76 Years After This U.S. Navy Submarine Was Lost, Divers Unraveled Its Terrible Fate

As the sun rises over the ocean, a United States submarine approaches a pair of Japanese vessels. But before the crew can scupper their targets, an enemy aircraft appears overhead. In a desperate bid for survival, the vessel plunges deep beneath the waves — as bombs rain down from above. Seven decades later, an international team of divers find something hidden on the seabed, unraveling the final chapter in this incredible story.

A mystery beneath the waves

Some 15 months after the U.S. officially became involved in World War II, the USS Grenadier set off on its final mission. And in the Strait of Malacca, between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, it met its unfortunate end. But what happened to the stricken submarine after the bombs fell? For years, it seemed like the mystery would lie dormant beneath the waves... until 2019.

A watery grave?

Did the Grenadier’s 76-man crew sink with the vessel towards a watery grave? Or perhaps they escaped, only to endure further horrors in one of the conflict’s most violent theaters? After they were attacked, the crew scrambled to fix the damage, but they knew their time on the submarine was numbered. The men found themselves facing an uncertain – and terrifying – fate.

The sub was lost to time

For years, nobody knew the full story of what happened to the Grenadier. Like so many other missions during the war, it seemed to simply vanish out of history. Then, trawler crews in the Strait of Malacca began to report something catching their nets beneath the surface. Diving down hundreds of feet, researchers uncovered a forgotten secret – allowing the tale of the long-lost submarine to finally be told.

The Grenadier was a beast

The Grenadier first set sail from Maine in November 1940. It took its moniker from the fish of the same name, a creature that, ironically, thrives in the ocean’s depths. Weighing in at close to 1,500 tons, the vessel was more than 300 feet in length and capable of reaching more than 20 knots on the surface. The Grenadier was a beast — which is exactly why it was sent on some of the most dangerous naval missions.