USS Satyr (ARL-23)

The USS Satyr (ARL-23) was one of the U.S. Navy’s Achelous-class landing craft repair ships. Satyr served with the Navy throughout World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

The USS Satyr was originally built as a tank landing ship by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company in Seneca, Illinois, and launched on November 13th, 1944. Following her initial commissioning with the Navy, the Satyr was sent to Jacksonville, Florida, where she was converted to a repair ship. After her second commissioning, this time as an ARL type, the USS Satyr steamed into the Gulf of Mexico for a shakedown and training cruise. Following her successful shakedown, the USS Satyr was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and she entered the Pacific in mid-June, 1945.

Shortly after arriving in the Pacific, the USS Satyr was involved in a collision that damaged her bow doors. The impact sent sailors sprawling, and the rupture in the bow doors spewed asbestos-tinged clouds of dust and debris throughout the front of the ship. Satyr’s crew, facing near-certain asbestos inhalation, was forced to divert to Saipan for repairs, and by the time the repairs were completed World War II had ended. Satyr remained in the Pacific until mid-1946, when she was recalled to the United States.

After a brief period conducting local operations along the west coast, the USS Satyr was decommissioned and placed into the Navy’s Pacific Reserve Fleet. Satyr’s stay in the Reserve Fleet was relatively short, however, as the outbreak of the Korean War forced the Navy to activate dozens of ships from the reserve force. Following a brief reactivation overhaul, the Satyr was recommissioned on September 8th, 1950, and began operating out of San Diego. In late April, 1951, the USS Satyr was deployed to Korea, where she spent the remainder of the year servicing Navy landing craft in Pusan and Sasebo. Over the course of the Korean War the Satyr and her crew earned a total of two battle stars, representing participation in two separate Korean campaigns. Following the cessation of hostilities in Korea, the Satyr returned to the United States, where she served with the Pacific Fleet until 1956.

In mid-1956 the USS Satyr was once again decommissioned and placed into the Pacific Reserve Fleet. This time her tenure was significantly longer than her first time in mothballs, and it wasn’t until 1966 that the Navy ordered the Satyr recommissioned. The repair ship sailed for New Orleans, where she spent nearly all of 1967 in port for a modernization and reactivation overhaul. As part of the overhaul, shipyard crews replaced much of the Satyr’s internal equipment and made numerous modifications to her deck and superstructure. While the work was going on, workers were almost undoubtedly exposed to asbestos that had been trapped within the Satyr’s hull, and during her stay in New Orleans the Satyr probably exposed hundreds of workers to the toxic asbestos fibers.

In 1968, with her repairs completed, the USS Satyr sailed for Vietnam, which she reached on July 10th. While in Vietnam, the USS Satyr was assigned the dangerous task of supporting the Navy’s Mobile Riverine Force, operating deep within Vietnam’s inland waterways. The USS Satyr served in this role for nearly three years, and during that time she was subjected to numerous enemy attacks. The majority of these attacks were carried out with rifles and machine guns which, while they posed no threat to the Satyr’s seaworthiness, were still capable of displacing chunks of her hull and sending asbestos dust and shrapnel across the Satyr’s decks. By the time her tour in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy was over, the USS Satyr had earned seven Vietnam battle stars and one Presidential Unit Citation, as well as four Navy Unit Citations. On September 30th, 1971, the USS Satyr was decommissioned and transferred to South Vietnam.

Since people first began fighting organized battles, men and women in the armed forces have accepted that they are faced with many dangers. What many were not aware of in the 1900s, however, was a risk that was unrelated to bullets or attacks by the enemy: the possibility of contracting a disease related to asbestos exposure.

Since flames on an ocean vessel can be quite deadly, fireproofing is an important factor in ship construction. With asbestos' superb ability to block flames, it seemed entirely suitable for use in ship construction, and at the time vessels like USS Satyr were built, materials containing asbestos were typical. The downside with this is, as well as having fire-blocking properties, asbestos has also been shown to be a cause of debilitating illnesses as pleural plaques and peritoneal mesothelioma. Asbestos causes illness in our bodies when it is friable (i.e., easily smashed into small pieces) since it is then able to enter the body by being inhaled or swallowed.

The results of asbestos exposure were unlikely to be uppermost in the minds of most people while they were busy fighting off an enemy attack or dealing with storms. Asbestos exposure was certainly a significant secondary hazard if a naval vessel suffered battle damage, however, since such circumstances often exposed asbestos-containing materials to the elements. And even during peaceful times, those who worked on naval vessels like USS Satyr still faced at least a certain level of exposure since nearly every area of the vessel contained asbestos. In addition, a navy file who spent time in poorly ventilated spaces where asbestos was present, such as USS Satyr’s mechanical sections or engine room, was especially at risk. Those who repaired USS Satyr or other ships like her when she was in a shipyard being serviced faced the chance of asbestos ingestion too.

Since asbestos-related diseases like pericardial mesothelioma often don't manifest until as many as 20 or 30 years after a person was exposed to asbestos, they can be quite difficult to spot. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, a doctor must understand a patient's experience with contact with asbestos. Sailors who serviced or lived aboard USS Satyr are therefore advised to discuss their service history with their physicians.

Sources:

Auxiliary Vessels Index