USS Macabi (SS-375)
History of the USS Macabi Submarine
The USS Macabi (SS-375) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Wisconsin on May 1, 1944. She was launched on September 19, 1944 and commissioned on March 29, 1945 under the command of Commander Anthony H. Dropp.
The USS Macabi was floated down the Mississippi River from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to New Orleans, Louisiana in April 1945. From there, she participated in shakedown operations off Panama before transiting the Panama Canal on her way to Pearl Harbor.
On July 9, the USS Macabi began her first and only patrol of World War II. Her assigned patrol area was the waters of the Caroline Islands. She provided lifeguarding services for Allied shipping operations off Truk at the end of July. On July 31, two aerial bombs off Moen Island forced her to take evasive action and dive below the surface. Her patrol ended on August 4 at Apra Harbor, Guam.
After repair work was completed, the USS Macabi departed on August 13 to return to Truk. She was still in transit when the Japanese capitulated two days later. With World War II over, the submarine was ordered to return home via Pearl Harbor. She arrived at San Francisco, California on September 5 for inactivation overhaul. The submarine was decommissioned on June 16, 1946 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island Navy Yard in California.
On April 1, 1960, the U.S. Navy signed an agreement to transfer the USS Macabi and the USS Lamprey to Argentina under the Military Assistance Program. The USS Macabi was loaned to the Argentinean Navy on August 11, 1960, where she was commissioned as the ARA Santa Fe (S-11) under the command of Capitan de Corbeta Julio A. Aureggi. She was struck from the United States Naval Vessel Register and formally sold to Argentina on September 1, 1971. That same year, the Argentinean Navy decommissioned her and broke her up for spare parts.
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
