USS Bugara (SS-331)
History of the USS Bugara Submarine
The USS Bugara (SS-331) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Connecticut on October 21, 1943. She was launched on July 2, 1944 and commissioned on November 15, 1944 under the command of Commander A.F. Schade.
The USS Bugara began her first war patrol out of Pearl Harbor on February 21, 1945. This patrol and her second were rather uneventful, as she made no enemy contacts. During her third war patrol in the Gulf of Siam, though, the submarine more than made up for this with a record of daily kills. On July 24, she sank four small Japanese vessels with her gunfire. The next day, she sank five more. She sank five more small vessels on July 26 and three on July 27. The submarine sank five more vessels the next day, three the day after that, and three more the following day. She sank another five vessels on July 31.
Still on her third war patrol, the USS Bugara sank six small vessels on August 2, two the next day, and three the day after that. On August 5, she sank four more vessels, four the following day, and her last two the day after that. This highly productive patrol ended on August 17 at Fremantle.
After World War II ended, the USS Bugara operated out of Subic Bay. She returned to San Diego, California via Pearl Harbor in January 1946. In May, she returned to Pearl Harbor for overhaul. Once the work was finished, she made a training cruise to the Bering Sea, returning to Hawaii via Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
The USS Bugara sailed to California in October 1947, where she underwent overhaul from November 20 to March 19, 1948. She returned to Pearl Harbor eight days later. The submarine cruised to Yokosuka in July and August.
For the next few years, the USS Bugara operated out of Pearl Harbor. She was deployed twice to the Korean War zone during this time. On December 7, 1954, the submarine shifted her homeport from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. She conducted training operations and fleet exercises for the remainder of her career. The sub was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on October 1, 1970. While she was being towed to Washington, she accidentally sank on June 1, 1971. She earned three battle stars for her service in World War II.
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
