The USS Bashaw (SS-241) served the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1969 as a Gato-class submarine. Built by the General Dynamics/ Electric Boat Company in Connecticut, she was launched in 1943. Six World War II patrols in the South China, Philippine, and Celebes Seas followed, and the Bashaw sank three enemy merchant vessels and other craft.
A Wide Range of Patrols in WWII
With a crew of 54 enlisted men and six officers, the Bashaw patrolled in areas including:
the Palaus
Mindanao
the coast of Indochina
the Gulf of Tonkin
The USS Bashaw was awarded five battle stars for her service in WWII.
The USS Bashaw (SS-241) served the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1969 as a Gato-class submarine. Built by the General Dynamics/ Electric Boat Company in Connecticut, she was launched in 1943. Six World War II patrols in the South China, Philippine, and Celebes Seas followed, and the Bashaw sank three enemy merchant vessels and other craft.
A Wide Range of Patrols in WWII
With a crew of 54 enlisted men and six officers, the Bashaw patrolled in areas including:
the Palaus
Mindanao
the coast of Indochina
the Gulf of Tonkin
The USS Bashaw was awarded five battle stars for her service in WWII.
Named for a Catfish
The USS Bashaw was named for the bashaw, a type of catfish. Found in the Mississippi, a bashaw can reach up to 100 pounds. The USS Bashaw was refit, repaired or overhauled at ports such as:
Brisbane, Australia
Subic Bay, Philippines
Mare Island Navy Yard, California
San Diego
San Francisco
Pearl Harbor
Converted to an Anti-Sub Hunter/Killer
The Bashaw was converted to an anti-sub “hunter-killer” submarine in 1953, and underwent two more redesignations before being removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 1969.
In 1972, the USS Bashaw was used for target practice by the U.S. Navy and sunk.
Asbestos Exposure and the USS Bashaw
The personnel who built the Bashaw in Groton, Conn., the Navy and civilian workers who did repairs or conversions of the Bashaw, and the Navy vets who served aboard her all had a risk of inhaling toxic levels of asbestos fibers, because Navy subs and other vessels contained many asbestos components. The inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause severe, even fatal, disease.
The U.S. Navy ignored the dangers of asbestos for decades — until pressures to implement stricter asbestos guidelines finally obliged the Navy to devise and actually use such guidelines in the 1980s. This came far too late for the thousands of shipyard workers and ship crews who served in the 1940s through the 1970s.
Contact an asbestos law firm if you have concerns about the asbestos exposure that you or your loved one incurred in decades past.
The USS Bashaw was named for the bashaw, a type of catfish. Found in the Mississippi, a bashaw can reach up to 100 pounds. The USS Bashaw was refit, repaired or overhauled at ports such as:
Brisbane, Australia
Subic Bay, Philippines
Mare Island Navy Yard, California
San Diego
San Francisco
Pearl Harbor
Converted to an Anti-Sub Hunter/Killer
The Bashaw was converted to an anti-sub “hunter-killer” submarine in 1953, and underwent two more redesignations before being removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 1969.
In 1972, the USS Bashaw was used for target practice by the U.S. Navy and sunk.
Asbestos Exposure and the USS Bashaw
The personnel who built the Bashaw in Groton, Conn., the Navy and civilian workers who did repairs or conversions of the Bashaw, and the Navy vets who served aboard her all had a risk of inhaling toxic levels of asbestos fibers, because Navy subs and other vessels contained many asbestos components. The inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause severe, even fatal, disease.
The U.S. Navy ignored the dangers of asbestos for decades — until pressures to implement stricter asbestos guidelines finally obliged the Navy to devise and actually use such guidelines in the 1980s. This came far too late for the thousands of shipyard workers and ship crews who served in the 1940s through the 1970s.
Contact an asbestos law firm if you have concerns about the asbestos exposure that you or your loved one incurred in decades past.
