July 29, 1942

The Aleutian Islands, Alaska

WWII

Japanese freighter, KANO MARO is on a mission tobring supplies to Japanese troops on both Attu andKiska Island, both of which are occupied by troops whohave dug extensive tunnels and trenches to defend theirpositions on American soil.

KANO MARU approaches Kiska Island, but

heavy fog prevents her from entering KiskaHarbor. She drifts off shore.

As the fog begins to thin out, KANO MARU heads toward Kiska Harbor at 15 knots.

American submarine USS GRUNION surprises the KANO MARU, launching a torpedo that hits the machinery room of the Japanese ship. Two Japanese sailors are killed. The starboard machinery room floods, and the diesel engine shuts down.

The KANO MARU, however, remains afloat although she lacks engine power. When the Japanese crew spots a periscope, they open fire with their big 40-calibre 3-inch guns. No hits.

LtCdr Mannert Abele fires another torpedo, but the Mark-14 torpedoes are unreliable. It passes beneath the KANO MARU. The GRUNION fires two more, scoring two hits, but both torpedoes fail to explode.

Abele orders the GRUNION to surface, where the crew attempts to sink the disabled KANO MARU with gunfire.

The KANO MARU also uses her guns. She opens fire on the GRUNION. One shot hits the GRUNION’s conning tower.

The GRUNION dives...Abele’s crew loses depth control… The GRUNION plunges into the deep.

…She exceeds crush depth and implodes in the freezing Bering Sea

waters.

Sudden death claims every crew member.

Later, sub-chaser ISHIZAKI and cable-layer ship UKISHIMA arrive on scene. The crewmen spot debris from the doomed USS GRUNION floating on the surface. A crew from ISHIZAKI boards the KANO MARU to assist with repairs.

A Japanese transport ship attempts to tow the KANO MARU back to Kiska Harbor, but the towing cable breaks. The KANO MARU drifts all night in the stormy Bering Sea.

The next day KANO MARU is towed to Kiska Harbor , where her cargo is offloaded.

The US aerial bombardment of Kiska Island continues. The day of her arrival, two bombs explode near the wounded KANO MARU. She sustains hull damage from a near miss on her port side.

An Aleutian storm drives the KANO MARU against the coast. More than a mile SW of Kiska Harbor, she runs aground at the base of an eighty foot cliff. She is deemed beyond repair and abandoned.

Meanwhile, naval command waits for word from the GRUNION, but she is never seen again.

Until…

She is found by the two sons of her captain, LtdCmdrMannert Abele, after more than six decades at the bottom of the Bering Sea. They locate her north of McArthur reef, Kiska Island in 2006.

Source: Gilbert Casse, Bob Hackett and Peter Cundall. IJN KANO MARU, 2011.

After learning about Kiska Island’s unique wartime

history, I was inspired to use it as the setting of my

novel, THE GOLDEN CATCH. The story centers around a

Japanese shipwreck and it’s mysterious cargo.

PURCHASE HERE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YTI1UY