WWII submarine wreckage found, bringing closure to Camarillo woman who lost uncle

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- On the eve of Veterans Day a Camarillo woman is learning about the final resting place of a relative entombed at sea, in a long-lost submarine that sunk during World War II.

The USS Grayback is credited with sinking 14 enemy ships.

In January 1944, after nine successful patrol missions, it set out from Pearl Harbor to patrol the seas south of Japan - only to never return.

The exact fate and final resting place of the submarine were never known for sure. Until now.

Some 1,400 feet below the surface off the coast of Japan, a team of ocean explorers have discovered the final resting place of the 80 Americans who went down with the Grayback.

Among the first people to hear the news and see footage of the undersea wreckage was Kathy Taylor. The Camarillo woman lost her uncle and godfather, John Patrick King, who was an electrician's mate, third class.

"I committed from the very beginning, from a little girl, that I was gonna find him or follow him or keep his memory alive," Taylor said.

She flew to Pittsburgh recently to meet with the explorers who found the Grayback. The Lost 52 project seeks to document and preserve the story of the 52 U.S. submarines that were lost during WWII.

Explorers Tim Taylor and his wife Christine Dennison and their project have now found five of the 52 lost subs. Some of the others have been found by other teams.

"With the technology that we're using, and the ability to cover large swaths of ground, we're looking at potential to find several more," said Tim Taylor.

That cutting-edge technology includes submersibles that can reach the ocean floor, automated to help create three-dimensional renderings of the sub providing clues to its final moments.

Kathy Taylor was grateful for the group's work and for, in a sense, bringing her uncle back to her.

"He's come back," she said. "Thank you. Thank you very much."