USS Deyo (DD-989)

Construction on the USS Deyo (DD-989), a Spruance-class destroyer, began on 14 October 1977, and she launched on 20 January 1979. The completed vessel was commissioned on 22 March 1980.

The USS Deyo first deployed overseas in May 1981, when it was ordered to the Persian Gulf in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the outbreak of hostilities between Iran and Iraq.

In July 1987, Deyo was deployed to the Mediterranean, North Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean as part of the USS Iowa Battleship Battle Group. The ship returned to the Persian Gulf in July 1989 for tanker escort duties during Operation Earnest Will.

After a period of patrol in the Caribbean that concluded in August 1990, Deyo deployed to the Mediterranean Sea in May 1991 as part of the USS Forrestal Carrier Battle Group and again in 1994 as a member of the USS George Washington Carrier Battle Group. She returned to the Mediterranean in June 1998, becoming the first American ship to serve as flagship for the NATO Standing Naval Force.

During her final deployment in December 2002, the USS Deyo operated with the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Battle Group during the initial attacks on Iraq.

The USS Deyo was decommissioned on 6 November 2003 at Norfolk, Virginia. She was stricken from the Navy list on 6 April 2004 and was sunk as a target in a Fleet training exercise on 25 August 2005.

Asbestos Risks

Men and women who serve the U.S. in the armed forces have always understood that their duties are accompanied by certain risks, regardless of whether or not they see battle action. However, many military personnel who served in the 20th century were unaware of the serious dangers associated with asbestos exposure that occurred aboard ships and vessels daily.

On each U.S. Navy vessel through the 1960s, the fibrous mineral asbestos was widely used for insulation and as a fireproofing material. Though practically every part of destroyers such as the USS Deyo 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 Deyo 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 Deyo 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