USS Mackerel (SS-204)
History of the USS Mackerel Submarine
The USS Mackerel (SS-204) was ordered for the U.S. Navy before World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in California on October 6, 1939. She was launched on September 28, 1940 and commissioned on March 31, 1941 under the command of Lieutenant John F. Davidson.
During World War II, the USS Mackerel served with Submarine Squadron 1 at New London, Connecticut to train and improve the U.S. Navy’s submarine force. The experimental submarine provided support services to the Underwater Sound Laboratory. She also aided in training at the Submarine School and the Prospective Commanding Officers School at New London. The submarine also provided training services for Allied surface ships and aircraft for antisubmarine warfare.
The USS Mackerel sailed as far as Casco Bay, Maine and Chesapeake Bay during antisubmarine training exercises. During one such cruise, she headed to Norfolk, Virginia on April 12, 1942. Two days later, her lookouts discovered the wakes of two torpedoes heading right for her. She took evasive maneuvers and launched two torpedoes of her own at the enemy submarine that surfaced. The enemy submarine, or another one, was sighted the following morning, but the USS Mackerel was outdistanced. This was the only contact the submarine ever had with the enemy.
After World War II, the USS Mackerel headed to Boston, Massachusetts for inactivation overhaul. She was decommissioned on November 9, 1945 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on November 28, 1945. The submarine was sold for scrap on April 24, 1947 to the North American Smelting Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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
