The USS S-22 (SS-127) was a first-group S-class submarine of the United States Navy, laid down on 6 January 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, launched on 15 July 1920 sponsored by Mrs. Mark C. Bowman, and commissioned on 23 June 1924 with Lieutenant John H. Forshew, Jr., in command. This submarine is very likely to have been built with asbestos insulation. At times, it was used in training midshipmen at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as in assisting the diving school at Piney Point, Maryland. After performing its duty, the submarine was decommissioned in 1942 and subsequently transferred to the Royal Navy. Finally, the USS S-22 was sold for scrapping in 1945. You can’t see or smell asbestos, but inhalation of its needle-like fibers can cause lung diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening, benign asbestos pleural effusions, and rounded atelectasis. The naturally occurring, flame-retardant mineral fibers are so small they must be identified using a microscope.
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