USS Puffer SS 268
The USS Puffer SS 268 was a Gato-class submarine that was launched on November 22nd, 1942 from the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. out of Manitowoc, Wisconsin and was sponsored by a Mrs. Ruth B. Lyons who was the granddaughter of the oldest employee at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. The newly constructed submarine was officially commissioned on April 27th, 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander M. J. Jenson. Following her shakedown training off the eastern seaboard of the United States she was declared as being ready for active service and headed south towards the Caribbean Sea where she was ordered to transit the Panama Canal and move west out into the Pacific where she would join the war effort with the Pacific Fleet. She arrived to Australia in September of 1943.
Her first war patrol began on September 7th and took her to the waters off the Makassar Strait and the Celebes Sea where she conducted interception search and destroy missions against any Japanese she might encounter. During her second patrol within the Sulu Sea she spotted and successfully sank an 820-ton destroyer and a 6,700-ton cargo freighter before she returned to Fremantle, Australia for refueling and refitting arriving on January 12th, 1944. Her third war patrol carried her throughout the formidable water of the South China Sea. On February 22nd she engaged and sank a massive fifteen thousand one hundred five ton enemy transport as well as three more large tankers before settling in at Fremantle on June 21st, 1944.
During the time from July of 1944 until July 5th, 1945 she traveled through the Luzon Straits and the Java and South China Seas where she provided support in bombarding Pratas Island as well as making numerous mine sweeps in and around Wake Island. When the war finally ended she was ordered to head for Subic Bay in the Philippines where received fuel before heading back to the mainland arriving at San Francisco on October 15th, 1945. She served there along the west coast helping to train new submarine crew and was finally decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on June 28th, 1946 and placed into the Pacific Reserve Fleet. The USS Puffer SS 268 was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation and nine battle stars for service during World War II.
The USS Puffer SS 268 and her crew faced many dangers during their service, but unfortunately the sailors faced a danger they were unaware of at the time, as the USS Puffer was constructed with asbestos insulation around many of its pipes and installations. We now know that workers exposed to asbestos are at risk for the development of lung and breathing problems including a type of cancer called mesothelioma. Any veterans who believe they may have come in contact with asbestos while aboard the Puffer or other submarine should go to see a physician for an evaluation.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
