USS Permit SS 178
The USS Permit SS 178 was a Porpoise-class submarine that was launched on October 5th, 1936 from the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut and was sponsored by a Mrs. Harold G. Bowen. The newly constructed submarine was officially commissioned on March 17th, 1937 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Charles O. Humphreys. Following her initial shakedown training along the east coast of the United States, she departed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire on November 29th, 1937 and headed south where she transited the Panama Canal on December 10th and continued to the west coast arriving at San Diego, California on December 18th in order to join up with Submarine Squadron 6.
For the next twenty two months, she patrolled the waters along the eastern Pacific between southern California and the Aleutian Islands and Hawaiian Islands and in October of 1939 she sailed to the Philippines and was assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. In 1940 and 1941 she conducted voyages within the Philippine waters and those two years of peace time gave invaluable information to the crew that later had to fight in those same waters when the war began. She set out on her first war patrol from December 11th to December 20th, 1941 where she traveled along the west coast of Luzon. She completed her second war patrol within the same area and spent her third war patrol performing reconnaissance in the waters near the southern Philippines.
On February 22nd, she departed Surabaya, Java embarking on her fourth war patrol as the Japanese Fleet began to close in on the Java Sea. She was able to rescue countless soldiers from the area and she reported to her new home base at Fremantle, Australia needing minor repairs after evading three enemy destroyers. The USS Permit SS 178 was officially decommissioned on November 15th, 1945 and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on July 26th, 1956. The USS Permit SS 178 was awarded ten battle stars for her honorable and brave service during World War II.
The USS Permit SS 178 and her crewmembers who worked aboard the USS Permit served with great honor, but unfortunately were exposed to a danger they were not aware of at the time of their service. Due to the fact that the Permit was built at a time when people were unaware of the hazards that were apparent from asbestos, and it was used extensively in the construction of the vessel. This was particularly a fact of the insulation around piping systems and duct fixtures within the submarine. The crew may have been put at serious risk for a variety of respiratory problems including a deadly form of asbestos cancerr known as mesothelioma. Any veteran soldiers who worked aboard the USS Permit SS 178 should be aware that they might develop respiratory problems and difficulties with breathing. Any veteran sailors or any Unites States soldiers that are concerned they may have been exposed to asbestos should consult a medical physician for diagnostic testing.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
