USS Carbonero SS 337

The USS Carbonero SS 337 was a Balao-class submarine that was launched on October 15th, 1944 from the Electric Boat Company out of Groton, Connecticut and was sponsored by a Mrs. S. S. Murray. The newly constructed submarine was officially commissioned on February 7th, 1945 under the leadership of Commander Charlton L. Murphy, Jr. Following an intense shakedown cruise and operations trials, the Carbonero headed south where she participated in Fleet Sound School off of the coast of Key West, Florida and then transited the Panama Canal heading into the Pacific where she arrived to her new home at Pearl Harbor on May 9th.

Her first war patrol consisted of her moving through the waters around Formosa from May 26th until July 8th and mainly involved lifeguard duty and rescuing down aviator pilots from island air attacks launched from U. S. aircraft carriers during strikes. After being fully refitted at Subic Bay, Philippines she was prepped and ready for her voyage to the Gulf of Siam on August 4th where she traveled off the east coast of the Malay Penninsula. During this time, she was successfully credited with sinking four schooners, two sampans as well as two junks which were all in all some of the small remnants of the Japanese merchant fleet. On August 15th, the cease fire was ordered and the action caused the Carbonero to terminate her second patrol and head back to port at Subic Bay.

She returned to Seattle, Washington on September 22nd, 1945 and commenced with various operations along the west coast and after a simulated war patrol in the Far East, she returned to the California coastline during early 1947 where she was assigned to participate in the Submarine Guided Missile Program. In 1957 she made a familiarization mission to the Arctic and between 1958 until 1960 she cruised along the Far East. She’s assisted with the training of naval forces of the Republic of Korea and Japan and participated in the nuclear tests in 1962 in the Central Pacific near Christmas and Johnston Island for Operation Dominic. The USS Carbonero SS 337 was officially decommissioned on December 1st, 1970 and on April 27th, 1975 she was sunk as a target near Pearl Harbor. She received one battle star for World War II service.

The USS Carbonero SS 337 and her crew fought bravely, but what her crews didn’t know is that the submarines and ships in their proud fleet had materials made from asbestos on board. Because asbestos is a highly toxic and deadly material, this put the crewmembers as well as anyone who came into contact with it in grave danger. Any exposure to asbestos has proven t0 lead to the development of the deadly asbestos cancer known as mesothelioma and other respiratory disease. Any veteran crewmember who served aboard a naval ship such as the USS Carbonero SS 337 should monitor their health closely and have their physician thoroughly evaluate them and take necessary steps towards administering and receiving treatment.

Last modified: December 09 2009.