USS De Haven DD-727

The second USS De Haven was a Sumner-class destroyer. Her keel was laid on 9 August 1944 at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, and she was completed exactly 153 days later on 9 January 1944. Commissioned on 31 March and placed under command of Commander J. B. Dimmick, she reported to Pearl Harbor almost exactly a year after her construction began.

The primary duty of the De Haven during the war in the Pacific was to provide a "screen" for large, slow-moving, and/or under-armed transport vessels and carriers. She sailed around the perimeter of a flotilla or convoy and patrolled for enemy submarines and/or incoming aircraft and prevented them from attacking if possible. De Haven started out by escorting the USS Ranger from Norfolk to Pearl Harbor, followed by a couple of convoy runs to the Marshall Islands. On 12 October 1944, she was assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force, which spearheaded every major operation in the Pacific. She continued to serve with this group throughout the Philippine campaigns, invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and through the end of the war. She returned to San Francisco on 15 October 1945. During the next four and a half years, she alternated between routine patrols in her home waters and occupation duty in the western Pacific.

When the Korean War broke out less than five years after the end of the World War II, De Haven was ordered into the combat zone almost immediately. Ultimately, she would do two tours of duty in Korea, screening UN ships and providing offshore bombardment in addition to routine patrols.

Between 1953 and 1959, the De Haven returned to her routine of the late 1940s. On 1 February 1960, she entered a naval shipyard near San Francisco for a complete overhaul and refit, after which she was assigned to training duties.

The USS De Haven was transferred to the South Korean government in 1973 and renamed the Incheon (DD-98). She was finally scrapped in 1993 after 49 years of active service on the high seas.

Asbestos Risks

On board every American Naval ship through the World War I and World War II era, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, was commonly installed for insulation and fire control since the mineral possesses a natural resistance to heat and fire. Though practically every part of destroyers such as the USS De Haven presented a risk of asbestos exposure, a ship's engine room and engineering sections were generally the spaces where crewmen or dockworkers were in the greatest danger of inhaling asbestos fibers. Even greater risk of undergoing high levels of asbestos exposure resulted when a ship was damaged, often through battle or routine operations, since wear and tear to a vessel could cause asbestos-containing materials to release the toxic fibers into the air where anyone nearby could inhale or ingest them into the body.

Asbestos exposure can cause the development of serious asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, a rare cancer that typically affects the lining of the lungs. Mesothelioma develops when asbestos fibers enter the body and become lodged in organs and body cavities, causing inflammation or infection. Patients with mesothelioma may not present symptoms of the cancer until 20 to 50 years after initial asbestos exposure occurred. Veterans comprise approximately 30 percent of mesothelioma patients and those who served during the middle of the 20th century continue to be diagnosed with the cancer today. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or served aboard the USS De Haven and wish to learn more, please click here and Asbestos.com will send you a complimentary comprehensive packet.

In addition to those who served aboard ships and vessels, workers who repaired ships or worked on the construction of destroyers may also have been exposed to asbestos. If you served aboard a destroyer like the USS De Haven or worked in a shipyard, you may wish to alert your doctor of your potential exposure to asbestos. Informing your doctor may lead to an earlier diagnosis should an asbestos-related disease be present, which may aid in greater treatment options to combat the illness.

Sources:

Destroyers Index