Fatal Dive: Solving the World War II Mystery of the USS Grunion

Peter F. Stevens

ISBN 10: 1470826496 ISBN 13: 9781470826499

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2012

Synopsis

[Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.]

No radio distress call ever crackled from the submarine USS Grunion. In 1942, under the fog of World War II, the vessel simply vanished without a trace. For nearly sixty-five years, only a dead silence lingered regarding the fate of the sub and its seventy-man crew -- until now. Here author Peter F. Stevens reveals the incredible true story of the search for and discovery of the Grunion -- as well as the navy's shocking and willful cover-up of the submarine's baffling disappearance. Discovered in 2006 after a decades-long search by the Abele brothers, whose father commanded the submarine and met his untimely death aboard it, one question remained: what sank the USS Grunion? Now, for the first time ever, Fatal Dive reveals the answer: one of the Grunion's own missiles. The navy knowingly sent the Grunion out with faulty torpedoes, and Fatal Dive reveals damning and never-before-published government documents that provide irrefutable evidence of its shameful cover-up. Intriguing and explosive, Fatal Dive finally lays to rest one of World War II's greatest mysteries.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

LOST WITHOUT A TRACE

On July 31, 1942, the Naval submarine USS Grunion, along with her seventy-man crew, vanished without a trace in the icy waters off Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. For decades, the U.S. Navy was unable to reveal further information about the sub’s fate it had simply vanished. But Commander Jim Abele’s family never gave up their quest to discover the truth. They repeatedly applied to the Navy, corresponded with the families of crew members, consulted with Japanese sources, and finally undertook the quixotic task of locating the Grunion herself. More than six decades after the submarine’s loss, Jim Abele’s three sons astonished the experts by locating the lost submarine 3,000 feet below the surface of one of the world’s most dangerous bodies of water.

But the question remained: What sank the Grunion?

In this explosive new account of the search for the Grunion, author Peter F. Stevens draws on the experiences and the exhaustive research of Bruce, Brad, John, and Susan Abele and Mary and Richard Bentz to provide a cliffhanging account of the submarine’s loss, of its improbable discovery more than half a century later, and ultimately of the Abeles’ final quest to establish how the Grunion was lost. Using obscure government documents and eyewitness accounts from Japanese naval officers who were the last to see the Grunion, Stevens lays out the compelling case that the true reason for sinking may well have been too embarrassing for the Navy to reveal.

From the Back Cover

Peter Stevens unreels a fascinating piece of nautical history. This real-life drama of war, suspense, and human achievement in the face of frightful odds is mesmerizing from start to finish. A book for all.”
LIEUTENANT GENERAL DAVE PALMER (RETIRED),
author of George Washington and Benedict Arnold and George Washington’s Military Genius
A thriller that plows forward with the unrelenting intensity of a World War II submarine hunting down an enemy cruiser, but this tale is powered by the devotion of three faithful sons desperately searching for their father, Lieutenant Commander Jim Abele and to solve the fate of his crew, the men of the USS Grunion. A masterful mystery that is truly a love story disguised as a war story.”
MICHAEL KEANE, author of Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer
"A fascinating account of how a brave man’s loyal sons discovered that a stateside design flaw had doomed him and his crew. Touching and eloquent.”
JOHN KOSTER, author of Operation Snow: How a Soviet Mole in FDR’s White House Triggered Pearl Harbor
Suspenseful a chilling conclusion.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1470826496
• ISBN 13: 9781470826499
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 6