USS Icefish SS-367

Five World War II Patrols
Named for the family of fish known formally as Salangidae, the Icefish was built in Wisconsin by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. She joined the Pacific Fleet and conducted her first patrol in the South China Sea and Luzon Strait, sinking a cargo vessel and a transport, then returning to the Marshall Islands. Further patrols were at or near:

 East China Sea
 Formosa
 Hainan
 Hong Kong
 Siam Gulf
 Java Sea

Conversion to a GUPPY Sub, Transfer to the Netherlands
After her fifth and last war patrol, the USS Icefish was decommissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California until 1952, when she underwent conversion to GUPPY IB at Groton, Connecticut. The Icefish was eventually transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy until her return to the U.S. in 1971.

Asbestos Dangers and the USS Icefish
The USS Icefish probably had many asbestos components, such as insulation for plumbing and electrical wires, boilers, engines and turbines, plus gaskets, valves, and bulkhead parts. In the 1940s — when the Icefish was constructed — shipbuilders considered asbestos an excellent fire- and friction-resistant material, and the number of asbestos products used in ships was in the hundreds.

Unfortunately for the men and women who worked at shipyards such as the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., working with asbestos products of that era was quite hazardous. Few if any precautions were taken to protect workers from inhaling the toxic fibers of asbestos that often hung suspended in the ambient air for hours.

Asbestos Diseases
The crews of submarines and other Navy vessels were also at significant risk of inhaling asbestos fibers. Navy vets and retired shipyard workers have an alarming rate of asbestos-caused diseases such as asbestosis (a severe respiratory condition), lung cancer, and mesothelioma.

For information about the legal rights of the victims of asbestos, contact an asbestos law firm in your area today.