Which US submarine was listed as missing for 75 years and was recently found in 2019?

The USS ‘Grayback’ (SS-208) was a ‘Tambor’-class submarine launched in January 1941 and commissioned six months later for action in WWII in the Pacific theater. Throughout the war the submarine successfully completed 10 patrols. Success was measured in terms of enemy tonnage sunk. It was on her 10th patrol in January 1944 that she was most successful in terms of tonnage sunk of Japanese ships.

After sinking additional Japanese ships on its 10th patrol, with just two torpedoes left aboard, she was ordered to return home, due to reach Midway Island on March 7th. When ‘Grayback’ failed to appear, on March 30, 1944, ComSubPac listed her as missing and presumed lost with all hands aboard.

From captured Japanese records the submarine’s last few days can be pieced together. Heading home through the East China Sea, ‘Grayback’ used her last two torpedoes to sink a freighter.

That same day, a Japanese carrier-based plane spotted her in route to Midway Island and attacked. The ‘Grayback’ was sunk!

It was 75 years later in June 2019, that a private research group, ‘Lost 52 Project’, announced it had found the wreck of ‘Grayback’ 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) south of Okinawa. The discovery was officially verified by the US Navy and the families of the deceased crew members were notified. A complement of 6 officers and 54 enlisted were aboard.

The submarine sits upright on the bottom of 1,400 feet (430 meters) of water.