USS Mapiro SS 376
The USS Mapiro SS 376 was a Balao-class submarine that was originally launched on November 9th, 1944 from the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and was sponsored by a Mrs. Phillip A. Ross. The newly constructed submarine was officially commissioned on April 30th, 1945 under the leadership of Commander Vincent A. Sisler, Jr. Following the completion of her shakedown training and operational trials in Lake Michigan, she was finally ready for action so she was placed into floating dry dock and towed down the Mississippi River en route to New Orleans, Louisiana where she was let loose into the open ocean.
The Mapiro participated with some additional training from May 31st until June 5th and she then transited the Panama Canal and on June 28th she moved out into the Pacific Ocean driving straight for her new home port of Pearl Harbor where she arrived on July 15th. The USS Mapiro SS 376 departed from pearl Harbor and set sail embarking on her first war patrol on August 4th where she arrived at Saipan the day Japan surrendered of August 15th, 1945. The Mapiro remained in the region and continued to patrol the waters of the area in support of observational procedures and then headed back home to the mainland of the United States in September. She arrived at San Francisco Bay, California on August 25th to initiate deactivation. She was decommissioned on March 16th, 1946 and placed into the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
In 1960, the USS Mapiro SS 376 was re-commissioned and assigned as a Fleet Snorkel submarine until she was transferred on March 18th, 1960 to the government of Turkey on loan as a part of the Military Assistance Program. She departed San Francisco Bay, California on May 16th, 1960 en route to Istanbul transiting the Panama Canal and heading out into the Atlantic and onward to be officially appointed to the Turkish Navy arriving on June 23rd, 1960 and being commissioned under the Turkish flag the next day. The USS Mapiro SS 376 was officially struck from the United States Naval Vessel Registry on August 1st, 1973 and was taken off of her loan agreement and directly sold to Turkey the same day.
The USS Mapiro SS 376 and her crewmembers who worked aboard her knew they were in danger, but they were also working around a dangerous substance they were not aware of. The USS Mapiro SS 376 was built during a time when the dangers of exposure to asbestos were not understood. Asbestos was used widely for insulation around the pipe systems aboard the USS Mapiro SS 376 as well as other submarines during that particular era. Veterans who were exposed to asbestos are now vulnerable to respiratory diseases including mesothelioma, a deadly type of asbestos cancer. Any crewmembers that think they may have inhaled or been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers must carefully monitor their respiratory health and should visit a medical physician immediately for consultation and evaluation.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
