USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974)

The USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974) was a Spruance-class destroyer built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 4 April 1975, launched on 26 March 1976 and was commissioned on 5 August 1978.

The vessel was initially stationed out of Norfolk, Virginia. After shakedown trials in the Caribbean, she was deployed to northern Europe to participate in NATO Exercises in February 1979. The following year, Comte de Grasse took part in Operation Safepass-80. Comte de Grasse sailed on her first Mediterranean deployment in April 1980, returning home in December. Over the next several years, she returned six more times.

The majority of 1981 was occupied with exercises in the Caribbean and off the east coast. Comte de Grasse was dry-docked for a short period in November for voyage repairs and replacement of her sonar dome before she departed for a Mediterranean deployment on 1 December.

During her overseas deployments and local operations over the next several years, Comte de Grasse participated in a variety of weapons tests, crew training and readiness exercises. In 1986 the USS Comte de Grasse took part in a number of gunnery, air targeting and submarine tracking exercises in the Virginia Capes and Puerto Rico area. In September of that year, she shifted her schedule to participate in drug interception operations in the Caribbean.

The 1990s

Comte de Grasse took part in several FLEETEX operations over the next few years in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and in the Persian Gulf. From 16 January to 28 January 1990, Comte de Grasse spent time at the Vieques Gunnery Range, where she earned the designation of Top Gun of the Year. The following year, Comte de Grasse underwent a number of qualification training and tests. Fleet exercises and weapons testing and demonstrations continued over the next two years.

Comte de Grasse departed on her next Mediterranean deployment 6 May 1992. During this deployment, she took part in battle group operations, developed and integrated new tactics for small combatants, conducted maritime interdiction operations in the Red Sea, took part in major exercises and supported United Nations humanitarian efforts in the Adriatic Sea near the former Yugoslavian Republic. She returned home on 6 November.

From 18 January to 15 February 1993, Comte de Grasse took part in Operation Sea Signal in the Caribbean. This was followed by counter-drug operations in the Caribbean in May. She spent time in dry dock during August, then spent the rest of the year participating in readiness exercises in the Caribbean and Atlantic.

On 12 January 1994, Comte de Grasse's port main reduction gear was discovered to have been sabotaged, resulting in a delay in deployment. She finally got underway for a Mediterranean deployment on 5 February, returning to port on 24 June. From 6 September until 1 October, Comte de Grasse took part in operations off the coast of Haiti.

In 1995, Comte de Grasse took part in maneuvers that included UNITAS XXXVI-95, an annual exercise with units of South American naval forces. From 24 February to 12 March 1996, Comte de Grasse conducted drug interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea. The following year followed a pattern similar to that of 1995, and the vessel participated in UNITAS XXXVIII from 1 July to 26 November 1997.

The USS Comte de Grasse was decommissioned and stricken from the record 5 June 1998 and was kept at the Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility for several years.

On 7 June 2006, Comte de Grasse was towed 275 miles off the coast of North Carolina and scuttled as a target during Naval training exercises.

Asbestos Risks

Throughout history, those who served in the military have understood that their service means facing many dangers. Though the dangers associated with battle were well known, another serious hazard, exposure to asbestos, was also very prevalent aboard ships and vessels during World War I and World War II.

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 Comte de Grasse 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