Photo Gallery of the Ceremony for the USS Grunion

(Cleveland) - A memorial service was held in downtown Cleveland for more than 200 relatives of the lost crew of the USS Grunion gathered at the site of the USS COD, which is Grunion's sister ship. But subs were built by the same Connecticut company.

Family members remembered the 70 man crew of the Grunion which was lost on patrol during World War 2. The demise of the sub remains a mystery to this day.



At the Cleveland ceremony, the bell of the Grunion was rung honoring all the U.S. submarines lost in World War 2.

The Grunion was on its first war patrol in the Aleutians, when it sank two patrol boats and survived an attack by a Japanese destroyer. However, for some reason the Grunion sank near Kiska harbor.

Earlier this month, the Navy confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion.

Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery.


John Abele

Abele's son's, Bruce, Brad, and John, began working on a plan to find the sub after finding information on the Internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location.

In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts hired by the brothers located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean's surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage.

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