USS Bonefish SS-223

Made by the Electric Boat Company

Like nearly all of the subs built for the WWII effort, the Bonefish was constructed by the General Dynamics/Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. Launched in 1943, the Bonefish performed eight war patrols in places such as:

 Makassar Strait
 Camranh Bay
 the Celebes Sea
 the Mindanao coast
 the Sulu Sea
 off Tawitawi in the Philippines
 Mindoro
 Cape Bolinao
 the East China Sea
 Korea's southern coast
 the Sea of Japan

Overhauled in 1945

The Bonefish was refitted, refueled or worked on at ports in Guam, Saipan, and Freemantle, Australia. She underwent an overhaul at the Bethlehem Steel Submarine Repair Basin in San Francisco, California in 1945.

Named for the bonefish, a group of fish that includes the sturgeon and dogfish, the Bonefish sank a number of large Japanese vessels, including:

 the nearly 10,000-ton transport Kashima Maru in the South China Sea
 the 4,000-ton cargo ship Isuzugawa and the 10,000-ton transport Teibi Maru off Indochina
 the 4,600-ton cargo ship Suez Maru
 the 6,900-ton cargo ship Oshikayama Maru

In a battle in Toyama Wan Bay, Japan on her eighth war patrol, the USS Bonefish was sunk and her crew was lost.

The USS Bonefish and Asbestos

It is highly likely that the construction of the USS Bonefish involved asbestos, and that the sub itself contained asbestos components. The men and women who helped build the Bonefish and the crewmen who served aboard her or did maintenance, repairs or the overhaul of the Bonefish may have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos.

Contact an attorney who represents the victims of asbestos if you have concerns about your Navy service or your work as a shipyard worker. Be sure to seek medical attention if you’re having any respiratory difficulties or painful symptoms.