The USS Albacore SS-218 received nine battle stars for her service in World War II. A Gato-class submarine, the Albacore was built by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut and launched in 1942, two months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
An Admirable War Record
With a complement of 70 enlisted men and officers, the USS Albacore served in the Pacific Theatre, sinking 13 Japanese ships and damaging five more, including:
a light cruiser
two destroyers
the aircraft carrier Taihō
The USS Albacore’s Fate Is Unknown
In late 1944, the Albacore departed from Pearl Harbor, stopped at Midway Island for fuel, departed and was never heard from again. It is suspected that the submarine hit a naval mine off the Japanese island of Hokkaidō.
Asbestos Exposure and the USS Albacore
The Albacore SS-218 (the second U.S. Navy ship to be named for the albacore tuna) was built long before stringent asbestos safety regulations were implemented. The submarine almost certainly had asbestos-containing materials as part of its make-up.
The many shipyard workers who helped build the USS Albacore may have been exposed to a toxic level of asbestos, a human carcinogen. The Albacore’s crew was also at risk of dangerously high levels of asbestos. Because of the size and structure of submarines, their crews are constantly in confined spaces without natural ventilation; these conditions are very conducive to asbestos exposure.
How Asbestos Becomes Harmful
When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed or deteriorating, they are considered “friable” and capable of shedding millions of its microscopic-sized fibers into the air, where they may stay suspended in the air for hours, invisible to the naked eye.
The crew of the USS Albacore my have been exposed to friable asbestos on a daily basis, in tight sleeping quarters, the mess area, the navigation room, and essentially all over the submarine.
Asbestos Diseases
When an individual inadvertently inhales asbestos fibers, the fibers may start a disease process that culminates years or decades later in the symptoms and signs of diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Contact an asbestos attorney if you have been diagnosed with one of these diseases.
