USS Gato SS-212
The USS Gato (SS-212) was the lead ship of her class of 77 diesel-powered submarines constructed at the height of World War II. Over half of these submarines, including the Gato, were constructed at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, although the Navy called on three other shipyards to assist in building this class.
Gato class submarines were a little more than 300 feet in length and only 27 feet wide, a tight space for the 60 men that the USS Gato carried as her crew. They were powered by four diesel engines and had a top surface speed of 21 knots and 9 knots when submerged. The Gato could stay submerged for up to 48 hours, but then was required to surface to run its engines and recharge its two large batteries. These submarines carried 24 torpedoes, a deck gun, and four machine guns. They primarily operated in the Pacific and played a major role in the war by disrupting Japanese shipping and supply lines.
Electric Boat began construction on this lead ship in the fall of 1940. Only eleven months later, the Gato was ready to be launched on August 21, 1941, months before the United States officially entered World War II. During its construction, many asbestos insulating products were installed on the USS Gato and the other submarines of the same design. The exhaust piping and joints on her four diesel engines had insulating pads made of asbestos cloth filled with long fiber asbestos, then sewed and quilted with asbestos twine. The hot and cold pipes, flanges, and valves were insulated with asbestos felt and asbestos cloth. The hot machinery was also insulated with asbestos. These products released asbestos fibers as they were cut, sawed, and installed on these submarines. The shipyard workers at Electric Boat Company were exposed to these heavy concentrations of asbestos dust unaware of the hazard this posed.
USS Gato’s crew joined her on her December 31, 1941 commissioning. The Gato departed for her home port of Pearl Harbor on February 16, 1942, to report for war duty. Soon she began a series of thirteen war patrols that earned her the Presidential Unit Citation as well as thirteen battle stars, one for each of her patrols.
Thirteen Successful War Patrols
During her first war patrol in the Marshall Islands, the Gato experienced the force and potential destructive power of depth charges from four enemy destroyers. She had attempted to attack a converted aircraft carrier, but failed and faced the harsh impact of a barrage of depth charges. During the summer of 1942, the Gato continued its patrols and was successful in scoring torpedo hits and sinking a number of ships, including transports and two cargo ships. In April, 1943, the Gato was heavily damaged by depth charges and was forced to head to Australia for week long repairs.
She returned to Pearl Harbor on June 6, 1943, and was sent to Mare Island Shipyard for overhaul and repair. When the USS Gato was overhauled and repaired at Mare Island and Pearl Harbor, the shipyard workers were exposed to asbestos dust created as the asbestos insulation was removed and replaced as repairs were made. These workers were unaware of the danger of breathing the asbestos dust.
By the summer of 1943, the Gato was ready to return to Pearl Harbor to resume her war patrols. Between the fall of 1943 and the end of the war, the Gato conducted eight additional war patrols. She sank a cargo ship and rescued a Japanese soldier stranded in a life raft during her seventh war patrol. During her eighth patrol in February 1944, she sank three trawlers, a transport, and a cargo ship before returning to Pearl Harbor two months later. On her ninth and tenth war patrols, the USS Gato served as a lifeguard submarine and completed photographic reconnaissance work for Navy Intelligence. On her eleventh war patrol, Gato sank a coast defense ship and a cargo ship before returning to port in Guam.
The Gato narrowly missed being hit by a torpedo on what turned out to be her next to last patrol. April 12, 1945, an enemy torpedo came dangerously close to penetrating her hull, but missed the Gato. She went on to complete her thirteenth and final war patrol serving as a lifeguard until she received word of the “cease fire” order.
After the war, she was decommissioned but went on to serve as a naval reserve training ship at New York and Baltimore for several years. After years of dedicated service and thirteen tiresome war patrols, Gato was finally removed from the Navy’s Registry on March 1, 1960, and sold for scrapping a few months later.
Throughout her many years of service, the crewman aboard the USS Gato, as well as those who served on the other submarines of this class, were exposed to the asbestos dust that permeated the extremely confined spaces of the submarine. These brave crewmen were unaware of the dangers of breathing the asbestos dust and even today these veterans remain at risk of contracting mesothelioma as a result of the toxic asbestos on board.
