The USS Blenny (SS/AGSS-324) was a Balao-class submarine laid down in 1943, launched, and commissioned in 1944. After training, the ship began her first wartime patrol in the Philippines, surviving enemy attacks while sinking several Japanese vessels before concluding operations in early 1945. Following a refit in Australia, she conducted a second patrol off Indochina, where she sank three enemy ships. Her third patrol, also in Indochina and extending into the Java Sea, resulted in two confirmed sinkings. After another overhaul, the submarine departed on her fourth and final patrol in 1945, operating off Malaya and destroying several smaller enemy craft. She returned to Subic Bay just one day before the end of hostilities. After World War II, the vessel underwent refits and operated across the Pacific from 1945 to 1954, including service in the Korean War, before transferring to the Atlantic Fleet. From 1954 to 1969, the ship participated in NATO and antisubmarine exercises and deployed to the Mediterranean. Reclassified AGSS-324, the USS Blenny was decommissioned in 1969 and stricken in 1973. Asbestos was widely used on submarines due to its strong resistance to heat and fire. The confined environment aboard submarines exposed crew members to an elevated risk of inhaling toxic fibers and developing severe diseases decades after service.
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