USS Icefish (SS-367)
History of the USS Icefish Submarine
The USS Icefish (SS-367) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Wisconsin on September 4, 1943. She was launched on February 20, 1944 and commissioned on June 10, 1944 under the command of Commander Richard W. Peterson.
The USS Icefish arrived at Pearl Harbor on August 22, 1944. She sailed for her first war patrol of the South China Sea on September 9 in the company of the wolf pack known as Banister’s Beagles. On October 24, her torpedoes sank the Japanese cargo ship Tenshin Maru. Two days later, she sank the merchant cargo ship Taiyo Maru. Her successful first patrol ended on November 13 at Majuro.
Her second patrol lasted from December 8 until January 20, 1945, but the USS Icefish did not score any enemy kills during her time in the East China Sea. She headed back to the East China Sea for her third patrol on February 20, but she pulled in at Guam two months later on April 20 without any kills. Her fourth patrol of the South China Sea and the Java Sea was no more productive, lasting from May 15 until July 4.
The USS Icefish began her fifth and final war patrol on July 29, this time in the South China Sea. She managed to sink a Japanese sailing vessel on August 7 with her gunfire before the war ended and she headed back to Saipan on August 22.
After World War II, the USS Icefish headed back to San Francisco, California, where she was decommissioned on June 21, 1946. She was recommissioned briefly from June 5, 1952 until July 29 as she sailed from Mare Island to New London to undergo conversion as a GUPPY IB submarine. The sub was recommissioned again from December 10, 1952 to February 21, 1953 to conduct testing. At that time, she was then transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy, where she served as HNLMS Walrus (S802). The submarine was returned to the U.S. Navy and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on July 15, 1971. She was sold for scrap two months later on August 15, 1971. The USS Icefish earned four 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
