USS Threadfin SS 410
The USS Threadfin SS 410 was a Balao-class submarine that was launched on June 26th, 1944 from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard out of Kittery, Maine and was sponsored by a Mrs. Frank G. Fox. The submarine was commissioned on August 30th, 1944 under the leadership of Commander John J. Foote. Following her initial shakedown cruise and evaluation trials she was dubbed ready and set for active service. She departed the eastern seaboard and moved south transiting the Panama Canal and heading west in order to join the Pacific Fleet at her new home base at Pearl Harbor where she arrived in early December. She began her final intensive training and prepared herself and her crew for her first war patrol.
She set sail departing from Pearl Harbor on December 25th and finally entered her designated patrol area within the waters south of Kyushu in early January of 1945. On January 30th she was observing the known enemy shipping routes when she spotted a large coastal freighter weighing in at two thousand tons being escorted by two accompanying destroyers and heading straight for the Threadfin. She immediately achieved an attack position and fired a spread of six torpedoes at the enemy ships slamming her firepower into her intended target with a direct score. Although the kill was never confirmed she claims to have seen the cargo ships sink before diving deep to avoid retaliation from her escorting destroyers that would seek retribution when they began dropping their depth charges.
She evaded their counterattack and after a few more uneventful skirmishes in the days that followed, she pulled into Midway terminating that particular patrol. After the Threadfin was refitted and resupplied she departed from Midway on March 14th beginning her second war patrol which carried her to the Seto Inland Sea where she traveled to along with a wolf pack hunter killer submarine group consisting of Sea Dog SS 401 and the Trigger SS 237. She patrolled the waters surrounding Honshu and Kyushu and later participated in the Allied assault on Okinawa with the Fifth Fleet. During her third war patrol she sailed through the East and Yellow Seas conducting offensive operations. The USS Threadfin SS 410 was decommissioned on August 18th, 1972 and immediately sold to the Turkish Navy. She was awarded three battle stars for World War II service.
Crewmembers of the USS Threadfin SS 410 faced dangers on a daily basis during their tours of duty. The submarine was constructed during a period when dangers of asbestos exposure weren’t known to the world and the crew aboard the Threadfin may have unknowingly been inhaling these deadly asbestos particles. They were being put at serious risk of respiratory problems because these fibers were utilized inside internal piping systems within the submarine’s insulation during construction. Mesothelioma cancer has been directly linked to asbestos and any crewmember of the USS Threadfin SS 410 who is at all concerned about possible exposure should be evaluated by a medical physician immediately for mesothelioma diagnostic tests.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
