USS Redfin (SS-272)
History of the USS Redfin Submarine
The USS Redfin (SS-272) 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 3, 1942. She was launched on April 4, 1943 and commissioned on August 31, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander R.D. King.
The USS Redfin departed Fremantle for her first war patrol of the South China Sea on January 4, 1944. Twelve days later, her torpedoes damaged the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze. She ended her patrol on February 17 at Fremantle.
On March 19, the USS Redfin sailed for her second war patrol in the Celebes Sea. She sank the Japanese destroyer Akigumo on April 11. Four days later, her torpedoes damaged the army cargo ship Shinyu Maru. She sank the army cargo ship Yamagata Maru the following day. This patrol ended on May 1 at Fremantle.
Her third war patrol began on May 26, and the USS Redfin headed for the southern Philippines. She landed six Philippine guerillas on a small island near the Balabac Strait on June 8. Three days later, she sank the Japanese tanker Asanagi Maru. Her torpedoes sank the army cargo ship Aso Maru on June 24. The submarine returned to Fremantle on July 1.
The USS Redfin got underway for her fourth war patrol on August 6 in the Celebes Sea. On August 19, she laid mines off the coast of Sarawak, Borneo. Eleven days later, she rescued eight survivors from the USS Flier, which had struck a floating mine. Her patrol ended on October 7 at Fremantle.
After refitting, the USS Redfin headed to the South China Sea on October 26 for her fifth war patrol. She sank the Nichinan Maru No. 2 on November 8. When she put in at Pearl Harbor on January 7, 1945, the submarine was sent on to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for a major overhaul, in which she received special mine detection gear.
Once her overhaul was complete, the USS Redfin departed Pearl Harbor for her sixth war patrol on May 30 off Honshu and Hokkaido. During this patrol, she surveyed the area for floating mines. The submarine arrived back at Pearl Harbor on July 10.
The USS Redfin sailed for her seventh and final war patrol on July 30 off Kyushu. She surveyed the waters for mines until the war ended, and she returned to Pearl Harbor on September 5.
After World War II, the USS Redfin was decommissioned on November 1, 1946. She underwent conversion as a radar picket submarine, SSR-272, in April 1951. The submarine was recommissioned on January 9, 1953. She spent the next six years conducting radar picket duty off the coast of the United States, Northern Europe, and in the Mediterranean.
The USS Redfin received an inertial guidance system at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania in April 1959, and she became both a laboratory and training ship for these systems. She became the flagship of Submarine Squadron 14. In April 1963, the submarine participated in the search for the lost USS Thresher. She was then reclassified as an auxiliary submarine, AGSS-272, on June 28.
The USS Redfin was involved in research and development projects until she was decommissioned on May 15, 1967. She then served as a Naval Reserve Training Ship in Baltimore, Maryland until she was removed from the Naval Vessel Register on July 1, 1970 and sold for scrap on March 3, 1971. The submarine earned six 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
