The USS Bugara (SS-331) was a Balao-class submarine laid down in 1943, launched, and commissioned in 1944. Over the following year, she carried out three patrols in the Gulf of Siam, the South China Sea, and the Java Sea. Her most successful operation came during the third patrol in the Gulf of Siam, where she destroyed 67 small enemy vessels. Following the end of World War II, the submarine sailed to Fremantle, Australia, before proceeding to Subic Bay in the Philippines to rejoin her squadron. In the Korean War, she supported United Nations operations around the Korean Peninsula. While deployed, the ship sustained damage that forced her return to the US for repairs, after which she resumed active service in late 1950. Throughout the 1960s, the vessel participated in Vietnam War operations, Western Pacific deployments, fleet exercises, training missions, and goodwill visits. By 1970, the Navy considered the USS Bugara outdated and too expensive to modernize, proposing to be stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. Consequently, the submarine was decommissioned and stricken in 1970. Products containing asbestos were common aboard submarines built before the 1980s, potentially exposing personnel to asbestos dust. Those harmed may qualify for compensation from the asbestos trust funds and the VA.
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