Finding Lost Subs

In the last few years, three lost WWII submarines have been found, thanks to remotely operated vehicles (R.O.V.s).  These are robots developed in the mid-eighties equipped with lights, cameras, steering thrusters, and other technology that can find objects as deep as a mile underwater.  These were used to locate the Lagarto in May, 2005 - in the Gulf of Thailand in about 225 feet of water; the Wahoo in 2006 - in the La Perouse Strait South of Sakhalin Island in about 213 feet of water, and - most recently - the Grunion.  The Grunion, lost in May of 1942 on its first patrol, was found last August on a slope 3000 feet down in the Bering Sea ten miles northeast of Kiska Island, the Aleutians.   

The three sons of Grunion's commander, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. "Jim" Abele, launched the expedition to find their father's lost sub.  Its discovery combined dogged persistence and determination by the Abele brothers, international cooperation by volunteer and professional search teams, the latest high-tech equipment, and a massive research effort to locate the descendants of all seventy crewmen lost on the sub.  John Abele, who was five when his father was lost, sent vials of seawater from the discovery site to all seventy families of the missing men.   

These families were united by wonder, old and new.  When seventy men simply disappear without a trace, their loved ones cling to the hope they're alive somewhere, wondering when they'll walk through the kitchen door.  One of the Grunion's widows would often go down to the local train station to wait for her lost husband to return.  And then, in 2007 when the families got the call that the Grunion had been discovered, they were bonded by wonder at the discovery itself, and the feeling of having found their lost tribe: others who had wondered with them for some or all of the last sixty-five years. 

Read all about it here: http://www.rd.com/stories/action-adventure/recovered-navy-submarine-grunion-photos/article51160.html         

Comments

[joared]

Can imagine the families would be pleased with learning this info. Know my brother (U.S. Navy communications stationed in Perth,Australia) has been very interested in all the records re submarines lost at sea, especially the one he had expected to be on. At the last minute his commanding officer said he was needed more on land. This was about the time the Japanese warships were streaming toward Australia as he described the situation to me. We were all thankful he didn't go to sea when we later learned the story.

Look forward to my copy of your book from my advance order at Amazon.com.

[Terri]

Amazing the ship was found after all these years.
What you described they used reminded me of the movie Titantic and what they used in there to bring it up.
Hubby let me have your book first.....he'd only read the last half about WWII and the submarine. I picked the book up this morning and I canNOT put it down! It's wonderful, Mary Lee!!! Poignant, SO well written and very informative. I'm enjoying it so much....I'm 150 pg. into it now.