USS Cole DD-155

The first U.S. Naval ship to bear the name USS Cole (DD-155) was a Wickes-class destroyer. The vessel's keel was laid on 25 June 1918 at William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was completed the following January and was commissioned in June 1919 under the command of Commander I. F. Dortch.

Early Years

The USS Cole left New York City with other Naval vessels to aid in the evacuation of Armenian, Arab, and Kurdish refugees fleeing the turmoil in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following defeat after World War I. She returned a year later and completed routine patrols along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean before she was mothballed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for the next eight years.

In May 1930, the Cole was reactivated and assigned to the Scouting Fleet, a training unit comprised of three aging battleships and eight destroyers. She remained in the Atlantic and Caribbean until August 1934, when she was transferred to the Scouting Force based out of Sand Diego. She served in the Pacific for two years before returning to New York to serve as a Naval reserve training ship for the summer. She was then ordered to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and once more put in mothballs in January 1937.

World War II

The USS Cole was again activated when World War II broke out in Europe in September 1939, serving with the Neutrality Patrol monitoring action between British and German vessels near U.S. waters.

As U.S. entry into the war became imminent, the Cole was assigned to convoy duty, completing five trips between Newfoundland and Iceland from early June 1941 to late January 1942. After six months of relatively routine patrol duty along the Atlantic coast and Caribbean out of the Norfolk NOB, she was ordered to transport troops for the invasion of North Africa in October 1942.

The USS Cole resumed convoy duty upon her return to Boston on 1 December 1942, and was then sent to the Mediterranean in March 1943. Over the rest of that year, her crew took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily and screened troop transports through the end of the summer. After her tour of duty was complete, she returned to Charleston, South Carolina, for an overhaul, which was completed on Christmas Eve 1943.

Cole resumed her role as a convoy escort in 1944. In December, she was assigned as a plane guard for carriers based out of Newport, Rhode Island. She continued in this capacity until the end of the war, after which she was decommissioned. The USS Cole was sold for scrap on 6 October 1947.

Asbestos Risks

The toxic mineral known as asbestos was commonly used aboard United States Navy vessels for insulating compartments and to aid in fireproofing materials. A vessel's engines and engineering compartments usually were often the areas where those aboard destroyers like the USS Cole were most likely to come into contact with asbestos in the air, though practically all areas of a ship contained some level of asbestos.

When a ship was damaged in battle, or through daily operations, a greater risk of asbestos exposure occurred since fibers could break off into the air where anyone nearby could inhale or ingest them into the body. The fibers could then become lodged in organs or body cavities, causing inflammation or infection and, overtime, the development of an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma.

Veterans and those who worked on the construction or repairs of ships throughout World War I and World War II may have been exposed to asbestos regularly. Understanding symptoms associated with mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure, can aid in early detection which may provide greater treatment options to those diagnosed. For a comprehensive packet about the cancer, please click here and Asbestos.com will mail a copy to the address provided.

Veterans with a history of exposure to asbestos may wish to notify their doctor of their exposure since diagnosis can be difficult. Symptoms of asbestos-related diseases often do not surface until decades after initial exposure to asbestos occurred.

Sources:

Destroyers Index