USS Grayback 1944
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | USS Grayback | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1944 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | submarine | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Philippine Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Nanseishoto | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 103 km from land |
| Position | 25.7833, 128.7500 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
USS Grayback (SS-208), was a Tambor-class submarine, and was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the lake herring Coregonus artedi. She ranked 20 among all U.S. submarines in total tonnage sunk during World War II, with 63,835 tons, and 24th in number of ships sunk, with 14. She was sunk near Okinawa on 27 February 1944. Her wreck was discovered in June 2019.
Diving & visiting
On 10 November 2019, a private research group, Lost 52 Project, announced it had found the wreck of Grayback 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) south of Okinawa, in June 2019. The wreck was discovered about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) from the coordinates established by the U.S. Navy in 1946 because of an error in its translation of the original Imperial Japanese Navy combat action reports. The discovery was officially verified by the U.S. Navy and the families of the deceased crew members were notified. The submarine sits upright on the bottom in 1,400 ft (430 m) of water. The deck gun was found about 400 ft (about 120 m) from the primary wreckage.
The wreck has severe damage aft of the conning tower, consistent with Japanese reports of a direct bomb hit in that area.
Location
- Recorded position: 25.7833, 128.7500 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Philippine Sea
- Nearest coast: Nanseishoto
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Grayback (SS-208) (revision 1378827795), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- MV Derbyshire 1980 · 178 km
Other wrecks of the World War II
- U-983 1943
- USS Aludra 1943
- USS Beatty 1943
- USS Branch 1943
- USS Deimos 1943
- Akagi Maru 1944
- Fusō 1944
- HMS Bullen 1944
- HMS Dragon 1944
- HMS Isis 1944
All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
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