USS Pike SS 173
The USS Pike SS 173 was a Porpoise-class submarine that was originally launched on September 12th, 1935 from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine and was sponsored by a Miss Jane Logan Snyder. The newly built submarine was officially commissioned on December 2nd, 1935 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Heber H. McLean. Following her initial shakedown trials along the eastern Atlantic seaboard of the United States, she departed from Newport, Rhode Island on February 10th, 1937 and headed south towards Panama in order to transit the Panama Canal and move out into the Pacific Ocean where she operated out of San Diego, California from 1937 to 1938 and participated in strategic tactical maneuvers off of Hawaii.
She entered Manila Bay on December 1st, 1939 and she was then appointed to Submarine Squadron 5 out of Cavite. Departing on June 20th, 1940 she cruised along the coast of China from Tsingtao to Shanghai, finally returning to Cavite on August 24th, before continuing to voyage throughout the Philippines. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 the Pike was immediately put out to sea on December 8th in order to guard sea lanes between Manila and Hong Kong while American troops quickly evacuated from the islands deep in enemy territory. There were many other American bases that were completely destroyed within hours after the Pearl Harbor attack.
On January 24th, 1942 she moored at Port Darwin, Australia and between February 5th and March 28th she embarked on her third war patrol where she was able to detect numerous enemy ships off of the Alor Islands on February 20th as well as near the Lombok Strait on February 28th. During her fourth war patrol, she initially sailed to Fremantle, Australia on April 19th and then continued onward to patrol the friendly region around Honolulu and Oahu. The USS Pike SS 173 was officially decommissioned on November 15th, 1945 and upon the completion of all her duties, she was struck from the United States Naval Vessel Registry on February 17th, 1946. The USS Pike SS 173 was awarded four battle stars for her honorable and brave service during World War II.
The USS Pike SS 173 has been declared to be toxic, asbestos was used as a construction material in items commonly found on large submarines. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers, so the asbestos on board the USS Pike SS 173 could have been inhaled by the members of her crew. Asbestos can easily cling to most surfaces, and then be released into the air later. This led to the possibility that anyone have been exposed to this toxic material and these deadly asbestos fibers were also utilized within the piping duct systems construction. Exposure to asbestos is very dangerous and can lead to potentially deadly diseases such as mesothelioma which is a very dangerous form of asbestos cancer. Any crewmembers who have been exposed to dangerous asbestos should seek medical attention and respiratory evaluation from their physician.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
