A Gato-class submarine, named USS Grunion, went missing about a month after it departed on its first war patrol. But the sons of the Grunion's commanding officer started a search operation and finally found the wreckage in 2007 and now after 12 years, the submarine's bow has also been identified near a remote Alaskan island.
Tim Taylor of the Lost 52 Project, which is using photogrammetry technology as a digital in-situ preservation technique, identified the remains of sunken World War II submarines.
It should be noted that Lost 52 Project "is taking the large data sets collected on their discoveries and having them processed into 3D archaeological photogrammetry models," as per the website.
In October 2018, the team of the Lost 52 Project returned to the site where the first evidence of World War II was found. After conducting the research they discovered the ship's bow, which has slid down a steep volcanic embankment.
Then the team carried out a 3D scan of the bow and showed it to the family of USS Grunion's Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele.
As reported by CNN, Lost 52 Project Founder Tim Taylor said when they presented the results top the family, "it opened up so much more understanding of what happened and why it sank and what happened to the submarine."
The USS Grunion was reported missing on August 16, 1942. As per the reports, the submarine was lost after it launched an enemy destroyer and attacked enemy ships during the first war patrol.
As per the US Navy, in 2002, Grunion's commanding officer's three sons, Bruce, Brad and John decided to search for the lost vessel after discovering a clue online. In 2006, they first hired a team of side-scan sonar experts then in August 2007 they photographed the wreckage of the ship. The USS Grunion wreck was verified by the US Navy in October 2008.
The recent finding of the submarine's bow off the coast of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska was made a short distance from the main wreck.
Tim Taylor is also the CEO of Tiburon Subsea, which provides global underwater technology rental and leasing services, and the founder of Ocean Outreach, which conducts exploration programs. The discovery of USS Grunion's bow marked his fourth World War II submarine finding.
