USS Grunion ( SS - 216 ) Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton , Connecticut on 1 March 1941 . She was launched on 22 December 1941 , ( sponsored by Mrs . Stanford C . Hooper , wife of Rear Admiral Hooper ) , and commissioned on 11 April 1942 with Lieutenant Commander ( Lt . Cmdr . ) Mannert L . Abele , USNA class of 1926 in command . After shakedown out of New London , " Grunion " sailed for the Pacific on 24 May . A week later , as she transited the Caribbean Sea for Panama , she rescued 16 survivors of USAT " Jack " , which had been torpedoed by the German U - boat " U - 558 " , and she conducted a fruitless search for 13 other survivors presumed in the vicinity . Arriving at Coco Solo on 3 June , " Grunion " deposited her shipload of survivors and continued to Pearl Harbor , arriving 20 June . Departing Hawaii on 30 June after ten days of intensive training , " Grunion " touched Midway Island before heading toward the Aleutian Islands for her first war patrol . Her first report , made as she patrolled north of Kiska Island , stated she had been attacked by a Japanese destroyer and had fired at her with inconclusive results . She operated off Kiska throughout July and sank two enemy patrol boats while in search for enemy shipping . On 30 July the submarine reported intensive antisubmarine activity , and she was ordered back to Dutch Harbor . " Grunion " was never heard from nor seen again . Air searches off Kiska were fruitless ; and on 5 October " Grunion " was reported overdue from patrol and assumed lost with all hands . Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 November 1942 . Captured Japanese records show no antisubmarine attacks in the Kiska area , and the fate of " Grunion " remained a mystery for 65 years until discovery in the Bering Sea in August 2007 of a wreck believed to be the boat . In October 2008 , the U . S . Navy verified that the wreck is the " Grunion " . The reason for her sinking is still not known , though there are two possible explanations . " Grunion " received one battle star for World War II service . The search for the " Grunion " . In 1998 Lieut . Col . Richard Lane purchased for $ 1 a wiring diagram from a Japanese cargo ship , the " Kano Maru " , which had been involved in World War II activities . Later , in an attempt to authenticate the document , Lane posted it on a Japanese naval historical website , asking if anyone could help . He received a reply from a Japanese naval historian , Yutaka Iwasaki , who not only authenticated the document , but suggested that he knew what happened to the " Grunion " . Lane contacted ComSubPac , and their public affairs officer , Darrel Ames , placed that information on ComSubPac ’ s " Grunion " website . When the " Grunion " disappeared in 1942 , the captain , Lt Cmdr Abele , left behind three sons : Bruce , Brad , and John . For almost 65 years they searched for information about the loss of their father ’ s submarine . A few years after Lane ' s research , when the Abeles discovered that information , they were able to contact Yutaka Iwasaki , who provided them with a translated article by the military commander of the " Kano Maru " . He described a confrontation with a submarine near Kiska Island in the Aleutians which took place at the time the " Grunion " was reported missing . A few years after the Yutaka discovery , John Abele , who was cofounder of Boston Scientific , had an opportunity to meet Robert Ballard . Dr . Ballard provided the Abeles with an introduction to the process of finding a wrecked submarine ; John Abele then decided to fund an expedition in an attempt to find the " Grunion " . In 2006 , Williamson Associates , using side - scan sonar , located a promising target that was almost exactly at the location indicated by the commander of the " Kano Maru " , one which had many other characteristics of a wrecked submarine . In 2007 , using a ROV , DSSI / Oceaneering returned to the site , and took video recording s of the imploded remains of a submarine , one which had markings in English , and propeller guards and limber hole s identical to those on the " Grunion " . In 2008 , the U . S . Navy acknowledged that the find was , in fact , the " Grunion " . Although there is no absolute certainty the evidence strongly suggests that the " Grunion " was lost as a result of horrific torpedo performance in the confrontation with the " Kano Maru " . One torpedo ran low , but despite the magnetic pistol it did not explode ; two others bounced off the " Kano Maru " without exploding . The last one circled back , hitting the periscope supports on the submerged submarine without exploding . That event , coupled with a jammed rear dive plane , triggered a sequence of events that led to loss of depth control . At about 1000 feet the sub would have imploded , then hit the bottom , breaking off about 50 feet of the bow . It then slid 2 / 3 - mile down the side of an extinct volcano , finally coming to rest on a notch on the underwater mountain .