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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Grunion (SS-216)
ROV Pictures of the Wreckage

Radio Call Sign: November - Uniform - Delta - Papa

To Additional Pages

Keel Laying - Loss
A Life & Beyond
Aftermath
Initial Discovery 2006
Hypotheses of the Sinking

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 1 March 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 22 December 1941; Commissioned USS Grunion (SS-216), 11 April 1942; Final Disposition, last report 30 July 1942, reported overdue from patrol off Kiska Island, Alaska, 5 October 1942, all hands assumed lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 2 November 1942. Grunion received one battle star for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Coincidence or not, (btw, we don't believe in this sort of thing, i.e. coincidence) the week's Bible portion read worldwide on Saturday, 25 August 2007 was in Deuteronomy, 21:10 to 25:19. In Chapter 22, verse 3, "You shall return every lost thing of your brother's...".
Rabbi Zev Leff of Moshav Mattityahu in Israel mentioned that this includes helping to return a lost soul as well and helping to bring closure to families who have lost their loved ones.
This reading of the Torah also coincided with a Memorial Service sponsored by American Legion Post 639 was held on Saturday, Sept. 17 2005 in Springfield Missouri for the crew of the Lagarto (SS-371)

Size	Image Description	Contributed By/ Source
192k	Wreckage of the Grunion (SS-216) showing a clean fitting with printing. Notice all the marine growth swarming around the remains despite the depth and cold.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
163k	Wreckage of the Grunion (SS-216).	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
150k	Forward torpedo hatch cover and hatch frame. The deck has been stripped away.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
116k	Open hatch cover of the Grunion (SS-216).	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
96k	Grunion's (SS-216) periscope.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
112k	Grunion's (SS-216) propeller guard.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
120k	Grunion's (SS-216) propeller guard.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
125k	Flattened hull just forward of Grunion's (SS-216) prop guards minus her deck.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
130k	Port side propeller and dive plane.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
71k	Range finder.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
118k	Hatch from sail into conning tower. Hatch is bent upwards. Conning tower is slightly collapsed but not imploded like rest of the hull.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
76k	The open starboard hatch. Aft of sail. This hatch leads to the munitions storage. The hatch was not locked down.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
125k	Looking towards the stern at break in the bow. (Forward torpedo room).	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
108k	Looking towards the stern at break in the bow.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
82k	Port section of the bow seperation of the Grunion (SS-216) looking aft. (27 foot section of the bow is missing.)	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
109k	Crab on Grunion's (SS-216) main air induction tube (?)	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.
28k	Antennae fitting aft of periscopes on conning tower.	Photo courtesy of ussgrunion.com.& Bruce Abele.