USS Agerholm (DD-826)

The Gearing-class USS Agerholm (DD-826) was laid down on 10 September 1945 at Bath, Maine by the Bath Iron Works and launched on 30 March 1946. She was commissioned on 20 June of that year under the command of Cmdr. Frank D. Schwartz.

The First Years

The Agerholm and her crew underwent shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Following post-shakedown repairs at the Boston Naval Shipyard, she was ordered to report to her new home port of San Diego, where she arrived on 21 January 1947.

Agerholm soon settled into a routine of local training operations in the waters off southern California. On 10 March, the destroyer embarked on her first extended cruise to the western Pacific. While operating with the 7th Fleet, Agerholm visited the Chinese ports of Tsingtao, Shanghai and Amoy, before they were closed to U.S. ships. She also visited Kwajalein, Okinawa, Hong Kong and several ports in Japan before returning to San Diego on 26 November. She remained there for the holiday season.

In June 1950, Agerholm reported to Mare Island near San Francisco for an extensive overhaul in preparation for combat duty in Korea. After completing her overhaul, Agerholm and her crew trained for combat operations and set a course for the Far East. She arrived off Korea on 19 February 1951 and was assigned to Task Force 77 as part of a carrier screen, including plane guard duty. The destroyer also aided in shore bombardment for several months. The vessel returned to San Diego on 20 September.

Over the next decade, the Agerholm would return to the Far East several times. Initially, these were combat tours off Korea. After hostilities ceased, her missions involved peacekeeping and diplomacy. During one of her combat tours during the summer of 1952, her hull was breached by an enemy shell near the crew's quarters, causing minor damage.

Agerholm went into Mare Island maintenance and repairs on 2 February 1953 and 29 April 1955. In May 1960, the destroyer reported to Mare Island for extensive modification and changes under the Fleet Rehabilitation And Modernization (FRAM) program. When Agerholm emerged in March 1961, she was equipped with the latest anti-submarine rockets (ASROC), torpedoes, helicopter facilities, radar and sonar equipment, all of which was subject to thorough testing over the next several months. In May 1962, Agerholm participated in nuclear weapon testing, becoming the first surface combat vessel to fire an anti-submarine nuclear weapon.

In November, Agerholm sailed to the Far East on her 12th deployment. She returned to her home port in June 1963 and commenced overhaul at the Naval Repair Facility in San Diego, which occupied the next six months.

Vietnam

In August 1964, the destroyer got underway for Vietnam for her first deployment to that area. Upon her return to her home port early in 1965, Agerholm underwent a brief maintenance period. Following a midshipman's cruise to Hawaii, she prepared for another cruise to that area. She began her next Vietnam deployment in January 1966.

Upon her return to the United States in August 1966, Agerholm began another modernization overhaul at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, during which she received new gun mounts, advanced radar and sonar gear, upgraded communications systems and engineering plant alterations. She left the shipyard in December to spend the holidays at home.

Over the next few years, Agerholm returned to Vietnam and "Yankee Station" several times, primarily operating with carriers. Her last combat tour of Vietnam for several years ended in June 1969. She arrived home in San Diego on 24 July.

The Agerholm entered the shipyard at Hunters' Point, California on 11 September 1969 for overhaul, which was completed on 19 December. Following a period of overseas deployments and routine operations in local waters, the vessel again entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a five-month overhaul, which was completed on 21 December 1972.

On 26 April 1973, Agerholm was ordered to "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin for the first time in five years, arriving on 28 May. She returned to San Diego on 1 November. On 8 February 1975, the Agerholm was ordered to join Operation "Eagle Pull," the evacuation of Saigon. The vessel completed her role in the evacuation on 26 February.

In October 1978, the Board of Inspection and Survey determined that the aging Agerholm was no longer fit for service. She was decommissioned on 1 December 1978 and her name was struck from the Navy Register that same day. She was sunk as a target on 18 July 1982.

Asbestos Risks

Asbestos was widely employed for pipe insulation and for fireproofing on every Navy ship through the war era. Nearly all compartments of a ship such as the USS Agerholm posed a significant level of asbestos risk, but the engine room and engineering sections were the sections where crewmen or dockworkers were most likely to be exposed to airborne asbestos. Even greater danger of being subjected to harmful levels of asbestos exposure resulted whenever the ship was damaged, whether in battle or through misfortune, as that often exposed asbestos-contaminated components to the open air or subjected them to flames or flooding.

With asbestos, the greatest danger of exposure occurs whenever items containing the mineral become damaged and fragile; when the asbestos fibers go into the air, the particles can then be breathed in by workers near the exposure. Occupational asbestos risk is a causative factor that has been linked to malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, cancer of the lungs and other serious medical problems.

Since most asbestos-caused problems are hard to detect, those with a history of contact with this mineral should promptly inform their primary physicians about this history. To learn more about the diagnostic process, available treatment options and financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill out this form to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

Along with the inherent hazards of enemy encounters, men who fought on board the Agerholm were, like people on other craft of this type, all too often endangered by asbestos fiber exposure. This was especially true since the Agerholm underwent severe combat damage and extensive redesigns and patch jobs. On top of the major combat damage and redesign activity, our troops who worked on the Agerholm were also in contact with asbestos in the daily execution of their service. This was especially true for port-based workers such as machinists and carpenters who serviced the ship when she was in port.

Considering the Agerholm's history, and based on what we now know about the consequences of asbestos inhalation, it is imperative that those who at any time in their career lived and worked aboard this ship, and those assigned to other Navy ships, learn about the dangers posed by service-related exposure to asbestos.

Sources:

Destroyers Index