USS Ault DD-698

A Sumner-class destroyer, the USS Ault (DD-698) was named in honor of the air group commander of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington that was lost during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. The Ault was constructed by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, NJ beginning in mid-November 1943. She launched 26 March 1944 and was commissioned two months later under the command of Commander Joseph Wylie.

World War II

During the last year of World War II, the USS Ault served primarily as an escort and worked in support capacities. She saw combat action in the spring and summer of 1945. Her crew successfully took down several Japanese aircrafts and escaped any damage. Post-war duties kept the Ault busy until 1946 when she reported to the Boston Navy Yard on 26 April for her first major overhaul.

The work took nearly a year to complete. Once repairs were complete in March 1947, the Ault served primarily as a training ship for the next three years. In 1950, she was decommissioned and docked at the Charleston Naval Shipyard as part of the mothball fleet.

Korea

When the Korean conflict broke out, the USS Ault was recommissioned and placed under the command of Harry Marvin-Smith. During the spring of 1951, she underwent one more overhaul at the Charleston yard before she was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.

However, the USS Ault never made it into action during the Korean War. Most of her duties involved training exercises for the next several years. During one such exercise in the Sea of Japan in December of 1953, she collided with one of her sister ships, the USS Haynsworth, taking off her bow and requiring repairs at the nearby base at Yokohama.

Cold War Service

Most of the USS Ault's activities over the subsequent decade involved public relations and training exercises. However one clandestine mission to the Black Sea in March 1960 took place, during which her boilers began to overheat, necessitating another overhaul when she returned to Norfolk six months later. The work was completed by March 1961, after which she returned to her regular duties.

Fifteen months later, the USS Ault reported to the Boston Naval Shipyard for a complete fleet rehabilitation and modernization overhaul, which involved several major upgrades to her weapons and communications systems as well as the addition of a helicopter landing pad. The FRAM overhaul took nearly eight months and afterward the Ault began training exercises until she was ordered to Vietnam in February 1967. She participated in Operation Sea Dragon until ordered to the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines for maintenance on 30 April.

Upon her return to the states in the fall of 1967, the USS Ault returned to regular training duties and battle exercises. She ended her days as a training vessel operating out of Galveston, Texas. She was decommissioned in 1973 and subsequently sold for scrap to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, Maryland.

Asbestos Risks

On every American navy vessel throughout both world wars, asbestos, a toxic mineral, was routinely utilized for insulation and fire control. Essentially all areas of a ship like the USS Ault contained asbestos, though the boilers and engine compartments were typically areas where a crewman or a technician faced the highest likelihood of exposure to asbestos fibers. Exposure to asbestos can lead to the development of serious illnesses, such as mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Greater danger of experiencing extensive asbestos inhalation often came when a ship was damaged, whether due to battle or everyday use, as asbestos fibers then broke off into the air there they could be inhaled or ingested into the body. Like with other vessels of this class, the crewmen who lived and worked aboard the USS Ault were at risk of asbestos exposure. The USS Ault saw moderate combat damage and had a number of redesigns and patch job. Regardless of this lack of serious damage and redesign, the men who worked on board the USS Ault were still exposed to asbestos fibers in their normal duties. The sailors who lived or worked on board this ship, and her sisters in the fleet, may wish to receive a complimentary comprehensive packet about asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. Please click here to receive your copy.

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Destroyers Index