WWII submarine USS Grayback, missing 75 years, discovered off coast of Japan The sub was sunk with 80 sailors on board by a Nakajima b5N carrier bomber Feb. 26, 1944. The files included daily reports received by radio from the naval air base at Naha, Okinawa and the entry for Feb. 27, 1944, contained a promising lead. It sank four landing barges with its deck guns on Dec. 25, 1942. But in the case of the USS Grayback, it had relied on an incorrect Japanese translation of war records that had one digit wrong in the assumed latitude and longitude of where the sub went down. She was one of the most successful submarines during the war. 336, March 1945, Last edited on 17 November 2022, at 23:46, List of United States Navy losses in World War II, "Lost World War II Submarine Rediscovered 75 Years Later", "WWII submarine USS Grayback, missing 75 years, discovered off coast of Japan", "World War II submarine USS Grayback found off coast of Japan", "USS Grayback: Missing WW2 submarine found after 75 years", "American Submarine Lost in WWII Located Off Okinawa", "Navy Submarine, Missing for 75 Years, Is Found Off Okinawa", Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Grayback_(SS-208)&oldid=1122509168, 11,000 nautical miles (20,000km) at 10 knots (19km/h), This page was last edited on 17 November 2022, at 23:46. On March 17, 1942, the sub took down its first target, a 3,291-ton cargo ship off Port Lloyd in the Japanese-held Bonin Islands. Its the first U.S. submarine to be found in waters off Japan. The USS Grayback, credited with sinking 14 enemy ships, was discovered south of Okinawa with much of its body still intact. According to Japanese reports, the submarine exploded and sank immediately, but antisubmarine craft were called in to depth-charge the area, clearly marked by a trail of air bubbles, until at last a heavy oil slick swelled to the surface.". USS Thresher, the first submarine in her class, sank April 10, 1963 during deep-diving trials after flooding, loss of propulsion, and a failed attempt to blow the emergency ballast tanks, causing it to exceed crush depth. "Swede" Momsen in Cero cruised the China Sea and returned to base with claims of 38,000tons sunk and 3,300 damaged. Your email address will not be published. "We are grateful for their sacrifices, and we will never forget our veterans. But the Navy had unknowingly relied on a flawed translation of Japanese war records that got one digit wrong in the latitude and longitude of the spot where the Grayback had probably met its end. "With the technology that we're using, and the ability to cover large swaths of ground, we're looking at the potential to find several more.". Grayback beneath 1,400 feet of water after realizing that a mistranslated Japanese war record had pointed searchers in the wrong direction. The Grayback was damaged on Jan. 17, 1943, by a depth charge and had to go back to port at Brisbane, Australia, for repairs. It seemed that when the translation was initially done in 1949, the last known latitude and longitude of the USS Grayback was mistranslated or incorrectly recorded by one digit, resulting in the location of the submarine being wrong by 100 miles. As informed, this is the first US submarine discovered in Japanese waters and is the final resting place of 80 sailors. Which submarine sank the most ships in ww2? Grayback was plain to see. A sonar image of the USS . Wolfpack tactics came into play on 2 October as Grayback closed on a convoy already attacked by Shad, and sank a 9,000-ton transport, listing from two of Shad's torpedoes. She was sunk near Okinawa on 27 February 1944. The USS Grayback's data plaque, photographed in 1941. "It's very vital that we remember them, and that they feel that they haven't been forgotten, that their sacrifice wasn't in vain," Dennison said. A World War II submarine that was sunk with 80 sailors on board and has been missing for three-quarters of a century was found, according to an organization dedicated to finding dozens of lost war subs. Along with the use of new drone technology, the recovered military documents meant the team could correctly locate the submarine, which was 1,400ft (430m) down. Finding the remains of the submarine has solved another of the mysteries of World War II and has given closure to the 80 families that waited 75 years to know where their loved ones were. The worst such accidentindeed, the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in historyoccurred on December 20, 1987, when the passenger ferry MV Doa Paz collided with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait, roughly 110 miles (180 km) south of Manila. Two months later, it was listed as missing and presumed lost.Watch \"CBS This Morning\" HERE: http://bit.ly/1T88yARDownload the CBS News app on iOS HERE: https://apple.co/1tRNnUyDownload the CBS News app on Android HERE: https://bit.ly/1IcphuXLike \"CBS This Morning\" on Facebook HERE: http://on.fb.me/1LhtdvIFollow \"CBS This Morning\" on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Xj5W3pFollow \"CBS This Morning\" on Instagram HERE: http://bit.ly/1Q7NGnYGet new episodes of shows you love across devices the next day, stream local news live, and watch full seasons of CBS fan favorites anytime, anywhere with CBS All Access. Advertisement. Nor did she reply to a radio inquiry three days later. