Plans and Status of the August 2007
Search for the USS Grunion
Background:
Last August the Abele brothers initiated a search for their dad’s sub, the USS Grunion. Using 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 appeared to have an appendage called a prop guard characteristic of that class of subs. In addition they were able to locate the three Japanese wrecks in the area so it seems unlikely that there is confusion between wrecks.
The most important element of the find was that the target was located almost exactly where predicted by their source. That bit of information does two things.
It adds enough credibility to the hypothesis that the target is the Grunion to justify returning this summer with a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV)
It adds credibility to the entire Aiura story. (Aiura was the military captain of the freighter attacked by the Grunion) In turn that focuses attention on a couple of hypotheses as to the cause of the demise of the Grunion.
Plans and Current Status:
The plan is to use the Kale Garcia’s boat the Aquila, as last year. It is currently on the way back from the Solomon Islands and should arrive in Seattle on or before August 1st.
For the ROV we are using a Max Rover supplied by DSSI a division of Oceaneering. This ROV has broadcast quality HD video, and low light cameras. It can handle the depths that we expect.
http://www.rovexchange.com/nc_interviews.php
The plan is to mobilize at Seattle then head to the Aleutians for Adak, or possibly Dutch Harbor, where the Aquila will pick up personnel. Adak is only a day away from Kiska, Dutch Harbor about three days.
Relocating the target may be a bit tricky. Although we have GPS coordinates for the ship the sonar was being towed approximately 0.6 miles behind. The problem is that the cable counter was malfunctioning so that layback distance is not accurate. To help in relocating the target We are planning to use a special high power, very narrow beam “fish finder” that should be capable of identifying a sudden change in depth
There are two objectives:
First is to substantiate that the target is the Grunion. Alan Polhemus, a very knowledgeable submariner has pointed out that a good way is to look at the characteristic of the sail. The Grunion had a faired sail in contrast to exposed shears (You have to see a photo to understand what the difference is but it should be easy to recognize.) There also may be a Builders Plaque on the front of the sail with the Grunion name on it. John Alden has pointed out that if it is a submarine (American) it has to be the Grunion since no other subs were lost in that location.
The second and more important objective is to determine what caused the demise of the Grunion. Aiura pointed out that the sub had not surfaced. Nathan Okun a navy armor piercing expert has suggested that it was very unlikely (though not impossible) that an 8 cm shell would penetrate a submerged conning tower. However there was a new (actually developed in 1925) weapon called a flat-nosed projectile that was Japan’s top secret weapon against submarines. It would not ricochet off the water and had enough power to penetrate a conning tower. It may have been used. It may be possible to determine what happened from the pattern of the shell hole.
There are three Japanese wrecks in the area, the destroyer the Arare and the sub chasers SC 25 and SC 27. In light of the contributions of Yutaka it is felt that, if possible, it would be appropriate to get some video of these three ships.
Logistics:
As of July 10th this is what the schedule looks like.
The Aquila will be back at Seattle a couple of days before August 1st. Demobilization will take about 4 days.
The ROV will be ready to ship to Seattle July 27 to 30th. It will take 4 to 6 days to ship across country. Mobilization in Seattle will take 3 to 6 days.
The trip from Seattle to Kiska 12 to 14 days.
Kiska: Worst case August 26th, Best case August 15th
On Other Fronts:
The sub ladies, Rhonda Raye, Vickie Rodgers, Mary Bentz and Laura Conley continue to search for relatives of the crew.
As of June 30, they have found relatives for 67 out of the crew of 70. In addition they have found a sister of George Drew the individual who wrote the remarkable note enclosed in Mrs Abele’s letter to next of kin. The Internet provides unparallel opportunities for family research, but use of that information requires persistence and critical thinking. Letters and phone calls to lists of potential families, to home-town newspapers, and even getting someone to go to a church in a crew-members home town to talk to people who may have known the family, have produced fascinating results. The rewards from making the first contact telephone call are indescribable.
DVDs
Joe Hunter, a Newton neighbor, has produced a DVD that does a remarkable job not only in capturing the human side of this entire effort but in honoring the crew. Almost everybody that has seen it has been very moved.
News and Networks:
There are a number of news organizations that have or are interested in covering parts of this story.
“Best Life” has an article coming out in the September issue.
“National Geographic” is going to have a story on the effort. It will be written by Donovan Webster who has written more articles for NG than anybody.
The History Channel will likely have a short segment on the search in their series “Its More Difficult in Alaska”
The Today Show personnel are actively involved in covering this phase of the effort In fact they are even sending a crew to video the mobilization that will take place in Seattle. They are particularly interested in the efforts of the sub ladies.
“Three minutes off Okinawa” is a book by Roy Anderson about the kamakazi attack on the USS Mannert L Abele a destroyer named to honor the men of the Grunion. It should be in print in a month or so. In addition Darlow Smithson Productions a English producer has created a video “Kamakazis” to be aired on Veteran’s Day on Smithsonian channel. A significant portion of it is about the USS Mannert L Abele.
Things are quite dynamic. The plan is to frequently update a status report that can be accessed on the sidebar on this home page
This website has been put together by Newman Lanier and has played a major part in this entire effort. Last year, during peak periods it was getting about 6000 hits per day from all over the world.
Bruce Abele