World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWith Lieutenant Commander Edward S. Hutchinson in command, submarine Grampus held her shakedown cruise in Long Island Sound off the east coast of United States. She patrolled in the Caribbean Sea with submarine Grayback between 8 and 28 Sep 1941. When the United States entered the war in Dec 1941, she was undergoing post-shakedown overhaul at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She sailed for the Pacific Ocean in late 1941, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 1 Feb 1942. On her first war patrol from 8 Feb to 4 Apr 1942, she scored the only kill of her career, a Japanese 8,636-ton tanker. On 2 Oct 1942, she departed for her fourth war patrol with four coast watchers on board. She landed the coast watchers on Vella Lavella and Choiseul islands in the Solomon Islands. On this patrol, she attacked Japanese warships aggressively, including a torpedo hit on cruiser Yura that failed to explode, but did not score any kills; 104 depth charges were launched against her during this war patrol, but she escaped unscathed. Her fourth war patrol ended on 23 Nov 1942 in Australia. Her fifth war patrol between 14 Dec 1942 to 19 Jan 1943 was similarly aggressive, but again she did not score any kills. On 11 Feb 1943, Grampus set aside from Brisbane, Australia on her sixth war patrol from which she never returned. Her sinking is still a mystery today. It is presumed that she was sunk by Japanese destroyers Minegumo and Murasame in the Battle of Blackett Strait near Kolombangara Island because a heavy oil slick was sighted there the day after communications were lost with Grampus.

Photographs

Grampus Operational Timeline

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