USS Bullhead (SS-332)
History of the USS Bullhead Submarine
The USS Bullhead (SS-332) 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 16, 1944 and commissioned on December 4, 1944 under the command of Commander W.T. Griffith.
The USS Bullhead arrived at Pearl Harbor for World War II duty on February 26, 1945. She began her first war patrol of the South China Sea on March 21. The submarine performed lifeguarding duties for the majority of this patrol. She helped bombard Pratas Island and rescued three downed aviators before she pulled in at Subic Bay on April 28 without making any enemy surface contacts.
After refitting at Sub Bay for nearly a month, her next patrol started on May 21, and the USS Bullhead sailed for the Gulf of Siam and the Java Sea. Nine days later, she sank a small Japanese sailing vessel with her gunfire. On June 18, she sank the sailing vessel Sakura Maru No. 58, and the Tachibana Maru No. 57 the following day. The submarine sank another small Japanese vessel on June 25 before ending her patrol on July 2 at Fremantle.
The USS Bullhead departed for her third and final war patrol of the Java Sea on July 30. She sailed as part of a wolf pack with the USS Capitaine and the USS Puffer. On August 6, she sent word that she had traversed the Lombok Strait, but she was never heard from again. The USS Capitaine reported being unable to make contact with her on August 15, after the sub failed to report in for scouting duty. While no one knows for sure exactly when the USS Bullhead was lost, reports from British submarines patrolling the same area suggest that the USS Bullhead was lost in a depth charge attack on August 6 near the coast of Bali, just nine days before the Japanese capitulation. The submarine received two 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
