WRENTHAM - It was one of the most intriguing stories of last summer. And it has a local connection.

The three sons of the commander of a submarine that sank during World War II successfully led a search that located the vessel in frigid deep waters off the Alaskan coast.

A town resident, Russell Tupper, is the cousin of the sons, and has arranged for the eldest, Bruce Abele, 77, of Newton, to speak about the discovery expedition Saturday morning in Wrentham.

In July 1942, the USS Grunion, a Gato Class U.S. Navy submarine with a crew of 70, was sunk by enemy action near Kiska Island, one of two Aleutian Islands occupied by the Japanese. The submarine rested under 3,000 feet of water for 65 years until an expedition in the summer of 2006 located the vessel and a follow-up excursion last summer verified it was the Grunion.

"There was some controversy whether they had the right submarine," Tupper said. However, the unusual design of the sub helped with identification. "This is unique, to actually be able to follow through and find" a sunken warship, Tupper said.

The expedition required extensive research and planning.

"When the sub went down, no one knew what happened except it was missing in action," Tupper said.

For decades, relatives of the lost crewmen had no information other than scant Navy records and rumors about where and why the sub went down.

The Grunion had sunk two Japanese submarine chasers and heavily damaged a third in July 1942. Its last radio message described heavy enemy activity at Kiska Harbor.

Five years ago, a Japanese man who had heard about the Grunion's disappearance e-mailed Bruce Abele the links to several Web sites on the sub.

One site mentioned a Japanese model shipbuilder who said he thought he knew what had happened to the Grunion.

John Abele contacted the man, who translated and sent him a report written in the 1960s by a Japanese Navy captain that described a confrontation between a U.S. sub and the officer's freighter about 10 miles northeast of Kiska - the Grunion's patrol area.

The sub dispatched a half-dozen torpedoes and one successful hit knocked out engines and communications. The captain indicated he returned fire with an 8-centimeter gun and believed he had sunk the sub.

The Abeles hired a marine survey firm for an expedition that involved sending sonar technicians and equipment aboard a Bering Sea crab boat. For more than two weeks, 24 hours a day, a sonar cable was towed through a 240-square-mile grid that the survey team had plotted using information from naval archives and the Japanese officer's account. The sonar in August 2006 picked up a 290-foot-long object wedged into a terrace on the slope of a volcano. The Grunion, however, was 312 feet long. The survey team believed the bow may have plowed beneath thick sediment. Also, the Grunion is the only known sunken vessel in the area and the sonar captured the outline of a sub observation tower.

"The seas are treacherous out there. There was only about one month" of the year the expedition could be undertaken, Tupper said.

The second search this past summer involved a remote-controlled underwater camera. The expedition provided enough proof it was the wrecked sub, and a memorial ceremony was held at the site.

"It is remarkable. When this thing broke, they began getting letters from crew members survivors, sons and daughters and in some cases even wives. One woman was in her 90s," Tupper said of his cousins. "It is kind of remarkable after 65 years, there still is a connection."

Lt. Cmdr. Jim Abele was later awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

"They also have many letters written back and forth between the wife of the commander and survivors," added Tupper, who served in the Navy during the Korean War and has an interest in military history.

"The void was big in their lives. They grew up without a father," Tupper said of his cousins. "When the boat went down, all were very young."

One son, Bradford, became a Navy pilot. Another son, John, co-founded Boston Scientific, the well-known medical supply company, and he funded and led the underwater search.

The find of the sub made national news, and was featured on the "Today Show" and other media. National Geographic and The History Channel have shown an interest in featuring the discovery.

"I thought it might be especially interesting" because of the publicity, Wrentham Veterans Agent Kenneth Graves said of the talk.

With the anniversary of Pearl Harbor next Friday, Dec. 7, and growing interest in military affairs, the visit is also timely, Graves said.

Abele will give the illustrated talk at 8 a.m. in the fellowship hall at the Original Congregational Church downtown as part of the monthly meetings of the church men's fellowship group of which Graves and Tupper are members.

Those who plan to attend a breakfast at 7:30 before the talk are asked to call Graves at 508-384-8084 or kenneth.v.graves@gmail.com, or to the church office at 508-384-3110 or office@occhurch.net.

More information about the sub search can be found at www.ussgrunion.com.

STEPHEN PETERSON can be reached at 508-236-0377 or at speterson@thesunchronicle.com.