USS Scabbardfish (SS-397)
History of the USS Scabbardfish Submarine
The USS Scabbardfish (SS-397) 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 27, 1943. She was launched on January 27, 1944 and commissioned on April 29, 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander F.A. Gunn.
After a short time in Key West performing antisubmarine warfare duties, the USS Scabbardfish arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 24, 1944. She began her first war patrol on August 17 off the Ryukyu Islands. On September 19, her torpedoes damaged the Japanese submarine tender Jingei. Her patrol ended on October 12 at Midway.
On November 12, the USS Scabbardfish sailed for her second war patrol off Honshu. Four days later, she sank the Japanese transport Kisaragi Maru. Her torpedoes sank the ship Hokkai Maru on November 21 and damaged the frigate Oki the following day. The submarine sank the submarine I-365 on November 29. This patrol ended on December 20 at Guam.
The USS Scabbardfish remained at Guam for Christmas and the New Year. She shifted to Saipan for wolf pack tactics training on January 16, 1945. The submarine commenced her third war patrol one week later between the Philippines and the Ryukyu Islands. On February 27, she sank the Japanese guardboat Kikaku Maru No. 6 with her gunfire. This patrol ended on March 6 at Saipan.
Her fourth war patrol began on April 29, and the USS Scabbardfish headed for the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, where she performed lifeguard duty. On May 4, she rescued five downed aviators and transferred them to the USS Picuda. Thirteen days later, she attacked a small freighter and missed, and she had to endure a depth charge attack that lasted four hours. She returned to Guam on June 11.
On July 1, the USS Scabbardfish got underway for her fifth and final war patrol on lifeguard duty south of Japan. By August 10, she had rescued seven downed aviators. Her patrol ended at Saipan on August 15, the same day as hostilities ended.
After World War II, the USS Scabbardfish was ordered to Eniwetok for antisubmarine training duties. She remained there for a month before heading to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for overhaul. The submarine operated off the West Coast before going in for another overhaul. She then spent time in Hawaii before making a peacetime deployment to the Far East.
The USS Scabbardfish was decommissioned on January 5, 1948. She was recommissioned briefly from October 24, 1964 until February 26, 1965 in preparation for her transfer to the Royal Hellenic Navy. She served Greece as the HS Triaina (S-86). The submarine was struck from the United States Naval Vessel Register on January 31, 1976 and formally sold to Greece in April. The USS Scabbardfish received five 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
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships – USS Scabbardfish
