The USS Bergall SS-320 was the first U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the bergall, a fish found off the New England coast. A Balao-class submarine, the Bergall was built by the General Dynamics/ Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut and launched in 1944.
Four Battle Stars in WWII
The Bergall received four battle stars for her World War II service. She sank a frigate and two merchant ships over the course of five war patrols at sites such as:
 South China Sea
 Java Sea
 Lombok Strait
 the Malay Barrier
Extensive Damages
With a crew of 70 enlisted men and 10 officers, the Bergall was damaged by a naval mine and retired to Subic Bay in the Philippines for emergency repairs during the summer of 1945. The Bergall then went to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine for further repairs.
Sold to Turkey
The USS Bergall then served in both the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets until her decommissioning in 1958. She was later sold to the government of Turkey and removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 1973.
Asbestos Components of the USS Bergall
The U.S. Navy rushed to build submarines and ships of many other types when the U.S. entered World War II. The Navy fleet grew by 17-fold between 1939 and 1945, and several million workers were involved in building all of these vessels at naval and civilian shipyards.
Few Asbestos Precautions
The USS Bergall was constructed at the peak of the WWII production years. Few — if any — precautions were taken to protect workers and crew from toxic levels of asbestos. Thousands of submarine builders and crew members were probably exposed to asbestos that could eventually ruin their health, by way of diseases such as:
 asbestosis
 mesothelioma
 lung cancer
 cancer in other organs
Navy Submarine Vets and Shipyard Workers
If you or your loved one might have had any contact with excessive asbestos on the USS Bergall, contact a law firm in your area that represents asbestos victims. Learn more about asbestos diseases and your legal rights.
