USS Pilotfish (SS-386)
History of the USS Pilotfish Submarine
The USS Pilotfish (SS-386) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on May 15, 1943. She was launched on August 30, 1943 and commissioned on December 16, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Close.
The USS Pilotfish arrived at Pearl Harbor on April 10, 1944, where she joined Submarine Division 202, Submarine Squadron 20. She conducted her first war patrol between May 16 and July 4 in the Mariana Islands. The submarine departed Majuro on July 27 for her second war patrol in the Bonin Islands. Part of this patrol was spent providing lifeguarding services for carrier strikes in the area. On September 1, she scored a hit on the Japanese auxiliary vessel Ina Maru, but the kill was not confirmed. Her patrol ended on September 14 at Pearl Harbor.
On October 14, the USS Pilotfish began her third war patrol, returning to the Bonin Islands. This patrol ended on December 10 at Midway. Her crew spent the Christmas season and the New Year at Midway before commencing her fourth war patrol of the East China Sea on January 20, 1945 in the company of a small wolf pack. She returned to Pearl Harbor on March 25 without making any enemy contacts other than a small vessel and a hospital ship.
Her fifth war patrol commenced on May 21, and USS Pilotfish headed for the waters off Marcus Island for lifeguard duty. After a brief stay at Saipan, she resumed her patrol on June 20 providing lifeguarding services off the east coast of Japan. Her patrol ended on July 14 at Guam.
The USS Pilotfish sailed for her sixth and final war patrol on August 9, just six days before the Japanese capitulated. The submarine remained on station to provide lifeguard duty and neutrality patrol. She entered Tokyo Bay on August 31 to witness the formal surrender ceremony. On September 3, she sailed for San Francisco, California via Pearl Harbor.
After World War II, the USS Pilotfish was identified as a target for Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll. She was decommissioned on August 29, 1946 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on February 25, 1947. The submarine 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
