Those Who Were Lost Are Being Found

USS Grayback, SS208, Naval History and Heritage Command

USS Grayback, a World War II submarine, was lost at sea after sinking Japanese freight and transport ships in the western Pacific. She was somewhere off the coast of Okinawa when a Japanese war plane located the sub and dropped a 500-pound bomb on her after deck, after of the conning tower, damaging the ship beyond repair or recovery. Communication was completely lost.  She never returned to port and was considered lost for good, until some researchers, who have made finding lost submarines their job, found a mistake in the translation of the longitude of the sunken ship and went looking for her. She was finally found. The full story is at the link below.

https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Inside-DOD/Blog/Article/2053406/the-legacy-the-recently-discovered-uss-grayback-left-behind/

Their project is referred to as the Lost 52. Grayback was one of those 52 WWII missing US Navy submarines. Including Grayback, to date, 11 subs have been found. The list is here:  http://www.lost52project.org/52-Submarines.html

More about Grayback and relatives of the crew is here:  https://abcnews.go.com/US/world-war-ii-submarine-found-off-coast-japan/story?id=66893943

The submarine in the article below was a World War I boat built in 1918 and refitted for duty in World War II. Never did get a name, just the number designator of S-28. She was sent to Hawaii to participate in gunnery practice (not as a target), and was engaging with another ship when communication with S-28 was lost. She was recently found where she sank, off the coast of Oahu.  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/navy-validates-lost-52-project-discovery-of-identification-of-wwii-submarine-s-28-gravesite-off-oahu-300878818.html

Category: Historical, Navy, No Longer Missing, Search and Rescue, War Stories