USS Salmon (SS-182)
History of the USS Salmon Submarine
The USS Salmon (SS-182) was ordered for the U.S. Navy between World War I and World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Connecticut on April 15, 1936. She was launched on June 12, 1937 and commissioned on March 15, 1938 under the command of Lieutenant M.M. Stephens.
During her early career, the USS Salmon operated out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire as a member of Submarine Division 15, Submarine Squadron 5. She served as the flagship of her division until late 1939, when she was replaced by the USS Snapper as the division was transferred to San Diego, California. The submarine operated along the West Coast until she was transferred to Manila with the Asiatic Fleet on November 18, 1941, when she became part of Submarine Division 21.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the USS Salmon was operating along the coast of Luzon. Her patrol was immediately changed to an offensive patrol. She attacked two Japanese destroyers on December 22 before moving south. This patrol ended at Tjilatjap on February 13, 1942.
The USS Salmon departed for her second war patrol on February 20 in the Java Sea. Her patrol ended at Fremantle on March 23 without making any enemy surface contacts.
After refitting, the USS Salmon sailed for her third war patrol on May 3 in the South China Sea. She sank the Japanese repair ship Asahi on May 26. Two days later, her torpedoes sank the merchant ship Ganges Maru. She returned to Fremantle on June 24.
On July 21, the USS Salmon headed out for her fourth war patrol of the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. During this patrol, she made no attacks, but she was able to report on enemy shipping movements to aid her sister submarines. This patrol ended on September 8 at Fremantle.
The USS Salmon got underway for her fifth war patrol on October 10 in the waters off Subic Bay. Exactly one month later, she sank a large Japanese sampan with her gunfire. On November 17, her torpedoes sank the repair ship Oregon Maru. When her patrol ended on December 7 at Pearl Harbor, the submarine was ordered to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for overhaul.
Once her overhaul was complete, the USS Salmon returned to Pearl Harbor. Her sixth war patrol began on April 29 off Honshu. On June 3, she damaged two Japanese freighters. She put in at Midway 16 days later.
Her seventh war patrol commenced on July 17, and the USS Salmon headed for the Kuril Islands. On August 10, she sank the Japanese fishing vessel Wakanoura Maru with her torpedoes. Her patrol ended at Pearl Harbor on August 25. The submarine conducted her eighth war patrol from September 27 until November 17 in the Kuril Islands, damaging two freighters before she returned to Pearl Harbor.
The USS Salmon sailed for her ninth war patrol on December 15 in the Japanese home waters. She damaged one freighter before heading back to Pearl Harbor on February 25, 1944. Her tenth patrol began on April 1, a special photographic reconnaissance mission in preparation for the assault on the Caroline Islands. The submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on May 21.
On September 24, the USS Salmon departed for her eleventh and final war patrol off the Ryukyu Islands in the company of a small wolf pack. Along with the USS Trigger and the USS Sterlet, she attacked a Japanese convoy on October 30, sharing in the sinking of the tanker Takane Maru. She was heavily damaged in the resulting depth charge attack, but she was able to damage the corvette Kaibokan No. 22 with her gunfire before her sister submarines escorted her back to Saipan on November 3.
From Saipan, the USS Salmon set out for San Francisco, California via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor in the company of the USS Holland. She then sailed for Portsmouth via the Panama Canal for repair work and overhaul. When this work was complete, she became a training vessel for the Atlantic Fleet.
The USS Salmon was decommissioned on September 24, 1945, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on September 24, 1945, and scrapped on April 4, 1946. She earned nine battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation 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
