The USS Fulton (AS-11), the leader of its class of seven submarine tenders, was launched on 27 December 1940 by Mare Island Navy Yard and commissioned on 12 September 1941, with Commander A. D. Douglas in command. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the USS Fulton (AS-11) was on its shakedown voyage out of San Diego. It was immediately sent to Panama, where it arrived on December 9th. The submarine tender spent the following month establishing advanced seaplane stations in the Gulf of Fonseca, Nicaragua, and the Galapagos Islands before returning to San Diego to prepare for Pacific service. Between the 1930s and the mid-1970s, asbestos use in shipbuilding reached a peak. The SS Thomas LeValley, like many other ships from the World War II period, was built using a variety of asbestos-containing materials. Asbestos was discovered in engine rooms, boiler rooms, navigation rooms, mess halls, and sleeping quarters, as well as in turbines, pumps, and valves. While working on the ships, shipbuilders and those who served on military vessels may have inhaled asbestos fibers in the air.
USS Fulton - Rigger - Lung Disease - Veteran Exposed to Asbestos
BM3. Served onboard the Fulton from 1985 to 1989.
12/1983 change of duty station orders to the USS Fulton AS-11 homeport State Pier, London, CT. For the needs of the U.S. Navy PRP operatives for special weapons. Report to homeport State Pier, London, CT. Informed that the USS Fulton AS-11 is in the shipyard’s Boston/Quincy General Dynamics. Reported for overhaul, TAD to Safety and Fire watches, duties set fire watches during Hot Work permits verified with the USN shipyards' safety supervisor before hot work starts. 03/1984 AS-11 forward engine room set bilge fire watch below deck, start back up to set other fire watch explosion above the ladder well switch gear land, heavy fire and smoke followed. Carrying fire extinguishers and assisting engine crew in putting out the fire. Ordered to evacuate space, climbed up the ladder to the main deck, was told to stand by if needed. AS-11 Fire Marshall ordered personnel to don fire equipment and attack the fire. After 5 to 6 attempts with four fire crews, port and starboard of the forward engine room flooding the compartment almost 2 hours to put out the fire, I had smoke inhalation and burns. 06/1984 underway.
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