USS Burrfish (SS-312)
History of the USS Burrfish Submarine
The USS Burrfish (SS-312) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on February 24, 1943. She was launched on June 18, 1943 and commissioned on September 13, 1943 under the command of Commander William B. Perkins.
The USS Burrfish began her first war patrol on February 2, 1944 in the area of the Caroline Islands. This uneventful patrol ended on March 22 at Midway. She sailed for her next patrol on April 14, this time south of the Japanese home islands. On May 7, she sank the German oiler Rossback with her torpedoes. Her patrol ended on June 4 at Pearl Harbor.
After refitting, the USS Burrfish sailed for her third patrol of the Palaus between July 10 and August 27, performing reconnaissance for the upcoming landings on Palau and Yap. She left Majuro for her fourth patrol on September 18, this time in the Bonin Islands. The submarine damaged the Japanese guardboat Fusa Maru on November 17. As she was also damaged by gunfire, she returned to Pearl Harbor on December 2.
The crew of the USS Burrfish spent Christmas in Hawaii while repairs were being made. Once repair work was completed, she departed on January 3, 1945 to patrol the waters south of Japan. She was damaged in a depth charge attack on February 11, but she was able to remain on patrol as scheduled, pulling in at Guam on February 24.
One month later on March 25, the USS Burrfish left to patrol the Luzon Strait. This sixth and final war patrol ended at Saipan on May 4 without having made any enemy contacts. From there, she proceeded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard via Pearl Harbor for an extensive overhaul. She remained there through the end of the war, and she was decommissioned on October 10, 1946.
The USS Burrfish was recommissioned on November 2, 1948 and underwent conversion as a radar picket submarine. She was redesignated as SSR-312 on January 27, 1949, and the conversion work was completed in November. The submarine reported to Norfolk, Virginia on February 7, 1950 to serve with Submarine Squadron 6. For the next six years, she spent three Mediterranean deployments with the Sixth Fleet, participated in fleet exercises, and operated as a radar picket ship along the East Coast.
The USS Burrfish was decommissioned again on December 17, 1956. She was recommissioned briefly as SS-312 from January 17, 1961 under May 11 of the same year. The submarine was then loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy as the HMCS Grilse (SS-71). Canada returned her to the U.S. Navy on July 19, 1969, and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. The submarine was sunk as a target on November 19 off the coast of California. She earned five 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
