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USS Guardfish SS-217

Built at the Electric Boat Company Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, the Guardfish SS-217 was launched in January of 1942 and was sponsored by Mrs. Edward J. Marquart. The diesel-electric powered Gato-class submarine was the first naval vessel to carry the name Guardfish, after the green-and-silver fish that resembles a Northern Pike. The sub was commissioned in New London, Connecticut on May 8, 1942 with Lt. Commander Thomas B. Klakring at the helm. Lt. Klakring, a 1925 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, would later be credited for the sinking of eight Japanese vessels in waters that had never before been visited by American submarines while aboard the Guardfish SS-217.

The Guardfish SS-217 made her first voyage to Pearl Harbor by way of the Panama Canal and arrived on July 25, 1942. She patrolled the waters off of Honshu until August of that same year. Upon leaving the area, the Guardfish SS-217 sank the first of many enemy vessels on August 6th and followed this with the attack and sinking of five additional Japanese cargo ships before returning to the island of Midway Atoll in September. She then departed on her second patrol in the East China Sea, where the Guardfish narrowly survived an attack by enemy aircraft. A few days following the violent attack, the sub retaliated, sinking two Japanese vessels on October 21st north of the island of Taiwan.

The Guardfish SS-217 received a Presidential Unit Citation award after her two patrols and would return to Japanese waters in 1943, where she continued to sink enemy vessels. After a brief stop in Australia, the Guardfish SS-217 would go on to patrol the waters off of New Guinea and Australia until October of 1943. After twelve patrols, the sub returned to Pearl Harbor on June 26, 1945 and served as a training vessel until she was decommissioned in New London, Connecticut on May 25, 1946. The Guardfish SS-217 earned 11 battle stars for her service in WWII.

The brave men aboard who served aboard the USS Guardfish SS-217 during her three years of active service faced a variety of dangers. One such danger was exposure to asbestos while aboard the vessel. Asbestos was found within piping insulation and other materials aboard the Guardfish SS-217 and a number of other military vessels, and exposure to this toxic material has long been connected to the later development of mesothelioma, also known as asbestos cancer, which is a deadly type of cancer that affects the lining of the heart, abdomen and lungs. Veterans who served aboard the Guardfish SS-217 should monitor their respiratory health very closely and consult with a doctor to determine whether or not they are predisposed to develop this deadly disease.

Last modified: December 09 2009.