Belgian diving specialist co-discoverer of sunken American submarine from World War II

A group of diving specialists have discovered the wreckage of an American submarine, which was lost in a Japanese air raid during World War II. For the time being it is assumed that it concerns the USS Grenadier, one of the 52 submarines that the Americans lost in that war.

The wreck lies at a depth of 82 meters in the Strait of Malacca, about 150 kilometers south of Phuket. It was discovered by a team of 4 dive specialists, from Singapore, France, Australia and the Belgian Ben Reymenants, who lives in Phuket.

Ben Reymenants

We remember this Belgian diving specialist as one of the divers who played an important role in the dramatic liberation of a group of football players who became trapped in a cave in the north of Thailand.

Reymenants has been researching possible moorings for shipwrecks for years. Together with two other diving specialists, they followed tips from fishermen, for example, to examine the bottom with sonar equipment at the designated locations.

The dive crew has now sent photos and other evidence collected during 6 dives from October 2019 to March this year to the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification.

USS Grenadier

The 1.475-ton, 307-foot Grenadier was sunk by its crew after bombs from a Japanese plane almost sent them to a sea's grave. All 76 crew members survived the bombing and sinking, but their pain that followed would linger. After being captured, they were tortured, beaten and nearly starved to death in a Japanese POW camp for over two years. Four Americans did not survive that ordeal.

Read the whole story, especially the report on the bombing and sinking of the boat that eventually led to the end of the USS Grenadier at this link: www.khaosodenglish.com