The USS Clamagore (SS-343) was a Balao-class submarine laid down in 1944, launched, and commissioned in 1945. She was a typical WWII “fleet boat” built as part of a major submarine construction program after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the ship entered service too late to see any wartime action and spent her first few years on patrol in the Caribbean. In the following period, the ship operated with various fleet units, including the Fleet Sonar School. In 1947, the vessel was modified into a FRAM II submarine. In 1962, she was again modified, being one of only nine boats to undergo a Guppy III modernization. After the upgrade, the submarine served in local and Caribbean operations, a Mediterranean tour of duty in 1953, and participated in various NATO exercises across the North Atlantic. The USS Clamagore was decommissioned and stricken from the Register in 1975, after 30 years of service. Products containing asbestos were also regularly applied aboard submarines due to their high resistance to heat and fire, potentially endangering personnel’s health. Moreover, the enclosed environment of submarines has put veterans at an even higher risk of exposure and developing diseases stemming from it years after military service.
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