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USS Aspro SS-309

The USS Aspro was a Balao-class submarine named for a species of fish found in the upper Rhone River. Launched on April 7, 1943 and commissioned on 31 July, she earned seven battle stars for her World War II service, which involved a long series of eventful patrols in the Pacific.

The USS Aspro during World War II

The USS Aspro sailed for Pearl Harbor in September 1943, arriving on October 18. After undergoing training and preparation she departed for her first war patrol on November 24. On December 15, she sighted a Japanese convoy, with two freighters, a tanker, and two escort ships. She fired torpedoes and scored a single hit, but none of the vessels were seriously damaged. On the night of December 17 she again spotted a convoy, this one containing around fifteen ships. After firing at a tanker and freighter pair, she escaped a counterattack from destroyer ships guarding the convoy to return to base at Midway Island on January 1, 1944.

The second war patrol of the USS Aspro began on February 3, after she had spent a brief period at Pearl Harbor undergoing a training session. Her second assigned patrol area was in the waters north of Truk. On February 15, she sighted a Japanese submarine, and after pursuing the vessel for a prolonged period she fired four torpedoes, scoring her first confirmed sinking of the war. Two days later she survived a depthcharge attack, and after damaging a freighter on March 4 the remainder of her patrol was uneventful. She returned to Pearl Harbor on March 28.

After a refit, the USS Aspro was ready for her third war patrol, this time in the waters near the Palau Islands. Underway on April 22, she stopped briefly at Midway Island for refueling and supplies before heading to the Palaus. Her first sighting of the patrol was on May 14, where she spotted a convoy of two freighters and three escorts. After firing four torpedoes at a freighter in the early hours of the morning, the freighter took serious damage and had sunk within just a few hours. The next day, she fired at and sank another ship in the same convoy, this time one of the escort ships. After a further month, she ended her patrol on June 16 at Fremantle, Australia.

The USS Aspro began her fourth war patrol on July 9. This time assigned to patrol in and around the South China Sea, she sported the first enemy ships of the patrol on July 19 when she sighted a convoy of four freighters and five escort ships near Luzon's west coast. After sinking one ship and damaging a second, she was unlucky the next day, missing all the shots she fired at a three-ship convoy. On July 28, she encountered an anchored enemy ship, and launched several torpedoes. After hearing several explosions she left the area; a week later passing through the same region, she discovered the moored ship in the same region, this time aground and destroyed by fire. On August 6 she sighted and opened fire on two Japanese freighters, and the next day fired on and hit a freighter in a twelve-ship convoy. The remainder of this patrol was quiet, and she returned to Fremantle on August 18.

The fifth patrol of the USS Aspro found her back in the South China Sea, where she found her first targets on her way to the assigned patrol area. On September 30, on the northeast coast of Luzon, she torpedoed and damaged a freighter which was part of a convoy of nearly a dozen ships. Over the next few days she attacked and sank two more ships, including a tanker and a freighter. Following this burst of activity she joined up with the Hoe and the Cabrilla, and with this wolf pack sank another freighter. The end of her patrol found her at Saipan on October 4.

Following a brief stop at Pearl Harbor before returning to Saipan, the sixth patrol of the USS Aspro began on December 13. This time she was assigned to lifeguard duties on the west coast of Taiwan, where she provided support for strikes commencing on January 3, 1945. Her patrol ended at Pearl Harbor on February 11, shortly after she rescued four downed aviators.

Prior to beginning her seventh and final war patrol, the USS Aspro spent three months in overhaul at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on the California coast. Her final patrol of the war began on June 25, where she was assigned to cover the waters south of Japan. Assigned lifeguard duty on July 8, she provided support for the strikes on Iwo Jima, then shifted position to Honshu on July 20. The patrol ended on August 13, and she was bound for California on September 1. The USS Aspro was decommissioned on January 30, 1946.

After the War

Recommissioned on July 6, 1951, she then began operating out of San Diego, performing routine operations on the west coast. On November 9, 1953 she was placed in reserve, and on April 30, 1954 she was again decommissioned. Three years later on May 5, 1957 she was recommissioned for the second time, and resumed her activities along the west coast for a further five years. Decommissioned for the last time on September 1, 1962, she was removed from the Naval Register on October 9, and sunk during target practice on November 16.