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. In December 1943, on its ninth combat patrol, the Grayback used all of its torpedoes to take out four freighter ships carrying more than 10,000 tons. The submarine sits upright on the bottom in 1,400ft (430m) of water. With only two torpedoes remaining, she was ordered home from patrol. It's the. Stories of sunken ships have fascinated the world for centuries, including the story of the USS Grayback. By late March it was more than three weeks overdue to return, and the Navy listed the submarine as missing and presumed lost. Would they eat only soft tissue? USS GRAYBACK MEMORIAL SERVICE JUNE 6TH, 2019 - Offshore Okinawa Japan. An Underwater Workhorse. Through the latter half of 1942, the Grayback damaged several freighters and was a general menace to enemy escorts, submarines and shipping vessels. On 5 January, Grayback served as beacon ship for the bombardment of Munda Bay in the Solomon Islands, and also engaged in rescue work. Grayback's tenth patrol, her most successful in terms of tonnage sunk, was also her last. Nine days later the Navy announced that the submarine and the ninety-nine crewmen on board were presumed lost. However, the destroyer evaded the torpedoes and dropped 19 depth charges on Grayback. Anyone can read what you share. Despite this, the wreckage of the submarine was never located, and the 80 crew were listed as missing. The mystery began on Jan. 28, 1944, when the Grayback, one of the most successful American submarines of World War II, sailed out of Pearl Harbor for its 10th combat patrol. Three hours later, she surfaced and sank a second freighter. On 26 February 1944, Grayback suffered damage when land-based Japanese naval aircraft attacked her in the East China Sea, 2547N, 12845E, but sank the naval transport Ceylon Maru the next day . Mr. Walsh gave Mr. Taylor his copy of the 1949 Navy history, U.S. In a video taken by the vehicle that surveyed the wreck, Mr. Bihn said, the camera tilted upward at one point to show the conning tower, and a plaque reading U.S.S. Privacy Policy. Credited with sinking at least 14 ships during the war, the USS Grayback was one of 52 submarines that was lost in action. The submarine surfaced on 27 December to sink a good-sized fishing boat with deck guns before reaching Pearl Harbor on 4 January 1944. The rest, as they say, is history, except that now a new chapter can be opened one that can bring closure to the families of the long lost sailors who gave their lives for the greater good. She was one of twelve Tambor -class fleet. Taylor founded the Lost 52 Project after his first WWII submarine discovery of the USS R12. The missing Indonesian submarine has been found, according to Indonesian military officials. Two nights later, 20 to 21 December, she spotted another convoy of six ships, and after an end-around run, she fired a spread of nine torpedoes into the heart of the Japanese formation. On 24 February, Grayback radioed that she had sunk two cargo ships on 19 February, in an attack on Japanese convoy TAPA 02, sinking the army cargo ship Taikei Maru, and the army cargo ship Toshin Maru, that had rescued Taikei Maru's survivors, both cargo vessel's people being rescued by the Japanese destroyer Harukaze. Cookie Notice Crew Remains: Archaeologists excavating the Hunley after its recovery in 2000 found the crewmembers remains were largely found at their stations, with no sign of panic or desperate attempts to escape the submarine. . RAF takes delivery of first submarine hunter plane, AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, France May Day protests leave dozens of police injured, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. She was somewhere off the coast of Okinawa when a Japanese war plane located the sub and dropped a 500-pound bomb on her after deck, after of the conning tower, damaging the ship beyond repair or recovery. In a night surface attack, Grayback fired a spread of six torpedoes at the seven freighters and their three escorts. Remarkable new information has emerged on the fate of the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher, also known by its hull number SSN-593, the lead submarine of its class, which was lost during trials east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts . She was credited with the sinking of cargo ship Yodogawa Maru. The broadcast has earned a prestigious Peabody Award, a Polk Award, four News \u0026 Documentary Emmys, three Daytime Emmys and the 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. Grayback and her crew received two Navy Unit Commendations for their seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth war patrols. Grayback received eight battle stars for her World War II service. The Lost 52 Project is an organization dedicating its time and resources to finding these lost subs. She sent freighter Gyokurei Maru and escort Numakaze to the bottom and damaged several others in a surface attack. The USS Grayback sailed out of Pearl Harbor on Jan. 28, 1944 for its 10th combat patrol. Due to reach Midway on 7 March, Grayback did not arrive. "The numbers that came out