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USS Grenadier (SS-210)
The battle-tired
submarine departed Australia
20 March 1943 on her last war patrol and headed for the Straight of Malacca,
gateway between the Pacific and Indian
Oceans. Patrolling along
the Malay and Thai coasts, GRENADIER claimed a small freighter off the island of Phuket 6 April. She remained in the area
and late in the night of 20 April sighted two merchantmen and closed in for the
attack. Running on the surface at dawn 21 April, GRENADIER spotted, and was
simultaneously spotted by, a Japanese plane. As the sub crash dived, her
skipper, Comdr. John A. Fitzgerald commented "we ought to be safe now, as
we are between 120 and 130 feet." Just then, bombs rocked GRENADIER and
heeled her over 15 to 20 degrees. Power and lights failed completely and the
fatally wounded ship settled to the bottom at 267 feet. She tried to make
repairs while a fierce fire blazed in the maneuvering room.
After 13 hours of
sweating it out on the bottom GRENADIER managed to surface after dark to clear
the boat of smoke and inspect damage. The damage to her propulsion system was
irreparable. Attempting to bring his ship close to shore so that the crew could
scuttle her and escape into the jungle, Comdr. Fitzgerald even tried to
jury-rig a sail. But the long night's work proved futile. As dawn broke, 22
April, GRENADIER's weary crew sighted two Japanese ships heading for them. As
the skipper "didn't think it advisable to make a stationary dive in 280 feet
of water without power," the crew began burning confidential documents
prior to abandoning ship. A Japanese plane attacked the stricken submarine; but
GRENADIER, though dead in the water and to all appearances helpless, blazed
away with machine guns. She hit the plane on its second pass. As the damaged
plane veered off, its torpedo landed about 200 yards from the boat and
exploded.
Reluctantly opening
all vents, GRENADIER's crew abandoned ship and watched her sink to her final
resting place. A Japanese merchantman picked up 8 officers and 68 enlisted men
and took them to Penang, Malay States, where
they were questioned, beaten, and starved before being sent to other prison
camps. They were then separated and transferred from camp to camp along the
Malay Peninsula and finally to Japan.
Throughout the war they suffered brutal, inhuman treatment, and their refusal
to reveal military information both frustrated and angered their captors. First
word that any had survived GRENADIER reached Australia 27 November 1943. Despite
the brutal and sadistic treatment, all but four of GRENADIER's crew survived
their 2 years in Japanese hands to tell rescuing American forces of their
boat's last patrol and the courage and heroism of her skipper and crew.