WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A World War II submarine that was sunk with 80 souls on board three-quarters of a century ago has been found by an underwater archaeology team.
A tragic reality of war, the discovery of this craft might now finally bring closure to some U.S. military families.
Explorer Tim Taylor's Lost 52 Project team discovered the USS Grayback in June, making this their fifth WWII submarine discovery, the organization says.
News of the discovery was made public on Sunday, just one day before Veterans Day.
The submarine was lost on Feb. 26, 1944, after a 500 pound bomb from a Japanese bomber sunk it during its tenth war patrol.
At the time, the USS Grayback was ranked the 20th most successful US submarine during World War II, the Lost 52 Project pointed out in a video announcement.
The submarine was discovered 1427 feet under water off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
The deck gun was located 117 meters away from the hull of the submarine on the ocean floor, giving us further insights into the last moments of the craft's life, and the final moments for everyone on board.
Ahead of the expedition, the Lost 52 team located and re-translated original documents from the war and discovered there had been an error in the longitude listed at the time.
According to the project, after they discovered this error the team was able to focus their search on an area southwest of Okinawa. That's how they found the USS Grayback approximately 100 miles from where WWII historical records had placed it.
After the US entry into World War II, the USS Grayback set off for the Pacific on January 12, 1942, according to The Naval History and Heritage Command. The submarine arrive to Pearl Harbor on February 8 of that year. The craft's first patrol was from February 15 to April 10th of 1942.
The submarine arrived to the shores of Fremantle, Australia on June 22 of 1942 which was its home base for most of World War II.
When the USS Grayback met its fate on February 26, 1944, Japanese reports stated that the craft "exploded and sank immediately," when it was hit by a bomb.
Lieutenant Commander John A. Moore was the commanding officer of the USS Grayback on that fateful day, and was among the 80 souls that perished.
