USS Ronquil (SS-396)
History of the USS Ronquil Submarine
The USS Ronquil (SS-396) 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 22, 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Henry S. Monroe.
The USS Ronquil arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 8, 1944. She began her first war patrol on July 31 off Formosa. On August 24, she sank the Japanese army cargo ship Yoshida Maru No. 3 and the merchant cargo ship Fukurei Maru. Her patrol ended on September 8 at Majuro.
After refitting at Majuro, the USS Ronquil sailed for her second war patrol on September 30 off Honshu with a small wolf pack. She stopped briefly at Saipan for a brief refit from November 8-10 before being ordered to destroy Japanese guardboats south of Japan. On November 17, she and the USS Burrfish caused heavy damage to the Japanese guardboat Fusa Maru. Both submarines received damage during the attack. She put in at Pearl Harbor on November 28.
The USS Ronquil set out for her third war patrol of the Bonin Islands on New Year’s Day 1945. She provided lifeguard duty for carrier strikes on the Japanese home islands. On February 7, her torpedoes damaged the Japanese army cargo ship Kuretake Maru. The submarine ended her patrol at Guam exactly one week later.
On March 11, the USS Ronquil commenced her fourth war patrol off the northern Bonin Islands and in the waters south of Japan. While she made no enemy surface contacts during this time, she did rescue 10 downed aviators from a B-29 bomber before putting in at Midway on April 24.
The USS Ronquil got underway for her fifth and final war patrol on May 19 in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. This uneventful patrol ended on July 26 at Pearl Harbor. She was training there for her next patrol when the war ended, and she returned home to San Diego.
After World War II, the USS Ronquil conducted training and local operations off California. She sailed for her first peacetime deployment to the Western Pacific in January 1947. Over the next few years, she participated in local operations and antisubmarine warfare training.
The USS Ronquil was decommissioned from May 1952 until January 16, 1953 while she underwent GUPPY IIA conversion. On June 12, she headed for Tokyo via Yokosuka to take part in the Black Ship Festival on July 19, celebrating Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival and opening of Japan in 1852.
Over the next few years, the USS Ronquil alternated training, fleet exercises, overhaul, and deployments to the Western Pacific. During the 1960s, she was deployed several times to the Vietnam War zone. In August 1967, the submarine appeared in the film Ice Station Zebra as the fictional USS Tigerfish.
The USS Ronquil was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on July 1, 1971. She was transferred to the Spanish Navy under the Mutual Security Assistance Act. The submarine served Spain as the Isaac Peral (S-32) until she was decommissioned there on April 3, 1984. The USS Ronquil earned six battle stars for her service in World War II and the 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
