USS Grunion

The USS Grunion (SS-216) was a Gato-class submarine during World War II. She was launched on December 22, 1941, and commissioned on April 11, 1942. Her service in the Pacific Ocean was brief, consisting of a rescue mission in May-June, 1942. She was sent to 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 torpedoes at her with inconclusive results. She operated off Kiska throughout July and sank two enemy patrol boats as she waited for enemy shipping. On July 30, the submarine reported intensive antisubmarine activity and was ordered back to Dutch Harbor.

She was never heard from again. Patrols were fruitless, the Japanese had no records sinking her, and she was finally struck from the registry in November, 1942. The wreck was finally discovered in 2007, and confirmed in 2008.

USS Grunion in Days of Infamy
The USS Grunion was one of several American submarines that prowled the waters around Japanese-occupied Hawaii from 1942 to 1943. The Grunion sank a freighter of the northern coast of Kauai in March, 1942.