were wrong, and that's how we found it," Taylor said. Soon after, though, it was reported that the sub was damaged by enemy aircraft, but it still managed to sink an enemy naval transport on Feb. 27. His nephew John Bihn, of Wantagh, N.Y., is named after him. His work on Japanese maritime shipping had brought him to the attention of Tim Taylor, an undersea explorer who has set out to find the wrecks of every American submarine lost in the war. A plaque on the front of the wreckage identifies the submarine as the USS Grayback, The USS Grayback first launched in 1941 and travelled to Australia as well as Japan, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. In 2010 he found his first submarine, the U.S.S. How many US submarines are still on patrol? The wreck has severe damage aft of the conning tower, consistent with Japanese reports of a direct bomb hit in that area. It sank four landing barges with its deck guns on Dec. 25, 1942. 2023 BBC. One blew a gasket on a manhole cover, and the submarine, leaking seriously, was ordered back to Brisbane, Australia, where she arrived 23 January. She ranked 20th among all U.S. submarines in total tonnage sunk during World War II, with 63,835tons, and 24th in number of ships sunk, with 14. The unexpected discovery within the USS Grayback During the Second World War, 52 US submarines were lost, taking the lives of 374 officers and 3,131 sailors. USS Grayback SS-208. The recording included the coordinates of the location of the submarine. and our USS Grayback (SS-208), a Tambor -class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the lake herring, Coregonus artedi. It was hidden from discovery all this time by a single errant digit. The presence of Grayback and her sister ships in these waters, and the threat they presented to shipping and the number of enemy escorts they tied up, were important factors in the successful conclusion of the Guadalcanal campaign, America's first offensive campaign in the Pacific war. The vessel is reportedly deep in the ocean and broken into multiple pieces. Grayback was on its 10th combat patrol when it sank on Feb. 27, 1944, struck by a 500-pound Japanese bomb just aft of its conning tower. "I committed from the very beginning, when I was a little girl, that I was going to find him or follow him or keep his memory alive," she told ABC News. Are the microbes we live with capable of consuming our entire bodies? The sub was sunk with 80 sailors on board by a Nakajima b5N carrier bomber Feb. 26, 1944. A plaque on the front of the wreckage identifies the submarine as the USS Grayback An American submarine that went missing in World War Two has been rediscovered at the bottom of the East China. With no body to bury, Mr Bihn's grandparents, Patrick and Catherine King . The action began on the night of 18 to 19 December; Grayback attacked a convoy of four freighters and three escorts. Fifty-two submarines of the United States Navy were lost during World War II. The USS Grayback, credited with sinking 14 enemy ships, was discovered south of Okinawa with much of its body still intact. Meet the honorees NFL Draft Hub Vote . ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Grayback beneath 1,400 feet of water after realizing that a mistranslated Japanese war record had pointed searchers in the wrong direction. Researchers recently discovered a flaw in the translation of Japanese war records that misrepresented the spot where the Grayback may have sank. Her fifth war patrol began as Grayback sailed from Australia on 7 December 1942. Grayback sent ashore two men, then submerged at dawn to avoid enemy aircraft. The sub exploded and sank immediately, and there were no survivors. Mr. Taylor set up the Lost 52 Project to track down missing American submarines from World War II, relying on technology that had become available only in the last 10 to 15 years. The Grayback was damaged on Jan. 17, 1943, by a depth charge and had to go back to port at Brisbane, Australia, for repairs. Grayback continued on patrol, torpedoing and damaging several Japanese ships. For me, finding U.S. submarines is part of my activity to introduce the tragic story of war, he said. [14] The deck gun was found about 400ft (about 120m) from the primary wreckage.[15]. Please note the wreck of USS Wahoo (SS-238) was found on July 28, 2006, in the La Perouse Strait by a team of Russian divers led by Vladimir Kartashev. On her sixth war patrol from 16 February to 4 April 1943, Grayback again had a run of bad luck, operating in the Bismarck ArchipelagoSolomon Islands area without any military success. Grayback sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where she remained undiscovered for nearly a century. The sub was ordered home in late February with only two torpedoes remaining after an attack on a Japanese convoy. Were Any Bodies Recovered From The USS Thresher? How the most successful submarine in US Navy history ended up sinking itself. The USS Grayback was discovered off the coast of Japan on June 5 by the Lost 52 Project. According to a news release, the Lost 52 team discovered that historical documents erred in the translation of the longitude of where the Grayback sank.

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