USS Du Pont DD-152

The USS Du Pont (DD-152) was a Wickes-class destroyer and the second ship to be named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont (a scion of the corporate Du Pont Chemicals dynasty). She was a product of the William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, and her keel was laid down in May 1918. The vessel launched six months later and was commissioned on 30 April 1919 under command of Commander W. Baggaley.

Du Pont was first stationed at Newport, Rhode Island. Her first assignment took her to the Azores and France between 6 May and 15 June 1919. After less than a month in port, she was ordered to the Mediterranean, patrolling the waters around Greece, Asia Minor, and the Levant (Lebanon and Palestine). She returned to New York a year later and was assigned training duty along the Atlantic coast until she was mothballed in 1922.

Du Pont was reactivated in 1930, participating in training exercises in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific, with occasional escort and other duties. The vessel was decommissioned again at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1937.

World War II

The Du Pont was pulled out of reserve and assigned to the Neutrality Patrol that monitored movement of warships (primarily German ones) in and around U.S. waters. Like many older destroyers, Du Pont served primarily as a convoy escort during the war. Her secondary task was to hunt and sink enemy submarines. Her voyages took her from the Caribbean to Iceland and from Great Britain to North Africa. On 12 December 1943, she got her first taste of combat when she and another destroyer, the Clemson-class USS George E. Badger, engaged and successfully destroyed a German submarine, U-172.

On 16 September 1944, Du Pont went into the Charleston Navy Yard for conversion to an auxiliary vessel. The conversion was completed by the September 25, and she was reclassified AG-80.

Her remaining days were spent in the waters off Key West, Florida, functioning as a target ship for naval aviators in training. She was ordered to Boston in April 1946. Decommissioned a month later, she was sold for scrap in March 1947.

Asbestos Risks

Through two world wars, every United States Navy ship widely installed asbestos for insulating pipes and for fire control. Asbestos possesses a natural resistance to heat and fire, making it ideal for use in many applications on destroyers like the USS Du Pont. The boiler room and engineering sections of a vessel were generally the areas where those aboard were most apt to come into contact with asbestos fibers, however, nearly all sections of a ship like the USS Du Pont offered a measurable level of asbestos risk. Whenever a warship was damaged, whether through battle or everyday wear and tear, asbestos fibers were often released into the air where anyone nearby could inhale or ingest the particles into the body.

Asbestos exposure can lead to the development of mesothelioma, asbestosis, tumors and a myriad of other health problems. Those who sailed on board the USS Du Pont were constantly in danger of asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers, machinists and mechanics who serviced vessels or worked on the construction of destroyers like the USS Du Pont may have also been exposed to the toxic mineral.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure, or served aboard the USS Du Pont and wish to learn more about treatment and legal options, please click here and Asbestos.com will send you a complimentary comprehensive packet.

Sources:

Destroyers Index