USS Razorback (SS-394)
History of the USS Razorback Submarine
The USS Razorback (SS-394) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on September 9, 1943. She was launched on January 27, 1944 and commissioned on April 3, 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Albert M. Bontier.
During shakedown exercises, the USS Razorback ran aground, and her commanding officer was replaced by Commander R.S. Benson. She departed Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol east of Luzon on August 25, 1944. This patrol ended on October 19 at Midway without making any enemy surface contacts.
Her second war patrol commenced on November 15, and the USS Razorback headed for Luzon Strait. She sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kenjo Maru on December 7. Her torpedoes sank the torpedo boat Kuretake on December 30. The submarine put in at Guam on January 5, 1945.
The USS Razorback sailed for her third war patrol on February 1 in the East China Sea. On March 5, she sank two small Japanese vessels with her gunfire. She sank another small vessel the following day, and another one three days after that. Her patrol ended on March 26 at Pearl Harbor.
On May 7, the USS Razorback got underway for her fourth war patrol off Honshu. While conducting lifeguard duty, she rescued a fighter pilot on May 25 and four other downed aviators on June 5. This patrol ended on June 27 at Midway.
The USS Razorback headed out for her fifth and final war patrol on July 22 in the Okhotsk Sea. On August 2, she sank eight small Japanese vessels with her gunfire. She then moved on to conduct lifeguard duty until the end of hostilities. The submarine entered Tokyo Bay on August 31 and remained there for the formal surrender ceremony on September 2. She sailed for San Diego, California via Pearl Harbor the next day.
After World War II, the USS Razorback operated with the Pacific Fleet out of San Diego. She made a cruise to Japan and another to China before winning the Battle Efficiency “E” for overall excellence in 1949. The submarine was decommissioned from August 1952 until January 1954 as she underwent GUPPY IIA conversion.
Upon her recommissioning, the USS Razorback joined Submarine Squadron 10 in New London. She was then transferred back to San Diego with Submarine Squadron 3, where she spent the next several years in antisubmarine warfare training and other operations. The submarine sailed to Canada and the Far East, conducting surveillance of Petropavlovsk in Russia. She won the Battle Efficiency “E” for the second time in 1959.
The 1960s brought with it the Swordfish nuclear weapons test, in which a nuclear depth charge warhead was fired at a target two nautical miles away from the USS Razorback, causing an explosion and underwater shockwave that shook the submarine. She was later deployed to the Vietnam War zone with the Seventh Fleet a number of times. The submarine won her third Battle Efficiency “E” in 1969.
The USS Razorback was decommissioned, struck from the Naval Vessel Register, and transferred to the Turkish Navy on November 30, 1970. She served Turkey as the TCG Muratreis until she was decommissioned there on August 8, 2001. The submarine was then purchased by the city of North Little Rock, Arkansas, where she now serves as a museum ship. The USS Razorback earned five battle stars for her service in World War II and four battle stars and a Vietnam Service Medal for her service in the Vietnam War.
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
