USS Sealion (SS-195)
History of the USS Sealion Submarine
The USS Sealion (SS-195) was ordered for the U.S. Navy before the start of World War II. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Connecticut on June 30, 1938. She was launched on May 25, 1939 and commissioned on November 27, 1939 under the command of Lieutenant J.K. Morrison, Jr.
The USS Sealion spent her first few months as a member of Submarine Division 17. In early 1940, she and her division set sail to join the Asiatic Fleet at Cavite in the Philippine Islands. She cruised from Luzon to the Sulu Archipelago with another submarine, now a member of Submarine Division 202.
In October 1941, the USS Sealion was prepared to put in for overhaul. She was undergoing yard work at Cavite Navy Yard on December 10 when a Japanese air raid destroyed the yard. The submarine was struck by two direct hits in the attack. One bomb struck her conning tower and exploded over the control room. The other bomb exploded in the after engine room after passing through the main ballast tank and the pressure hull. Four men working in the engine room were killed, and another died after being taken as a prisoner of war (POW).
The USS Sealion flooded and had nearly half of her main deck underwater with a 15 degree list to starboard. Because the Navy Yard had also been destroyed, the submarine could not be repaired. Survivors removed all salvageable equipment and placed depth charges inside. The explosives were detonated on Christmas Day to scuttle the ship so she could not be used by the Japanese.
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
