Lost Boats
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died...rather we should thank God that such men lived...
~ George S. Patton
Lost with no loss of life on her second war patrol.
She ran hard aground on a reef and radioed for help.
The entire crew was rescued by a Dutch ship after they scuttled her.
Lost with all hands except three, including 46 officers and men in the Gulf of Panama on her second war patrol.
She was rammed by the USS PC-460 and sunk within seconds.
The CO, XO, and one lookout on the bridge were the only survivors.
Lost on 11 FEB 1942 with the loss of 59 officers and men on her first war patrol.
USS SHARK was the first US submarine sunk by enemy surface craft during WWII in the Pacific.
She was most likely sunk by depth charges, reported as the victim of unknown causes.
Lost on 03 MAR 1942 near Java with no immediate loss of life while on her first war patrol.
USS PERCH survived two severe depth chargings in less than 200 feet of water by three Japanese destroyers. The crew abandoned ship and scuttled her.
Fifty-nine officers and men were taken prisoner, and were transported to a POW camp at Ofuna, Japan where they were forced to work mines until the close of WWII.
Fifty-three survived the war, six died as POWs.
Lost on 19 JUN 1942 when it grounded off Amchitka Island.
She was on the surface in poor visibility, charging batteries, and drifted into the shoals. When she could not be freed and started listing, the captain transferred the entire crew to shore 400 yards away)in relays using a three-man rubber raft. The entire crew was subsequently rescued by a PBY Catalina aircraft.
Lost on or about 30 JUL 1942 with the loss of 70 officers and crew while on her first war patrol near Kiska in the Aleutians.
She radioed that she sank two sub-chasers and damaged a third, and was ordered back to Dutch Harbor.
USS GRUNION was never heard from nor seen again. Reported overdue, assumed lost with all hands 5 Oct 1942.
Her mangled remains were found in the Bering Sea in 2006 off the Aleutian Island of Kiska.
Lost on 13 AUG 1942 after grounding on submerged rocks off Rossel Island while on her third war patrol.
The USS S-39 soon took on a 35 degree list to port.
The entire crew was able to abandon ship and was rescued by the HMAS KATOOMBA (J204/M204).
The S-39 was abandonded and left to break up on the rocks.
Lost with a total of 105 officers and men, off Rabaul on her third war patrol.
While attacking a convoy, she torpedoed a Japanese destroyer, who along with two other destroyers depth charged her.
As she tried to surface, she was sunk by destroyer gun fire.
Lost on 16 FEB 1943 with the loss of 72 officers and men on her third war patrol.
She reported having been forced down on 13 FEB 1943 by two destroyers, and that she had recovered an enemy aviator from the water and taken him prisoner.
Off Rabaul, she reported being attacked by a Japanese patrol plane, attacked by a torpedo boat, and then depth charged by a subchaser.
All further messages to the vessel remained unanswered.
One additional man was killed earlier on the last patrol.
Lost on 05 MAR 1943 with the loss of 71 officers and men.
In company with USS GRAYBACK, USS GRAMPUS departed Brisbane, Australia on her sixth war patrol from which she failed to return,
Presumed sunk in the Vella Gulf after engaging two Japanese destroyers, the manner in which USS GRAMPUS was lost remains a mystery today.