Can a mystery related to the sinking of a Naval ship 73 years ago be solved today and, if so, why does this have to do with Wiscasset?

The story involves the tragic loss of a Naval destroyer, the USS Turner that sank following a series of unexplained explosions below decks in the waters off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Jan. 3, 1944. The Pentagon recently announced it was beginning a new investigation to learn whether it can identify some of the sailors who died on board the Turner who were buried as “unknowns” in a New York cemetery.

For Shirley Hill of Gardiner Road, the Pentagon investigation might finally bring closure to the loss of her older brother Francis William Grant. He and over 100 other sailors died in the Turner accident. Seaman Grant was Wiscasset’s first causality of World War II.

Reached for comment Tuesday, Hill said she’d just learned of the new investigation.

“I’m kind of surprised by the news but glad to hear they’re taking another look into the loss of the Turner. If they’re able to identify Bill as one of those buried in New York it would finally bring closure for me and the family.”

Hill is a Navy veteran. After graduating from Wiscasset Academy in 1950, she followed in her brother’s footsteps by joining the Navy and serving for two years. She said she was just a child when her big brother was reported missing and presumed lost at sea along with 130 other sailors on the Turner when the accident occurred.

Because his remains were never identified, she said their parents placed a memorial stone in his memory at Wiscasset’s Woodlawn Cemetery. The inscription on the plaque reads: Francis W. Grant, USNR, USS Turner, Jan 3. 1944.” Grant was a few months short of his 21st birthday when he died.

Grant was known as Bill to his friends and classmates of Wiscasset Academy’s Class of 1941. A few details of his  life were included within a newspaper article announcing his death and on file in the archives of the Wiscasset Public Library. From it and other details shared by Hill, we learn his parents were Frank and Bridget M. Dunaher Grant. He was born in Boston, Jan. 6 1924. Besides his younger sister Shirley he had two brothers, Harry and Edward Grant, both now deceased.

After the Grants moved from Boston to Wiscasset, they lived on Birch Point Road. Their home is still in the family and is across from the former Birch Point School that Bill and his siblings attended as children.

Hill said she was 9 or 10 when her family learned of Bill Grant’s death. “I think we first heard about the Turner blowing up on the radio. A short time after that my parents received a telegram from the Navy saying he was among those who were missing.

“Some of things I remember about him is that he was well-liked by everyone and very smart, graduating at the top of his class. He was athletic too, and enjoyed playing baseball,” she continued.

After graduating from high school, Grant took a summer job at the Mason Station power plant just down the road from his home. Hill said he later became an apprentice in the machine shop at Bath Iron Works. On Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, his life and everybody else’s was turned upside down when it was learned the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor launching America into WWII.

An original account of the Turner accident announcing Grant’s death appeared in a 1944 newspaper article on file at the library. The newspaper isn’t named but the article is titled: “FIRST CASUALTY FROM WISCASSET FROM PRESENT WAR.” It states Grant enlisted in the Navy in October 1942. After training in Newport, Rhode Island, it says he was assigned to the destroyer USS Turner as a fire control technician 2nd class. The duties of a fire control tech included arming, aiming and firing the ship’s guns.

According to U.S. Naval records, now part of the public domain, the Turner took part in several Naval convoys escorting allied ships, both American and British, across the Atlantic. On one of those voyages, the Turner engaged a German U-boat in battle and either sank or severely disabled the enemy vessel.

Fate during wartime can be very cruel, and so it was with the Turner which was lost not in battle, but while it was anchored in friendly waters between New York and New Jersey in the Ambrose Channel.

Naval records state the accident began with a series of unexplained explosions below deck where ammunition was stored. The cause has never been fully established; the only thing known for sure is the Turner capsized and sank in the frigid waters. The Naval Department listed Grant among the 130 sailors and 15 officers missing and lost at sea.

Some of the bodies, perhaps as many as 70, were later recovered and interred at a cemetery on Long Island. The Pentagon’s involvement may help identify some of those who were listed as unknown.

Blanche Johnson of Wiscasset hopes Grant will be among those unknown sailors who are identified. Johnson grew up across the road from the Grant family and is a close acquaintance of Hill.

“Bill was a little older than me but I knew the family well and went to school with his younger brother. I remember hearing about Bill when it was learned he’d been lost at sea. It was such a sad, tragic story. It would be a wonderful thing if his remains might someday be returned to Wiscasset,” she said.

For more information on the USS Turner (DD-648), including a list of its casualties, visit the virtual cemetery created by John Dowdy at https://www.findagrave.com. Other online information is available at http://www.ussturner.org

This article has been updated.