The Last Patrol of the USS Greyback

The ocean is a place of infinite mystery. It holds forgotten civilizations, sunken cities, and silent wrecks that stand as watery tombstones of human history. For ocean explorer Tim Taylor, the ocean wasn’t just a place of curiosity — it was his life’s mission, his calling. He wasn’t merely fascinated by what lay beneath the waves. He was determined to recover a piece of history that had haunted the U.S. Navy for seventy-five years: the USS Greyback.

This was not a casual hobby. Taylor knew that somewhere out there lay 52 U.S. submarines from World War II that had vanished without a trace. To him, every one of those submarines was a story unfinished — a family without closure, a wound left unhealed. He called his initiative the Lost 52 Project, and its purpose was simple: to find every single one of those subs and give their sailors the dignity of being remembered.

The Legend of the Greyback

The USS Greyback (SS-208) wasn’t just any submarine. Commissioned in 1941 and launched from Groton, Connecticut, it became one of the most aggressive and successful submarines in the Pacific Fleet during World War II. Over ten patrols, Greyback was credited with sinking more than 63,000 tons of enemy shipping, including cargo ships, oil tankers, and even Japanese naval vessels. She and her crew were decorated heroes, and by early 1944, the Greyback had earned a fearsome reputation among Allied and Axis forces alike.

But war is fickle, and glory often comes with a heavy price.

On February 27, 1944, the Greyback sent what would be her final radio transmission. The message detailed the sinking of a large enemy transport ship and the damage inflicted on other Japanese targets. But within hours, a Japanese carrier-based bomber spotted her on the surface of the East China Sea. The pilot attacked, scoring a direct hit that reportedly caused a catastrophic explosion. A Japanese anti-submarine vessel followed up with depth charges until an oil slick rose to the surface.

That was the last the world ever heard of Greyback.

By March 30, 1944, she was declared lost with all hands. Eighty sailors perished. Families were notified. Memorial services were held. And then the story faded, as the war dragged on and new battles took center stage.

For decades, the exact location of Greyback remained unknown. Navy historians suspected she was somewhere near Okinawa, but the ocean floor is vast, and early post-war mapping relied on flawed coordinates taken from Japanese military logs.

A Civilian Steps In

Tim Taylor had already proven himself a capable explorer when he located the wreck of the USS R-12 off the coast of Key West in 2010. That discovery was bittersweet — the R-12 had been lost during a training accident in 1943, killing 42 sailors — but it provided their descendants with closure. It also gave Taylor the confidence to push for something bigger: the discovery of all 52 submarines lost during WWII.

Finding Greyback became a personal obsession. Taylor’s team spent years poring over Japanese naval archives, re-examining U.S. Navy reports, and using advanced digital mapping tools. Then they found it: a single transcription error in the Japanese report — one wrong digit in the latitude coordinate. Correcting it shifted the likely search zone more than 100 miles away from where previous expeditions had looked.

“This was our breakthrough,” Taylor later said. “One tiny number changed the entire story.”

In June 2019, Taylor and his crew aboard the research vessel Tiburon sailed to Okinawa. They deployed autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with sonar imaging to scan the seafloor in high resolution. It was a daunting, expensive effort, and morale wavered when mechanical failures threatened to end the mission early.

Then, during a routine sweep of the seabed, one of the AUVs sent back an image that froze everyone in the control room.

It was unmistakable: a long, cigar-shaped hull, resting upright. A massive rupture in the bow, consistent with a torpedo or bomb strike. And near the conning tower, a plaque still faintly bore the submarine’s name.

They had found Greyback.

The Navy Confirms the Find

Taylor’s first call was to the U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command. A team of military historians and forensic experts reviewed the images, compared them to known schematics, and confirmed the identification.

After 75 years, the Greyback had been located — nearly 1,400 feet below the surface, southeast of Okinawa.

The announcement was made public in November 2019, and it rippled through the Navy community and among the families of the lost sailors.

The Families React

For people like Kathy Taylor, niece of sailor John Patrick King, the news was life-changing.

“When I was a little girl, I used to stare at my uncle’s picture in uniform and wonder where he was,” she said during an interview with ABC News. “There was no grave to visit, no answers. Now we finally know. We finally have a place to honor him.”

Families of other crew members expressed similar emotions — a mixture of grief and relief.

“It feels like a wound reopening,” said Mark O’Donnell, grandson of Chief Petty Officer George O’Donnell. “But now that we know where they are, we can finally begin to heal. They’re no longer lost. They’re found.”

A Virtual Memorial Beneath the Waves

Taylor’s team didn’t just find Greyback; they digitally preserved her. Using advanced photogrammetry, they created a 4D interactive model of the wreck, allowing anyone to virtually “dive” to the site and explore it in unprecedented detail.

For the first time, families and historians could see exactly how the submarine looked after 75 years beneath the sea. Coral had grown across the hull. Fish swam through the open hatches. Nature had transformed Greyback into an underwater monument.

Taylor insisted that the wreck remain undisturbed. “This is a war grave,” he said. “We treat it with the same respect as Arlington National Cemetery.”

Closure and Commemoration

In 2020, the U.S. Navy held a formal ceremony at Pearl Harbor to commemorate the discovery. Relatives of the Greyback crew were invited to attend.

A Navy chaplain led prayers. A bell tolled 80 times — once for each sailor who never came home. As part of the ceremony, an American flag was lowered to half-mast and later presented to the families as a symbol of gratitude for their loved ones’ sacrifice.

For many, this was the first time they had been able to mourn properly.

“I used to wonder if they suffered, if they had a chance,” said Kathy Taylor. “Now I imagine them together, standing their watch until the end. It brings me peace.”

The Legacy of Tim Taylor

Taylor didn’t stop with Greyback. The Lost 52 Project has since located multiple other submarines, continuing to bring closure to families and rewriting naval history one wreck at a time.

For him, the mission is far from over.

“These men gave everything,” Taylor said. “The least we can do is bring their story back into the light. We’re not just finding submarines. We’re finding people, we’re finding history, and we’re making sure they’re never forgotten.”

Epilogue: The Ocean Gives Back Its Secrets

The story of the USS Greyback is more than a tale of a lost ship finally found. It is a testament to perseverance — of the sailors who fought to the very end, of the families who never stopped asking questions, and of explorers like Tim Taylor who refused to give up.

The ocean had kept its secret for 75 years. And when it was finally revealed, it offered not just a glimpse of the past, but a chance for healing.

In the quiet depths of the East China Sea, the Greyback still lies, her bow torn open, her deck covered with coral. But she is no longer lost.

She is remembered.

And in that remembrance, the story of her crew lives on.