USS Bonita (SS-165)
History of the USS Bonita Submarine
The USS Bonita (SS-165) was originally known as the V-3. She was ordered for the U.S. Navy after World War I. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on November 16, 1921. She was launched on June 9, 1925 and commissioned on May 22, 1926 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Lockwood, Jr.
In her early years, the V-3 served as part of Submarine Division 3 in the East Coast and the Caribbean. She was transferred to San Diego, California on December 17, 1927 to serve with the Pacific Fleet. The submarine was renamed the USS Bonita on March 9, 1931 and assigned the hull classification symbol SS-165 on July 1. In September 1933, she sailed with Submarine Division 12 along the West Coast, in the Caribbean, and around Hawaii. She was decommissioned on June 4, 1937 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania.
The USS Bonita was recommissioned on September 5, 1940 when World War II broke out in Europe. She conducted defensive patrols off the Pacific Coast of Central America until October 1942, based out of Panama. The submarine then underwent overhaul to serve as a specialized cargo-carrying submarine. The role did not suit her well, and she returned to New London, Connecticut for training duty.
With the advent of more modern submarines, the USS Bonita was decommissioned on March 3, 1945. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on March 10 and sold for scrap on October 4 of the same year.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma.
Sources include:
Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences, by John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed
