USS Greer DD-145

USS Greer (DD-145) was a Wickes-class destroyer built by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and launched in August 1918. She was commissioned on 31 December 1918, Cmdr. C. E. Smith serving as her first captain.

Early History

After eleven months of operations in the Atlantic, Greer was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, reaching San Francisco on 18 November 1919. On 25 March 1920, Greer was assigned to the Asiatic Fleet and stationed off Shanghai to protect American lives and property during anti-Western riots during May of that year. She returned to the States in September 1921 and was decommissioned at San Diego on 22 June 1922.

Greer came out of retirement in 1930 under the command of Cmdr. J. W. Bunkley. Assigned to the Battle Fleet, she participated in a variety of exercises along the west coast from Alaska to Panama, occasionally traveling to Pearl Harbor. In February 1931, she was transferred to the Scouting Fleet, operating in the Caribbean until 1934. She was assigned to the Training Squadron in 1936, conducting Naval Reserve cruises throughout that summer. Greer was then ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 28 September and decommissioned there in January 1937.

Greer was recommissioned for a second time on 4 October 1939 under the command of Cmdr. J. J. Mahoney; she was assigned to Destroyer Division 61 as flagship. She joined the Neutrality Patrol in February 1940. By September 1941, the U.S. had not yet "officially" entered the war, and Japan was perceived as the more serious threat in any case; however, the German High Command was becoming increasingly aggressive, and Greer found herself involved in an incident that brought U.S. involvement in the European conflict a step closer.

On 8:40 a.m. on 4 September, Greer encountered a German U-Boat that fired a torpedo. Greer responded with depth charges; the engagement lasted three hours but ended in a stalemate. Nonetheless, upon receiving the news, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accused Germany of attempted piracy, stating that "in the waters which we deem necessary for our defense, American naval vessels and American planes will no longer wait until Axis submarines lurking under the water, or Axis raiders on the surface of the sea, strike their deadly blow - first." Thus began the period of "undeclared war" in the Atlantic.

War Service

Greer remained in the North Atlantic through the end of 1941, escorting convoys to and from the mid-ocean meeting point at which American ships took over escort duties from those of the British Royal Navy. After an overhaul and refit at the Boston Navy Yard, she moved into the Caribbean in March of 1942.

In January 1943, Greer sailed to Boston then headed back to the North Atlantic for four months of escort duty. In May, she sailed for North Africa with an 83-vessel convoy, arriving in Casablanca, Morocco, on 1 June. She returned to New York on 27 June, making another run to Northern Ireland and returning two weeks later.

On 15 October, Greer collided with the USS Moonstone during a routine exercise off the coast of New Jersey. Moonstone sank in less than four minutes, but the crew of Greer was able to rescue all but one of the stricken vessel's personnel.

Greer's final transatlantic crossing commenced on 26 December 1943. She returned to Boston on 9 February 1944. Now too slow and over a quarter-century old, she was kept close to home on routine patrols and served as local escorts for new carriers being launched during 1944 and 1945.

Greer was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 19 July 1945. She was sold to the Boston Metal Salvage Company of Baltimore, Maryland, at the end of November and scrapped.

Asbestos Risks

The substance known as asbestos was commonly installed for compartment insulation and as fireproofing in each Navy ship during the first two-thirds of the 20th century, with the engine room and engineering sections usually where seamen or maintenance workers were most likely to be in danger of inhaling fibers of asbestos; nevertheless, essentially every section of the USS Greer offered at least some asbestos contamination. Even more danger of extensive asbestos inhalation resulted when the vessel was hit, whether in battle or through misfortune, as that often exposed asbestos-containing materials to the air or subjected them to fire or water.

The worst hazard to human health relating to asbestos happens where strands become breakable, because when minute asbestos microfibers go into the surrounding air, the material may then be inhaled by people close to the asbestos. A high level of asbestos proximity is known to be definitively linked with peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestosis, cancer of the lungs and many other life-threatening health issues.

Those with a history of exposure to asbestos should promptly inform their physician, because many asbestos-induced diseases can be tricky to distinguish from other illnesses. 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.

On top of expected hazards associated with war, men who served aboard the Greer were, as with servicemen on other destroyers of the same type, constantly at risk for asbestos inhalation even though the Greer endured very little damage in battle. Regardless of the absence of large-scale battle damage, the men who lived and worked on board the Greer were nevertheless in contact with asbestos fibers in the ordinary course of their loyal service. And because of she underwent numerous redesigns and repairs she also posed asbestos danger to port-based workers such as welders and carpenters who repaired the vessel when the Greer spent time dry-docked.

In light of what we now know about the outcome of asbestos exposure, those who lived and labored aboard this naval vessel at any point in their career, as well as those who served on other naval vessels, should be made aware of the hazards raised by their past exposure to this deadly fiber.

Sources:

Destroyers Index