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Nicole Summers, MMFN
to remember
Arvan, Herbert Joseph, Matt2c.
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Casualty Info
Home Town New Iberia, LA
Last Address DeQuincey, LA
Casualty Date Jul 30, 1942
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 5 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Departing Hawaii on 30 June 1942 after ten days of intensive training, the USS Grunion (SS-216) touched Midway Island before heading toward the Aleutian Islands for her first war patrol. Her first report, made as she patrolled north of Kiska Island, stated she had been attacked by a Japanese destroyer and had fired torpedoes at her with inconclusive results. She operated off Kiska throughout July and sank two enemy patrol boats as she waited for enemy shipping. On 30 July, the submarine reported intensive antisubmarine activity and was ordered back to Dutch Harbor.
The Grunion was never heard from again. Air searches off Kiska were fruitless, and on 5 October the Grunion was reported overdue from patrol and assumed lost with all hands. Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 November 1942. Captured Japanese records show no antisubmarine attacks in the Kiska area, and the fate of Grunion remained a mystery for 65 years, until the discovery in the Bering Sea in August 2007 of a wreck believed to be her. In October 2008, the U.S. Navy verified that the wreck is the Grunion.
Matt2c Arvan was a member of the crew of the USS Grunion when she went missing.
Comments/Citation:
Herbert Joseph Arvan was born May 1, 1924 in New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana, son of Delton and Albertia Arvan. His family lived in New Iberia, where his father worked as a brakeman for the Missouri Pacific Lines steam railroad. Herbert had one brother, Fulton, who served with the Army during WWII. He had a grade school education.
Soon after Pearl Harbor, on December 16, 1941, Herbert entered the Naval Reserves at New Orleans, Louisiana. His basic training was at the US Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia. As a Mess Attendant, he served aboard USS O-4 (SS-65), USS S-48 (SS-159) and USS S-20 (SS-125), before reporting aboard USS Grunion (SS-216) on May 23, 1942.
Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942. The vessel completed pre-patrol training before departing on its first war patrol June 30. Grunion’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Abele, was ordered to proceed to the Aleutian Islands and patrol westward from Attu on routes between the Aleutians and the Japanese Empire. On July 10, Grunion was reassigned to the area north of Kiska. Over the next 20 days, the submarine reported firing on an enemy destroyer, sinking three destroyer-type vessels, and attacking unidentified enemy ships near Kiska.
Grunion’s last transmission was received on July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy antisubmarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. There was no contact or sighting of the submarine after July 30, and on August 16, Grunion was reported lost.
After discovering information on the internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion’s possible location, the sons of Grunion’s commanding officer, Bruce, Brad, and John Abele, began working on a plan to find the submarine. In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean’s surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage of a U.S. fleet submarine, later confirmed by Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) to be Grunion.
Herbert J. Arvan’s name appears on the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. A memorial stone is in Dayton National Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at sgould557@gmail.com.
