USS Billfish SS 286
The USS Billfish SS 286 was a Balao-class submarine that was originally launched on November 12th, 1942 from the Portsmouth Naval Yard in Kittery, Maine and was sponsored by a Mrs. Lewis Parks who was the wife of Lieutenant Commander Parks. The new sub was commissioned on April 20th, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Fredric Colby Lucas, Jr. After initial training and intense operational exercises off the east coast of the U. S. where the sub was to prove her worth, she was finally ready for action and set out for the Pacific and onward to her new home base of Pearl Harbor. During the time between August 12th, 1943 and August 27th, 1945, the ship took part in eight war patrols based out of Pearl Harbor. During these patrols, she sank three enemy cargo freighters totaling four thousand seventy four tons as well as five smaller craft where during her seventh and eighth patrols she participated in aircraft guard duty off the coast of Japan itself.
While patrolling the Makassar Strait on November 11th, 1943 a Japanese destroyer severely damaged the Billfish with dropped depth charges and forced the Billfish down to a depth of six hundred and fifty feet. The maximum tested depth for the submarine was previously five hundred feet. Many of the crew was badly injured during the fierce attack and the fuel tanks had been damaged and were now leaking fuel profusely and that meant that the enemy warship would be able to easily track the sub from the oil slick trail they were most likely leaving on the surface. The only way the Billfish was able to escape the assault was to turn around abruptly and travel along the same oil slick path that they had come in order to ultimately use it as an escape cover rather than a trail to mark their current location.
The USS Billfish arrived to Pearl Harbor after her terminating her last war patrol in the Pacific and was then appointed to join the Atlantic Fleet where she spent the last nine months of her career stationed at New Orleans, Louisiana. The USS Billfish SS 286 was officially decommissioned on November 1st, 1946 and she was awarded seven battle stars for her honorable service during World War II.
Many honorable and brave sailors served aboard the USS Billfish SS 286. Unfortunately, the toxic substance asbestos also found a home on the sub, within the pipes and insulation materials. Asbestos exposure has been proven to be the leading cause of mesothelioma, a deadly and rare form of cancer. The crewmen who sailed on the USS Billfish SS 286 and the men who worked on her while she was anchored were all subject to exposure. Any veteran crewmembers or repair personnel that may have come in contact these airborne asbestos fibers should closely monitor their respiratory health and consult their medical physician immediately to proceed with the appropriate steps towards possibly receiving mesothelioma treatment for asbestos cancer if needed.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
