USS Angler SS 240

The USS Angler SS 240 was a Gato-class submarine that was launched on July 4^th, 1943 from the Electric Boat Company from Groton, Connecticut and was sponsored by a Mrs. Patrick A. Drewery who was the wife of Congressman Patrick A. Drewery of the House Naval Affairs committee. The sub was officially commissioned at New London, Connecticut on October 1^st, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Robert I. Olsen. She immediately embarked for training exercises off the shores of Key West, Florida where she joined with the Fleet Sound School for weeks before she was given her first assignment and headed for Pearl Harbor on November 27^th.

She set out on her first war patrol between Pearl Harbor and Australia where she encountered a Japanese enemy convoy near the Mariana Islands on January 29^th and she opened fire with multiple torpedoes and claims to have sunk on cargo vessel as well as severely damaging two other during the heat of battle. She arrived at Midway Island for repairs on February 4^th.

The Angler was assigned to her 2^nd war patrol on February 15^th patrolling the waters off the coast of the Philippines in the Mindanao Sea. When she had been approaching her patrol area, General Douglas MacArthur had learned that the Japanese had been massacring all the civilians they could find on the island of Panay and she requested that a submarine go to evacuate civilians from the island. The Angler was given the task, and successfully evacuated 58 men, women, and children from the island.

The Angler operated in a total of six war patrols where she patrolled enemy waters and entered Japanese controlled territories to save innocents and engage their enemies with ferocious fire power and bravery and she had a successful career. The USS Angler SS 240 was officially decommissioned on April 1^st, 1967 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on December 15^th, 1971. The Angler was awarded six battle stars for World War II service.

The USS Angler SS 240 has been declared to be toxic, asbestos was used as a construction material in items commonly found on large ships. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers, so the asbestos on board the USS Angler SS 240 could have been inhaled by the members of her crew, or could have stuck to the items being delivered to other ships. Asbestos can easily cling to most surfaces, and then be released into the air later. This led to the possibility that any person on a ship which received goods from the Angler might also have been exposed to this toxic material and these deadly asbestos fibers were also utilized within the piping duct systems construction. Exposure to asbestos is very dangerous and can lead to potentially deadly diseases such as asbestos cancer otherwise known as mesothelioma. Any crewmembers who have been exposed to dangerous asbestos should seek medical attention and respiratory evaluation from their physician to determine if they need to receive mesothelioma treatment.

Last modified: December 09 2009.