USS Macabi SS 375
The USS Macabi SS 375 was a Balao-class submarine that was originally launched on September 19th, 1944 from the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and was sponsored by a Mrs. Arthur S. Carpender who was the wife of Rear Admiral Carpender. The newly constructed submarine was officially commissioned on March 29th, 1945 under the leadership of Commander Anthony H. Dropp. Following her initial shakedown trials in Lake Michigan she was placed in a floating dry dock on April 19th and towed down the Mississippi River until reaching New Orleans, Louisiana on April 26th. She was finally ready to be set out into the open ocean and continued west to transit the Panama Canal and move through the Pacific arriving at Pearl Harbor.
She participated in another few weeks of operational training and then departed on her first war patrol on July 9th when she left for the Caroline Islands traveling through Guam and the Marianas Islands. The Macabi then went on lifeguard duty off of Truk on July 21st while U. S. forces were staging aircraft carrier strikes on the Japanese home islands and about ten days later she was forced to dive in order to avoid being hit by two aerial bombs off Moen Island. From August 4th until August 13th she anchored at Apra Harbor, Guam for immediate repairs before heading back out to sea.
The Macabi was already on her way back to Truk to reengage in her war patrols when the war with Japan was terminated and she was ordered to turn around and head back to the U. S. mainland stopping first at Pearl Harbor from August 27th until departing again on the 29th. She finally touched down at San Francisco Bay, California on September 5th and she entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard on December 12th for inactivation and a complete overhaul. The USS Macabi SS 375 was decommissioned on June 16th, 1946. The Macabi was re-commissioned and sold to the Argentine Navy on September 1st, 1971 and she was then struck from the United States Naval Vessel Registry on the same day.
Although the brave crews of the USS Macabi SS 375 were placed in constant peril aboard the vessel due to the obvious nature of their duty to service for their country, many of them also faced a significant hazard within the walls and fixtures of Macabi’s construction and sadly, none of them could have ever known the wiser. Asbestos materials could found almost anywhere in naval vessels such as the USS Macabi, and it is most likely that some of her crew were exposed to this harmful airborne toxin while working aboard the submarine or in a repair capacity. Asbestos itself has been directly and positively linked with types of cancer and other respiratory complications, one such being the cancer known as mesothelioma. Those who think they may have been exposed while aboard the USS Macabi should consider this and notify their physicians of their concerns and possibly begin mesothelioma treatment.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
