chief Yeoman Forest James Sterling, author of the nonfiction World War II submarine classic Wake of the Wahoo, succumbed to congestive heart failure in a Gulfport, Mississippi hospital in the early hours of Thursday, May 23, 2002—just six days after celebrating his 91st birthday.

   Sterling, for years a resident of the nearby U.S. Naval Home, had been suffering from poor circulation and steadily declining health in recent months. He spent his last few weeks in the Home's "Sick Bay" before being transferred to the hospital, where he soon slipped into a coma and passed away. Memorial services were held at the Biloxi National Cemetery on Tuesday, May 28, where he was laid to rest.

   Long known to shipmates and friends as "Yeo," the career Navy yeoman gained national recognition when his Wake of the Wahoo—an autobiographical account of his duty aboard the renowned USS Wahoo, perhaps the most successful U.S. fleet submarine of W.W.II—was first published in 1960. Wahoo, under the command of daredevil Dudley W. "Mush" Morton, became famous for a number of tactical firsts, including entering an enemy harbor to torpedo a ship, and wiping out an entire convoy single-handedly. Sterling's reporting on these and other events is nearly unique in the submarine canon: the unassuming viewpoint of an ordinary enlisted sailor, rather than the more commonly published privileged or technical perspective of command. This has made his book not only thrilling but also accessible to both layman and "old salt" alike. Another indicator of Wake's acceptance and notoriety: it's periodically assigned reading for incoming cadets at the Naval Academy. Forest narrowly survived the October, 1943 wartime loss of the Wahoo through an unexpected last-moment transfer off the sub by order of his C.O., Morton, in order to allow him to further his Navy schooling back in the States. Sterling then went on to serve on several other subs and ships, not only surviving World War II, but enjoying a long and successful postwar naval career as well. He retired from the Navy a Chief Petty Officer in 1956, and thereafter took college writing courses in Ventura, California to prepare for his Wahoo memoir. Since then, Sterling had also been active with the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II organization, belonging to and helping to found local chapters in Southern California, for example.

   Forest Sterling was predeceased by his wife Marie, the "one great love of his life," in the 1980s, and is now survived by only a handful of distant, scattered relatives in California, Oregon, Oklahoma and Arizona. With Wake of the Wahoo just recently returning to print after a nearly forty year absence, the book now becomes a legacy; a truly fitting tribute to the man whose famous World War II skipper often referred to him as "The best damned yeoman in the Navy!"

Petrof Bay fighter plane found!

An FM-2 Wildcat now under restoration (see photo above) was recently discovered to be one of the veteran fighter planes formerly attached to Composite Squadron VC-93. During World War II, the battle scared fighter saw action from the tiny deck of the escort carrier USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80). In late March 1945, the FM-2 was placed aboard the carrier before it sailed for the invasion of Okinawa. During the bloody battle, the fighter flew countless sorties over the enemy held island. When the planes' serial numbers were uncovered from the official Petrof Bay log book, its WWII history was confirmed. Following WWII, the plane hit a low point in its career, placed on a children's playground in a Seattle, Washington suburb. The Wildcat remained on the playground for 10-years before it was removed around 1970, as a safety hazard. Over the next 25-years there were several failed attempts to restore the battered FM-2. Finally in 1998, Milt James at the Seattle Museum of Flight in Everett, Washington received the go ahead to bring the fighter back to its original combat condition. During the project, the fighters' serial numbers (# 74512) were traced back to the Petrof Bay.

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