Many United States Navy vessels contained large amounts of asbestos, as the substance was once used extensively as an insulator and fire-proofing material. Many people who served onboard these vessels, or were involved in building, repairing, or outfitting them, have subsequently developed asbestos-related diseases due to asbestos exposure. If you've developed an asbestos-related disease as a result of involvement with Navy vessels, contact us for information about your legal options.

Submarines Index

USS Albacore SS 218 USS AmberJack SS 219 USS Angler SS 240 USS Apogon SS 308 USS Archer-fish SS 311 USS Argonaut-SM-1 USS Argonaut SS 475 USS Aspro SS 309 USS Atule SS 403 USS Balao SS 285 USS Bang SS 385 USS Barbel SS 316 USS Barbero SS 317 USS Barb SS 220 USS Barracuda SS 163 USS Bashaw SS 241 USS Bergall SS 320 USS Besugo SS 321 USS Billfish SS 286 USS Blackfin SS 322 USS Blackfish SS 221 USS Blenny SS 324 USS Blower SS 325 USS Blueback SS 326 USS Bluefish SS 222 USS Bluegill SS 242 USS Boarfish SS 327 USS Bonefish SS 223 USS Bonita SS 165 USS Bowfin SS 287 USS Bream SS 243 USS Brill SS 330 USS Bugara SS 331 USS Bullhead SS 332 USS Bumper SS 333 USS Burrfish SS 312 USS Cabezon SS 334 USS Carbonero SS 337 USS Hake SS 256 USS Hammerhead SS 364 USS Harder SS 257 USS Hardhead SS 365 USS Hawkbill SS 366

USS Herring SS 233 USS Hoe SS 258 USS Icefish SS 367 USS Jack SS 259 USS Jallao SS 368 USS Kete S 369 USS Kingfish SS 234 USS Kraken SS 370 USS Lagarto SS 371 USS Lizardfish SS 373 USS Loggerhead SS 374 USS Macabi SS 375 USS Mackerel-204 USS Manta SS 299 USS Mapiro SS 376 USS Marlin SS 205 USS Mingo SS 261 USS Moray SS 300 USS Muskallunge SS 262 USS Narwhal SS 263 USS Nautilus-ss-0024 USS Paddle SS 167 USS Pampanito SS 383 USS Parche SS 384 USS Pargo SS 264 USS Perch SS 176 USS Permit SS 178 USS Peto SS 265 USS Pickerel SS 177 USS Picuda SS 382 USS Pike SS 173 USS Pilotfish SS 386 USS Pintado SS 387 USS Pipefish SS 388 USS Pirahna SS 389 USS Plaice SS 390 USS Plunger SS 179 USS Pogy SS 266 USS Pollack SS 180 USS Pomfret SS 391 USS Pompano SS 181 USS Pompon SS 267 USS Porpoise SS 172

USS Puffer SS 268 USS Queenfish SS 393 USS Quillback SS 424 USS Rasher SS 269 USS Raton SS 270 USS Ray SS 271 USS Razorback SS 394 USS Redfin SS 272 USS Redfish SS 395 USS Robalo SS 273 USS Rock SS 274 USS Ronquil SS 396 USS Runner SS 275 USS Runner SS 476 USS S-1 SS 105 USS S-20 SS 125 USS S-46 SS 157 USS Sailfish SS 192 USS Salmon SS 182 USS Sand Lance SS 381 USS Sargo SS 188 USS Saury SS 189 USS Sawfish SS 276 USS Scabbardfish SS 397 USS Scamp SS 277 USS Scorpion SS 278 USS Sculpin SS 191 USS Sea Cat SS 399 USS Sea Devil SS 400 USS Sea Dog SS 401 USS Seadragon SS 194 USS Sea Fox SS 402 USS Seahorse SS 304 USS Sealion SS 195 USS Seal SS 183 USS Sea Owl SS 405 USS Sea Poacher SS 406 USS Searaven SS 196 USS Sea Robin SS 407 USS Seawolf SS 197 USS Segundo SS 398 USS Sennet SS 408

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