USS Sand Lance (SS-381)

History of the USS Sand Lance Submarine

The USS Sand Lance (SS-381) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire on March 12, 1943. She was launched on June 25, 1943 and commissioned on October 9, 1943 under the command of Commander Malcolm Everett Garrison.

The USS Sand Lance arrived at Pearl Harbor on January 17, 1944. She set sail for her first war patrol on February 8 in the Kuril Islands. Twenty days later, she sank the Japanese troop transport Kaiko Maru. That same day, she was damaged when she ran aground off Paramushiro and had her attack periscope damaged by drift ice. On March 3, she sank the Japanese troop transport Akashisan Maru and accidentally sank the Soviet cargo ship Belorussia. Ten days later, her torpedoes sank the enemy light cruiser Tatsuta and the army cargo ship Kokuyo Maru. The submarine ended her patrol on March 23 at Pearl Harbor.

Her second war patrol began in April, and the USS Sand Lance headed for the Mariana Islands. On May 3, she sank the Japanese troop transport Kenan Maru. Her torpedoes sank another troop transport, the Mitakesan Maru, eight days later. The submarine sank the army cargo ship Koho Maru on May 14. Three days later, she sank the troop transport Taikoku Maru and the army cargo ship Fukko Maru. Her patrol ended on June 5 at Fremantle.

After refitting, the USS Sand Lance departed Fremantle for her third war patrol in the Molucca Sea and the Celebes Sea. She sank the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Taiko Maru on July 14. On August 1, her torpedoes damaged the munitions ship Seia Maru. Six days later, the submarine was damaged by enemy aircraft bombs, forcing her to end her patrol early at Fremantle on August 19. She was sent on to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for repair work and overhaul.

Once her overhaul was completed, the USS Sand Lance returned to Pearl Harbor. Her fourth war patrol off Honshu and Hokkaido began on April 10, 1945. She sank the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Yoshino Maru on May 14. This patrol ended on June 6 at Midway.

The USS Sand Lance sailed for her fifth and final war patrol in early July. The submarine provided lifeguard duty for the carrier attacks on the Japanese home islands until the end of hostilities in mid-August. After World War II, she was decommissioned at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in California on February 14, 1946.

The USS Sand Lance was recommissioned briefly from April 6, 1963 until September 7, 1963 in preparation for her transfer to the Brazilian Navy under the Military Assistance Program. She served Brazil as the Rio Grande do Sul (S-11). The submarine was formally sold to the Brazilian Navy and struck from the United States Naval Vessel Register on October 12, 1972. She was scrapped three years later. The USS Sand Lance received five battle stars and the 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

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – USS Sand Lance