John Harrison Wells was born on 23 March 1920, in Ohio. His parents are John & Lesta (Belle) Nichols. John married Elizabeth M. (Sugden), on 23 March 1942, New London, Connecticut.

John H. Wells entered the United States Navy on 25 January 1939, while a resident of Marion, Ohio. While serving in the Navy, John attained the rank of Torpedoman’s Mate Second Class (TM2). It appears he served aboard the following: USS 0-7 / SS-68 (an O-class submarine), USS R-2 / SS-79 (an R-class Submarine), and the USS Wasmuth DD-338 (a Clemson class destroyer). He was last assigned to the submarine U.S.S. Grunion (SS-216). The Grunion was a Gato-class submarine.

TM2 John H. Wells was aboard the Gunion, while it was on patrol off the Aleutian Islands. On 30 July 1942, while the Gunion was patrolling near Kiska Island, it reported intensive antisubmarine activity. The Gunion was then ordered back to Dutch Harbor. The Grunion was never heard from again. All crew was reported as Missing in Action. The government did not officially declare TM2 John H. Wells as dead until 2 August 1943. It was later discovered that the Grunion was sunk by Japanese freighter Kano Maru. The Grunion received one battle star for her World War II service.

Sinking of U.S.S. Grunion (SS-216):

31 July 1942:
Off Kiska, Aleutians. While the dense fog weakens a little, KANO MARU resumes her course to Kiska harbor cruising at 15 knots. At 0547, LtCdr Mannert L. Abele’s (USNA’26) (former CO of USS S-31) USS GRUNION (SS-216) on her first war patrol, torpedoes KANO MARU and gets a hit on the starboard machinery room that floods and stops the diesel engine. Two crewmen are KIA.

At 0548, the sub’s periscope is spotted. KANO MARU’s 8-cm/40 (3-inch) Type 41 guns and 13mm MGs fire at USS GRUNION, but score no hits. At 0557, Abele fires another unreliable Mark-14 torpedo that runs deep. At 0607, two other torpedoes hit KANO MARU near the machinery room, but fail to explode. Abele attempts to surface and sink KANO MARU by gunfire, but sustains fire from KANO MARU guns and MGs. At 0610, the 8cm gun’s 84th shot hits the conning tower. USS GRUNION crash dives, but Abele’s green crew loses depth control. USS GRUNION exceeds crush depth, implodes and is lost.

Imperial Japanese Navy Page

Rediscovered

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.

From Lost 52Project

The body of TM2 John H. Wells was not recovered. He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.

TM2 John H. Wells is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.

Watch the Lost52Project video (about 4 minutes in length) about the Grunion.