USS Lyman K. Swenson DD-729

The USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer laid down by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, on 11 September 1943 and launched on 12 February 1944. The Lyman K. Swenson was named for the captain of the USS Juneau, the cruiser that was lost during the Battle of Guadalcanal, killing the five Sullivan brothers.

History of Service in World War II

The Swenson was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 2 May 1944 and immediately prepared for duty in the Pacific. The destroyer sailed from Boston on 31 July and transited the Panama Canal on 8 August. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 30 August and began intensive training in and practice of antisubmarine techniques and tactics. On 28 September, the Swenson left Pearl Harbor for active war duty.

Leaving for the Pacific Theater, the Swenson was a screener for DesRon 61, after which she joined TG 38.4 for carrier support duties. For the rest of the year, the Swenson acted as screener for multiple carrier groups around Luzon. She was involved in attacking Luzon, Formosa (Taiwan), and Japanese shipping routes along the coasts of China and Vietnam alongside Task Group 38.1. She continued to assist in missions, including attacks on Okinawan aircraft and repair centers along Kyushu.

The Swenson shot down a plane on 18 March, and another again on 27 March. She took part in shore bombardment duty at Okino Daito Shima in March, near Minami Daito Jima in April, and then again nearby in June. After taking part in the attack on the Japanese home islands, she remained in Japanese waters until the formal surrender of the country, only leaving the region on 2 September.

After the surrender, she returned to the United States. She was dry docked on 29 October. On 2 March 1946, she returned to the Asia-Pacific region along with the 7th Fleet, to serve at patrol duty and then training.

The Swenson served out of Okinawa from March of 1950 until the beginning of the Korean War. Along with her group, she helped to launch carrier-based strikes against North Korea in July, assisting with shore bombardment and support duty.

As part of Task Element 90.62, the Swenson was a part of the Inchon Attack force, and on 13 December, she helped clear mines from the area. Following this, she assisted her group with bombarding enemy positions on Inchon and Wolmi-Do in order to flush out the Korean forces. As she returned from the harbor, passing through a narrow channel, enemy shells fired upon her, and shell fragments killed one of her crew and injured another. On 15 September, she gave landing cover by shelling the enemy, an action for which she would receive a Navy Unit Commendation and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.

The Swenson returned to San Diego for repairs and to relieve her crew. She traveled their via Japan, arriving on 18 November, and returned to Korea in June 1951 and again in September 1952.

After the Korean War and until 1960, she was regularly deployed in the Pacific. She was refitted on 27 June 1960 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a FRAM II upgrade. The Swenson spent 1962 to 1964 in and around Asia. She returned to San Diego on 27 July, and was overhauled January 1965.

She departed on 24 August 1965 for Vietnam, where she acted as fire support from 4 October. She acted as plane guard and screen for the Ticonderoga and Independence, as well.

The Swenson returned home in January 1966, operating out of San Diego for gunnery exercises and annual midshipmen training. She underwent repairs from 26 January to 1 March 1967. Then on 8 April, the Swenson left again for Asia. She served at search and rescue duty in the Tonkin Gulf, escorted the Constellation, and returned home, arriving on 6 October 1967 to become an engineering school vessel. She remained in the Pacific, and served at WestPac until 1969.

The Fate of the Lyman K. Swenson

The Lyman K. Swenson was decommissioned on 12 February 1971 and stricken from the naval register on 1 February 1974. She was sold to Taiwan on 6 May 1974 and dismantled for spare parts.

Asbestos Risks

Aboard every American naval vessel in the first seven decades of the 20th century, the substance known as asbestos was widely employed for insulating compartments and as fire control. Although essentially all sections of a ship such as the Lyman K. Swenson offered a measurable level of asbestos contamination, the vessel's engines and engineering compartments were the spaces where a seaman or a technician was apt to be exposed to airborne asbestos. Increased risk of undergoing high levels of asbestos inhalation resulted if a warship was hit, in conflict or through misfortune, as that frequently exposed asbestos-containing fixtures to the open air or subjected them to fire or flooding.

With asbestos, the worst risk of exposure is experienced whenever fibers are breakable; if the asbestos microfibers go into the surrounding air, the particles may then be inhaled by people near the exposure. Historically, asbestos inhalation has been definitively associated with mesothelioma, asbestosis, cancer of the lungs and other life-threatening health conditions.

Naval veterans who were exposed to asbestos should therefore immediately tell their physicians, since most asbestos-related diseases can be hard to diagnose. 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.

One of the tragic realities of the Second World War was that in addition to the expected dangers of war, servicemen who sailed aboard ships like the Swenson were, as were people on the other craft of the same type, all too often endangered by asbestos exposure. This was true in spite of the fact the Swenson endured very little combat damage and required mostly routine redesigns and patch jobs. Despite the absence of serious combat damage and retrofit activity, our troops who worked on board the Swenson were nevertheless in danger of inhaling asbestos fibers in the daily execution of their loyal service.

In addition, asbestos exposure was also a daily hazard for maintenance workers such as machinists and mechanics who worked on this naval vessel whenever she spent time in port for repairs. For those who lived or worked aboard this vessel at any time in their career, as well as those who served on her sisters in the fleet, it is critical to become fully aware of the risks posed by their wartime exposure to asbestos fibers, especially in light of our increased understanding of the consequences of prolonged contact with asbestos.

Sources:

Destroyers Index