USS Josephus Daniels (CG-27)

The USS Josephus Daniels, named for the Secretary of the Navy under the Woodrow Wilson Administration, was a Belknap-class destroyer-leader, later reclassified as a guided missile cruiser under the Fleet Realignment program of 1975. Affectionately known as the "Joey D," her keel was laid down by union steelworkers of the Bath Iron Works in Maine on 23 April  1962; she was launched on 2 December 1963 and commissioned on 8 May 1965.

The Belknap-class was a series of nine such vessels that served in the US Navy between July 1963 and February 1995. They were considered to be "single-ended" in that their missiles pointed forward only ("double-enders" had missiles pointing in both directions).

Deployments

The "Joey D's" first deployment took her to the Mediterranean 1967-68, where she participated in NATO exercises; toward the end of this deployment, in late May 1968, she was involved in the search to find the USS Scorpion, a nuclear submarine that sank off the coast of the Azores.

In 1968 and 1970, the Daniels sailed around South America and was deployed to the Far East, serving as a search and rescue vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin and returning to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, after a 251-day deployment. Over the next 11 years, she made eight deployments to the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet.

The 1980s took Daniels to almost every ocean, including the Arctic (1985), the Persian Gulf (1988) and another South American tour (1990).

Fate

After her last tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, "Joey D" returned to port, where she was decommissioned on 21 January 1994. After a period with the James River Reserve Fleet at Fort Eustis, Virginia, she was sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking Ltd. of Brownsville, Texas; she was completely dismantled by 1999.

Asbestos Risks

Men and women who fought for our country in the armed forces have always understood that their duties are accompanied by certain dangers, whether or not they see battle action. However, what most US servicemen and servicewomen in the majority of the 20th century, especially those in the navy, did not know was that asbestos contact could sometimes prove to be just as deadly as enemy bullets.

The ability to stop the spread of fire onboard a ship is critical; historical maritime disasters have demonstrated the danger of conflagrations at sea. Given asbestos' well known imperviousness to flames, it was considered entirely suitable for use in ship construction, and at the time guided missile cruisers like USS Josephus Daniels were built, insulation materials made from asbestos were common. Unfortunately, what wasn't always known or was sometimes overlooked was that inhalation of asbestos is a leading cause of debilitating diseases such as "miners lung" and pericardial mesothelioma. Asbestos damages humans when the mineral is friable (that is, easily smashed into microscopic shards) since it can then enter the body by being inhaled.

The results of contact with asbestos were probably not uppermost in the minds of many people while they were concerned with defending against enemy weapon fire or dealing with accidents. Asbestos exposure was definitely an additional hazard if a navy ship was attacked or was involved in an accident, however, since such circumstances usually exposed materials made of asbestos to people nearby. Furthermore, because virtually every compartment in naval vessels like USS Josephus Daniels contained asbestos, all onboard generally faced some amount of asbestos exposure even when performing their routine duties. Since asbestos was prevalent around ship's pipes and mechanical areas, navy files with duties in such places were particularly in danger. But it wasn't only shipboard sailors who suffered from asbestos poisoning; shipyard workers who serviced the vessel when it was in dry dock for repairs were also exposed to airborne asbestos.

Most asbestos-related illnesses take a very long time to appear. However, understanding a patient's experience with asbestos contact can help a healthcare professional in being able to make an accurate diagnosis. If you are a veteran who served on USS Josephus Daniels for any period of time, you should find out about the symptoms of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases and talk about any concerns you have with your health care provider.

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