USS Gainard DD-706

A Sumner-class destroyer, the USS Gainard (DD-706) was laid down at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at the end of March 1944 and launched in mid-September. Cmdr. Frank Foley took command of the vessel upon her commission that November.

Early Service

Gainard's first combat assignment came in March of 1945 as she joined a decoy force intended to divert Japanese attention from the main invasion force landing on the west side of Okinawa. Throughout most of the Okinawa campaign, Gainard operated as a radar picket, monitoring for incoming enemy aircraft and submarines and warning the main fleet. As such, she was a priority target. Unrelenting kamikaze attacks over the course of the campaign kept Gainard's crew extremely busy, not only defending their own ship but rescuing survivors of other ships that were not as fortunate as Gainard.

Gainard was relieved of picket duty when Okinawa was officially secured on 1 July. A maintenance stop in the Philippines followed a period of escort and patrol duty off Okinawa, after which she spent six months in occupation duty. She finally arrived home on 16 April 1946.

Cold War Operations

Between 1946 and 1967, the Gainard was active in the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as the waters off the Middle East as a training vessel and patrol ship. In 1961, she provided aid and relieve to hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast and the following year was part of a task force during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1963, she supported the recovery of the last Project Mercury space capsule.

Fate

After 27 years of active duty, the USS Gainard finally stood down on 26 February 1971. She was sold for scrap three years later.

Asbestos Risks

Aboard every Navy destroyer through the 1970s, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, was routinely employed for insulation and for fireproofing. A vessel's engine room and mechanical sections generally were the spaces where sailors or shipyard workers were most likely to be exposed to air contaminated with asbestos, but essentially all sections of a ship like the USS Gainard posed a real danger of asbestos exposure. Even more danger of experiencing extensive asbestos inhalation resulted if the warship was hit, in conflict or accidentally, because that often uncovered asbestos-containing compartments to the open air or subjected them to fire or water.

The highest level of hazard of harmful exposure relating to asbestos happens in circumstances where products made from the mineral become easily broken (or "friable"), since if tiny asbestos fibers go into the air, the particles may then be breathed in by people nearby. Numerous studies have proven that grave medical diseases such as asbestosis, cancer of the lungs and mesothelioma are associated with persistent asbestos exposure.

Since asbestos-induced conditions can be puzzling to accurately diagnose, workers who worked around asbestos should promptly inform their doctors about this history. To learn more about the diagnostic process, available treatment options and financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill out this form to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

Like people on other vessels of her type, the crewmen who lived and worked aboard the Gainard were constantly in danger of asbestos fiber inhalation even though the destroyer experienced remarkably little battle damage and went through mostly routine renovations and patch jobs. Regardless of the absence of important battle damage and repair work, the troops who sailed on board the Gainard were still in contact with asbestos fibers in the ordinary conduct of their everyday duties. This was also true for port-based workers such as machinists and mechanics who worked on the ship when the USS Gainard spent time in dry dock.

Given our increased understanding of the outcome of asbestos inhalation, servicemen who sailed and labored on board this destroyer at any point in their career, as well as those who served on other vessels like her, need to learn more about the dangers posed by service-related exposure to this deadly fiber.

Sources:

Destroyers Index