USS Eberle DD-430

The USS Eberle was a Gleaves-class destroyer built by the Bath Iron Works in Maine in 1940, commissioned in December of that year under command of Lieutenant Commander E. R. Gardner.

For several months following her initial shakedown, Eberle trained in the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard, with a period of patrol duty off the islands of Bermuda. At the end of August 1941, she was assigned to convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic for a year. She then served two months performing similar tasks in the Gulf of Mexico between August and October 1942.

In late October, she sailed for North Africa, covering the landings during Operation Torch, then returned to Norfolk and was assigned patrol in the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil. In March 1943 following an incident with a German blockade runner in which 14 crewmen were killed, she returned to Charleston, South Carolina for an overhaul.

Between April 1943 and January 1944, Eberle sailed to North Africa five times, ultimately winding up at the Algerian port of Oran. Her tour of duty in the Mediterranean continued until late October, when she sailed home to New York.

Between November 1944 and April 1945, Eberle made two more trips to Algeria before undergoing an overhaul in New York that lasted until 8 June. She proceeded to Pearl Harbor, arriving two weeks later. For several weeks, she functioned as a plane guard for the Essex-class carrier Antietam, then she departed for a six-week post-war cruise of the North Pacific that took her from the Alaska panhandle to the Kamchatka peninsula.

Eberle returned to Charleston, South Carolina, on 8 February 1946 and was decommissioned in June. She returned to limited training service the following year that lasted until she was transferred to the Greek Navy in 1951 as part of a NATO program. She was renamed RHS Niki ("Victory") and served another 20 years before she was scrapped in 1972.

Asbestos Risks

Until the 1960s, each U.S. Navy destroyer commonly installed asbestos for insulating compartments and as a fire control material. While nearly every section of destroyers like the USS Eberle contained some level of asbestos, the ship's engines and mechanical spaces were usually the areas where someone aboard a vessel were in the most danger of inhaling asbestos fibers. Additional danger of undergoing extensive asbestos contact occurred when a vessel was damage, whether in combat or through daily operations, since such events often uncovered asbestos-contaminated compartments, allowing asbestos fibers to enter the air where anyone nearby could inhale or ingest them into the body.

Those who lived and worked aboard the USS Eberle were not the only ones placed at risk of asbestos exposure. Repair personnel, such as pipe fitters and electricians, who maintained destroyers when they were in port for service and those who worked on the construction of ships and vessels were also frequently exposed to asbestos.

Asbestos exposure can lead to the development of mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Mesothelioma develops when asbestos fibers enter the body and become lodged in organs and cavities, causing inflammation or infection. If you served aboard the USS Eberle or have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and wish to learn more about your treatment and legal options, please click here and Asbestos.com will send you a complimentary comprehensive packet about the cancer.

Sources:

Destroyers Index