The Malay Barrier was the site of Grenadier's fourth war patrol from 13 October to 10 December. After laying a minefield off Haiphong, Indochina, the submarine made an unsuccessful attack on a large freighter. During the severe depth charging which followed, sea water seeped into the batteries; Grenadier's crew suffered headaches and nausea from chlorine gas poisoning for the remainder of the patrol. On 12 November, she attacked and sank by torpedo the rescue tug Hokkai Maru (457 GRT) off the coast of Vietnam (11°18'N 109°02'E).[8][9] To increase the misery, on 20 November Grenadier spotted a Ryūjō-class aircraft carrier, escorted by a cruiser and a destroyer, heading through the Strait of Makassar too distant to shoot. Grenadier surfaced to radio the aircraft carrier's location and course to Fremantle submarine base in hope that another submarine could capitalize on it.
Grenadier's fifth war patrol, under the command of LCDR John Allison Fitzgerald, between 1 January and 20 February 1943, brought her considerably better fortune than earlier patrols. A 75-ton schooner fell victim to her deck guns 10 January, and two days later Grenadier sighted a small tanker with a barge in tow. Judging the target not worth a torpedo, she slipped silently into the column behind the two Japanese ships. At dusk she battle surfaced. With binoculars lashed to the deck guns as sights, she raked the tanker and barge, sinking them immediately. The remainder of her patrol, along the Borneo coast through shallow and treacherous waters, was hampered by fathometer failures. She conducted an aggressive attack on two cargo ships 22 January but did not sink them.
The submarine departed Australia on 20 March on her last war patrol and headed for the Strait 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 on 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. The submarine dived, and as it passed 130 feet (40 m) her executive officer commented, "We ought to be safe now." Just then, explosions 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 270 feet (82 m). She tried to make repairs, while a fierce fire blazed in the maneuvering room.[10]
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 closer to shore so that the crew could scuttle her and escape into the jungle, Commander Fitzgerald even tried to jury-rig a sail. But the long night's work proved futile. As dawn broke on 22 April, Grenadier's weary crew sighted two Japanese ships heading for them. The skipper "didn't think it advisable to make a stationary dive in 280 feet of water without power," and 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 her machine guns. She hit the plane on its second pass. As the damaged plane veered off, its torpedo landed about 200 yards (200 m) from the boat and exploded.
Loss
Opening all vents, the crew of Grenadier abandoned ship and watched her sink to her final resting place. A Japanese merchantman picked up eight 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 frustrated and angered their captors. First word that any had survived Grenadier reached Australia on 27 November 1943. Despite the brutal and sadistic treatment, all but four of Grenadier's crew survived their two years in Japanese hands.
Grenadier received four battle stars for World War II service.
The sunken wreck of the USS grenadier was found by a team of Australian , French and Belgian divers in 2020.[11]
“Father, when we too are tired, and prepare ourselves to slip beneath the final wave,
Grant that we may let loose the moorings And sink slowly into the deep waters trusting like them, to wake with thee”
Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk