USS Hopkins DD-249

USS Hopkins (DD-249/DMS-13) was a Clemson-class destroyer launched on 26 June 1920 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was commissioned on 21 March 1921 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Commander C. A. Bailey serving as the vessel's captain.

Early Service History

After her shakedown cruise, Hopkins reported to Newport, Rhode Island, for battle practice training on 31 May. In November, she was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15 for tactical training with the Atlantic Fleet along the East Coast.

Hopkins sailed for the Mediterranean on 2 October 1922, and reached Constantinople (now Istanbul) on 22 October for patrol in Turkish waters. While protecting American business interests, she cooperated with humanitarian relief efforts in the Middle East. Hopkins returned New York on 12 June 1923. For the next seven years, Hopkins operated out of New England ports in the summer and Charleston, South Carolina, in the winter, while spring was spent in the Caribbean. During the spring of 1930, Hopkins participated in one of the earliest naval battle simulations with aircraft.

On 3 February 1932, Hopkins was one of the two naval ships providing aid to earthquake victims at Santiago, Cuba. Two days later, she was stationed San Diego, California. As war in Europe seemed imminent, she returned to the Norfolk, Virginia, NOB in April 1939, joining the Neutrality Patrol from September 1939 until May 1940, when she was ordered to Pearl Harbor. She was converted to a high-speed minesweeper at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

World War II

Hopkins was at Johnston Island participating in battle simulations on 7 December 1941. Steaming back to Pearl, she took up patrol of Hawaiian waters until late summer 1942, when she joined the invasion fleet bound for Guadalcanal. Hopkins' duty was to sweep the transport area of mines then cover the landings on Tulagi Island. In the following months, in addition to her combat duties, Hopkins also carried badly needed supplies to Guadalcanal.

Hopkins served as flagship for Admiral Richmond K. "Kelly" Turner during the invasion of the Russell Islands on 21 February 1943. Over the next several months, she joined in the initial invasion of Rice Anchorage, New Georgia, and Bougainville in the Solomons.

As the Navy moved across the Pacific, Hopkins arrived off Saipan on 13 June 1944 to sweep the invasion site, then provided screen and fire support for the amphibious landings two days later. After a brief rest at Eniwetok Atoll, Hopkins proceeded to Guam, reaching the island on 14 July for pre-invasion minesweeping and bombardment.

After undergoing an overhaul in San Francisco, Hopkins arrived in Leyte Gulf on 27 December 1944 to prepare for the Lingayen landings. The minesweepers sailed on 2 January 1945 to sweep Lingayen Gulf while under attack from Japanese aircraft.

Hopkins' next assignment was to clear the transport areas and channels off Iwo Jima in preparation for the invasion, scheduled for 19 February. She remained on patrol off Iwo Jima, emerging from combat unscathed. On 6 March, Hopkins headed into battle off Okinawa. On 4 May 1945, she was struck by a burning kamikaze plane just before it went down, but damage was minor.

On 7 June 1945, Hopkins set off for Leyte, Philippine Islands, for an overhaul. During her repairs, Japan surrendered. Hopkins headed for Tokyo Bay to clear mines from the entrance to the harbor, then anchored in sight of Mount Fujiyama on 30 August 1945. After riding out two typhoons, Hopkins left for home on 10 October 1945.

Hopkins arrived in Norfolk on 28 November and was decommissioned on 21 December 1945. She was sold for scrapping to Heglo Sales Corporation of Hillsdale, New Jersey, in November 1946.

Asbestos Risks

Aboard each U.S. Navy destroyer in the first seven decades of the 20th century, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, was commonly used for pipe insulation and for fire control. While practically all compartments of the Hopkins presented a measurable level of asbestos exposure, the ship's boiler room and engineering spaces usually were the spaces where a Navy worker or shipyard worker were apt to be at risk of exposure to asbestos particles. When the warship was hit, whether due to enemy fire, by Mother Nature, or accidentally, it almost inevitably exposed asbestos-laden compartments to the air or subjected them to fire or water. This brought about increased danger of undergoing extensive asbestos inhalation.

When dealing with asbestos, the worst risk of harmful exposure happens in circumstances where items containing the mineral become easily broken (or "friable"); when very small asbestos filaments escape into the air, the material can then be breathed in by workers in the area. History has proven that serious medical conditions such as asbestosis, cancer, and mesothelioma are the result of significant asbestos ingestion.

Navy personnel with a history of contact with asbestos fibers should promptly tell their medical professionals, as many asbestos-induced diseases can be tricky to diagnose because the symptoms can be mistaken for those of 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 the inherent hazards associated with enemy encounters, crewmen who served on board the Hopkins were, as were people on the other destroyers of the same type, all too often at risk for asbestos fiber inhalation. This was particularly true because although the Hopkins suffered relatively minor combat damage, during her long time in service she went through extensive redesigns and overhauls. Besides dealing with the asbestos effects of combat damage and redesign activity, sailors who lived and worked aboard the USS Hopkins were often in contact with the substance in the ordinary conduct of their loyal service. And asbestos exposure was certainly a daily occurrence for repair personnel such as machinists and electricians who maintained the vessel when the Hopkins was dry-docked.

Considering the USS Hopkins's history, and in light of what we now know about the outcome of asbestos exposure, it is important that the troops who at any point in their career sailed and toiled aboard this vessel, and those assigned to her sister ships, become knowledgeable about the hazards raised by past exposure to this deadly mineral.

Sources:

Destroyers Index