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USS Cabezon SS-334

The USS Cabezon SS-334 was built by the Electric Boat Company out of Groton, Connecticut. Her name comes from a fish found in the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The word is a Spanish term meaning ‘big head'. She was launched on August 27, 1944 and commissioned into the United States Navy on December 30, 1944.

She was built as a Balao class submarine. There were 128 copies of this class of submarine made and they all had roughly the same dimensions and weight. The Cabezon, specifically, measured 311 feet, nine inches long and 27 feet, three inches wide. Her displacement equaled 1,526 tons when floating on the surface and 2,424 tons when submerged. One of the significant improvements over the previous Gato class submarine was a higher yield steel used in the hull, which allowed the sub to dive down to 400 feet without risking collapse.

The propulsion systems were similar in both classes. The Cabezon had four V16 diesel engines that were built by General Motors. They did not power the propellers directly, but, instead, ran electrical generators. These generators then powered four high speed electric motors, made by General Electric, which turned the propellers. There were also two 126 cell Sargo batteries that could be charged to allow the sub to run silently when they needed to avoid enemy detection. This propulsion system allowed her to reach speed of up to 20.25 knots on the surface and 8.75 knots under the water.

She was able to carry up to 24 torpedoes. Theses could be fired from any of ten 21 inch tubes, six of which were in the front and the other four were aft. She also possessed one five inch 25 caliber gun and four machine guns on her deck that would allow her to fire upon enemies from the surface. She was manned by ten officer and 70 to 71 enlisted sailors.

Once the sub had been through shakedown maneuvers to make sure everything was ship-shape, she headed to Florida. Reaching Key West in February of 1945, she offered her services to the Fleet Sound School as a training vessel. She spent three weeks in the area performing training missions. Once those were complete, she headed to Pearl Harbor, passing through the Panama Canal. She arrived in Hawaii on March 15 and, shortly thereafter, headed out for her first and only war patrol.

Taking place from May 25 to July 11, 1945, her assigned area for her patrol was in the Sea of Okhotsk. Her only recorded sighting of the enemy took place on June 19. She sank a 2,631 ton Japanese cargo ship. Once her war patrol was done, she made way to Midway to undergo a refit. On August 4, she headed for Saipan where she was used as a target vessel for training surface vessels. From there, she was assigned Subic Bay in the Philippines as her home base and remained there, performing training and local operations, until January 12, 1946.

The Cabezon returned to the States on February 6, 1946 and operated out of San Diego, California. She reassigned to Pearl Harbor and arrived there in November. While operating out of Pearl Harbor, she participated in training cruises and local operations. Her cruises took her to the South Pacific, the North Pacific and even across the Arctic Circle. She also performed two cruises, one in 1950 and the other in 1952, to the Far East.

The sub was inactivated and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet on October 24, 1953. She remained mothballed until she was struck from the Naval Register on May 15, 1970 and then the sub was sold for scrapping on December 28, 1971. She had earned one Battle Star for her single, successful war patrol during World War II.

From the 1930s until the mid 1970s, asbestos was used extensively in ships and subs built for the United States Navy. The mineral was cheap and easy to use. It has several qualities, besides being inexpensive, that made it very appealing. It is flame and heat resistant, doesn't conduct electricity and dampens sound. When the vessels were built, asbestos was often used to wrap pipes and sometimes stuffed into the actual walls of the ships. There were also many other items that had asbestos added to them during their manufacture. Clutches, brakes and gaskets all contained the mineral. When asbestos is disturbed, especially after it has aged, it releases a white powder or dust.

Most of the ships and subs had very poor ventilation on board. When the dust was freed from the main mass, it had a tendency to remain airborne. Often it was sucked into the air circulation equipment and transferred to the rest of the vessel. The problem with the dust is that it contains millions of microscopic fibers that are very dangerous to humans, especially in high concentrations. The fibers enter the body, either by being inhaled or swallowed, and begin to damage any tissues they come into contact with. It can take up to fifty years from the damage to become apparent. This is why there is still some concern about the sailors who served aboard military vessels. Many of them are just now beginning to show signs of the two primary asbestos related disease, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Please contact us if you need more information about asbestos exposure or either of these diseases.

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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