Divers may have found US Navy submarine Grenadier lost in WWII

[rangerrebew]

Divers may have found US Navy submarine Grenadier lost in WWII
Grant Peck, The Associated Press
17 hours ago
 

BANGKOK — Divers have found what they believe is the wreck of a U.S. Navy submarine lost 77 years ago in Southeast Asia, providing a coda to a stirring but little-known tale from World War II.

The divers have sent photos and other evidence from six dives they made from October 2019 to March this year to the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification that they have found the USS Grenadier, one of 52 American submarines lost during the conflict.

The 1,475-ton, 307-foot long Grenadier was scuttled by its crew after bombs from a Japanese plane almost sent them to a watery grave. All 76 of its personnel survived the bombing and sinking, but their agony to follow would be prolonged. After being taken prisoner, they were tortured, beaten and nearly starved by their Japanese captors for more than two years, and four did not survive that ordeal.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2020/09/20/divers-may-have-found-us-navy-submarine-grenadier-lost-in-wwii/

[PeteS in CA]

The DANFS webpage for Grenadier, https://www.hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss210.txt . She was a Tambor class boat, the almost just right pre-WW2 class just before the mass-produced Gato class. Of the 12 Tambors, 7 were sunk in action, and the surviving 5 were decommissioned after the war. They were workhorses!

[AL]

From the Naval History and Heritage Command
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/grenadier-i.html

If it is the Grenadier it should be brought up and made into monument to the ship and crew.

Reluctantly opening all vents, Grenadier's crew abandoned ship and watched her sink to her final resting place. A Japanese merchantman picked up 8 officers and 68 enlisted men and took them to Penang, Straits Settlements [Malaysia], where they were questioned, beaten, and starved before being sent to other prison camps. They were then separated and transferred from camp to camp along the Malay Peninsula and finally to Japan. Throughout the war they suffered brutal, inhuman treatment, and their refusal to reveal military information both frustrated and angered their captors. Word that most of the crew had survived the loss of their boat reached Australia 27 November 1943. Despite the brutal and sadistic treatment, all but four of Grenadier's crew survived.

[rangerrebew]

@PeteS in CA
@AL

Thanks for posting what you did.  That information adds a lot to the story.