USS Simpson DD-221

USS Simpson (DD-221/APD-27/AG-97) was a Clemson-class destroyer that saw most of her action during the Second World War. Her keel was laid down on 9 October 1919 by William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilders of Philadelphia; the vessel was launched on 28 April 1920 and commissioned on 3 November of that year.

Early Service History

Prior to the summer of 1922, Simpson operated along the Pacific coast and, later, the Atlantic seaboard. Between 29 June 1922 and 26 February 1924, Simpson worked in the eastern Mediterranean in support of the American Relief Association. This organization provided humanitarian relief during the crises in the aftermath of the First World War, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Russian Revolution spilled into the regions surrounding Black Sea, causing widespread chaos.

After returning to the States in the summer of 1924, Simpson underwent an overhaul at the New York Navy Yard, then got underway for another chaotic region - China and the Far East.

From 1925 until 1932, Simpson entered the routine of the Asiatic Fleet, operating out of bases in Tsingtao and Chefoo in the summer and Manila in the Philippines in the winter. As civil unrest in China increased and anti-foreign riots broke out in Shanghai and Canton, destroyers were detached from the fleet to supplement the normal gunboat patrols on the Yangtze River and along the southern coast of China (this period of history was the backdrop for the film Sand Pebbles, featuring the late Steve McQueen). Simpson carried out numerous patrols in Chinese waters protecting American lives and property. She was stationed at Nanking when Japan launched attacks on Shanghai at the end of January 1932. Ten weeks later, Simpson departed Manila with her squadron to return to the United States.

After undergoing an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco, Simpson operated in the Pacific and Caribbean for the next several years, participating in training exercises and battle simulations annually.

Winds of War

In September 1939, Simpson joined the Neutrality Patrol, monitoring the movement of German and Vichy French shipping in the Caribbean. She joined a naval unit in March 1941, formed as part of the Lend-Lease Act, to protect convoys between the US and Great Britain in the North Atlantic. Initially, US destroyers accompanied the supply convoys only as far as Iceland; after United States entry into the war in December, convoy trips were extended to the British Isles. Simpson remained on transatlantic convoy duty until 28 April 1942, when she entered the Boston Navy Yard for a month of overhaul and repairs.

World War II

For the next 12 months, Simpson escorted convoys up and down the east coast except for a single voyage to North Africa. At the end of April 1943, Simpson again underwent an overhaul at the New York Navy Yard. Once repairs were completed, Simpson spent the remainder of the war operating along the east coast and in the Atlantic and Caribbean as an escort.

After the defeat of Germany in May 1945, Simpson was reclassified a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-97. Her guns were removed, and she was fitted with racks for exercise torpedoes and a winch for handling towed targets. From June until the following May, she operated out of Guantanamo Bay Cuba as a training vessel.

Fate

On 11 May 1946, Simpson reported to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, not far from where she was built, for inactivation. Struck from the Navy list on 19 June 1946, Simpson was sold in November 1946 to Northern Metals Company, a local scrap metal operation.

Asbestos Risks

Aboard each American naval craft through both world wars, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, was commonly utilized for insulating compartments and for fireproofing. Crewmen and shipyard workers were most likely to come into contact with air contaminated with asbestos when working in or near the engine room and mechanical sections; nevertheless, essentially every part of the Simpson presented a measurable level of asbestos risk. When a warship was hit in battle, by Mother Nature, or by accident, it usually uncovered asbestos-contaminated materials to the open air or subjected them to flames or flooding. This meant further danger of harmful levels of asbestos inhalation.

The greatest danger of exposure relating to asbestos happens where products made from the mineral become damaged and fragile, because when the asbestos strands escape into the air, the material may then be inhaled by workers close to the asbestos. Researchers have demonstrated that serious medical disorders such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma are caused by even low levels of asbestos ingestion or inhalation.

Because many asbestos-caused disorders are puzzling to distinguish from other illnesses, navy personnel with a history of exposure to this mineral should make a point to tell their medical professionals of this history. To learn more about the diagnostic process, available treatment options and financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill in the form on this page to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

As with people on other destroyers of this class, the sailors who lived and worked aboard the Simpson were, along with the expected hazards associated with battle, in danger of asbestos exposure. This was true in part because even though the Simpson took minimal damage in battle, she underwent extensive renovations and repair jobs. But even besides this serious refit work, troops who worked on the ship were often endangered by asbestos in the daily conduct of their duties. Asbestos exposure was definitely a daily occurrence for maintenance workers such as machinists and electricians who worked on the vessel whenever she was dry-docked.

Considering the Simpson's service record, and given what we now know about the consequences of prolonged contact with asbestos, it is vital that those who at any time in their career sailed or toiled on board this naval vessel, and those assigned to her sisters in the fleet, understand the risks posed by former exposure to asbestos.

Sources:

Destroyers Index