USS Sea Poacher SS-406

The USS Sea Poacher, a United States Navy submarine christened after the fish of the same name, earned four Battle Stars for her service in World War II. She was a Balao class diesel-electric submarine of 311 feet in length, carrying a complement of 84 sailors in up to 400 feet depth. She was propelled by four 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines, two126-cell batteries, four electric motors and two propellers. Her armament was comprised of 10 21-inch torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, one five-inch 25-caliber deck gun and four machine guns. (After being re-configured to a Guppy 1A, the guns were removed.) Sea Poacher could reach a speed of 20 knots per hour on the surface, nine knots underwater, and could endure 48 hours submerged at two knots, as well as 75 days on patrol.

Early Mishap

Commissioned in 1944, Sea Poacher sailed to Pearl Harbor into the Kuril Islands area, where she fired torpedoes towards a Japanese trawler, sinking it and two other fishing boats within the same week. Unfortunately, during the skirmish, a gun exploded, injuring three sailors and necessitating a cessation of duties and a trip to Midway. For the next five years, the vessel was assigned to Submarine Squadron 6, with whom she conducted normal operations, maneuvers, training and fleet exercises, until being transferred to SubRon 4. Sea Poacher underwent the first GUPPY IA conversion done at the Charleston Naval Shipyard in the following year and was then based in Key West, Florida.

Service Where Needed

She operated out of the Florida and Caribbean waters, answering calls to duty from the 6th Fleet, as well as many units of the Atlantic Fleet. Sea Poacher was also responsible for missions involving NATO forces. One of her more interesting jobs involved the rescue of a downed blimp and the towing of it to the Naval Air Station, 40 miles away in Florida. By 1959, USS Sea Poacher was part of SubRon 12, and continuing to support the Atlantic Fleet wherever needed. This included a deployment in 1962 in the quarantine maintenance in Cuba during the missile crisis. Upon completion, Sea Poacher continued supporting varied activities and missions. The next long deployment consisted of a 100-day voyage to the eastern and northern areas of the Atlantic Ocean in 1969. She took an active role with the joined forces of the Spanish Navy and the Portuguese Navy in the establishment and implementation of antisubmarine training exercises.

A Noble End

After traveling back home to Key West, USS Sea Poacher continued to handle assignments both offshore and in Caribbean waters, and was reclassified to an Auxiliary Submarine. Later that same year, she was decommissioned and reassigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. In 1971, Sea Poacher was again re-designated, this time as a fleet submarine; however, two years later she was struck from the Navy List. The country of Peru purchased her in July 1974, and she was commissioned into the Peruvian Navy as BAP Pabellón de Pica. After a few weeks, her name was changed yet again to La Pedrera, under which she served for more than two decades. USS Sea Poacher/La Pedrera was finally retired in 1995, and started another career in the pier-side training of naval personnel.

The inadvertent misfiring of a gun onboard the Sea Poacher demonstrates how accidents could happen in the midst of chaotic battle procedures, even with trained men and operational equipment. Every protocol may have been followed, but still accidents occurred. When they did, sometimes - as in the case of Sea Poacher's maiden voyage - the ship needed to leave action and return to the nearest port for help. In some situations, they may not have had enough time to get such help, for example if there was an onboard incident requiring immediate and complete disposal, such as fire.

With limited resources and barely any escape onboard a submarine, a fire was feared almost as much as an enemy attack. That is why warships were provided with as much fire-prevention devices and equipment as possible, and attention was given to insulation. In all probability, this included a large amount of asbestos. During the time of the country's ship construction boom, asbestos was plentiful and inexpensive. It had shown its remarkable properties as a retardant against fire, heat, flames and electricity. Asbestos insulation could be squeezed into any tiny or oddly-shaped space; this attribute, as well as its lack of weight, made it an ideal choice for ships which needed as much protection as they could get.

Sailors may have never been aware that the sealant of the asbestos may have become damaged (due to attack, accident, or during an overhaul), thus allowing microscopic particles to drift into the submarine's air supply. Once there, with little fresh air during underwater operations, the fibers may have drifted throughout the ship and been inhaled or swallowed by anyone. It's known that asbestos fibers inhaled decades ago may have remained in people's lungs or stomachs, causing serious medical reactions. The results are only now becoming noticed in a surge of medical problems, from non-cancerous conditions like asbestosis, to various diseases such as lung cancer or mesothelioma. That is why anyone who served aboard the USS Sea Poacher who has been experiencing problematic symptoms should see a doctor as soon as possible. For more information, please fill out the form on this page to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

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