USS Biddle (DD-955)/USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5)

The vessel originally named USS Biddle (DD-995) was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer built at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was built between 18 May 1959 and 4 June 1960 and commissioned on 5 May 1962 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She was renamed Claude V. Ricketts on 28 July 1964 and designated DD-5. Subsequent crews affectionately dubbed her "The Big Nickel."

Service History

From June 1964 to the end of 1965, the Ricketts was part of a mixed-manning experiment for a proposed Multilateral Force (MLF). Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 seamen from the U.S. Navy. The remaining stations were manned by sailors from six other NATO countries. Though the MLF never was created, the Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze declared the project to be a success.

The most notable incident during Claude V. Ricketts' naval career occurred during her Mediterranean deployment in 1975. On 22 November of that year, she was operating in the Ionian Sea when the cruiser USS Belknap collided with the carrier USS John F. Kennedy. The cruiser suffered seven crew casualties and irreparable damage to her superstructure. The Ricketts was on the scene and tied up alongside USS Belknap after the mishap. Despite danger from fire and exploding ordnance, the Ricketts crew fought to contain the damage.

The Ricketts made a deployment to Europe in 1981, visiting Zeebrugge, Belgium. The following year was spent in dry dock at the Norfolk Naval Yard and was also deployed with the carrier Kennedy in 1988.

Fate

The USS Claude V. Ricketts was decommissioned on 31 October 1989. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1990 and sold for scrap to NR Acquisitions of New York on 15 April 1994. The hulk was subsequently towed to Bethlehem Steel's Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, where she was to be dismantled by Wilmington Resources, Inc., of Wilmington, North Carolina. The scrap contract was terminated on 1 October 1996, however, and the Navy repossessed the ship less than three weeks later. The Ricketts' hulk was returned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard Inactive Ship Facility and subsequently resold to Metro Machine, Inc. on 5 December 2001.

Asbestos Risks

The fibrous mineral asbestos was routinely employed for compartment insulation and as fire control in every U.S. Navy ship through the 1960s. Each ship's engines and mechanical sections usually were the workspaces where seamen or a shipyard workers were prone to be in danger of inhaling airborne asbestos fibers, but essentially all compartments of the Claude V. Ricketts posed a measurable level of asbestos exposure.

When the warship took damage, whether in battle, by catastrophic storms, or through misfortune, it usually uncovered asbestos-contaminated components to the air, allowing them to become airborne. If these microscopic fibers were inhaled, the risk of contracting an asbestos-related disease became a concern. However, most sailors and shipyard workers were unaware they were inhaling asbestos fibers.

If you have contracted an asbestos-related condition such as mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos, you may be entitled to compensation to help pay for treatment options and cover lost income. For more information about this and asbestos exposure, please fill out the request form on this page to receive a complimentary packet.

Sources

Destroyers Index