USS Spruance (DD-963)

The USS Spruance (DD-963) was the lead ship her class of destroyers, all 30 of which were built at the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was the first of a highly successful class of antisubmarine warfare destroyers. They were also the first large U.S. Naval vessels to be powered by gas turbines rather than steam.

Spruance's keel was laid in November 1972, and the vessel was launched a year later. She was commissioned in September 1975 and initially stationed out of Mayport, Florida.

Early Service History

Spruance's first operational deployment began in October 1979, when she was ordered to the Mediterranean Sea with carrier USS Saratoga. During this deployment, one of her engines failed and had to be replaced.

She underwent her first major overhaul in 1980 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Spruance was deployed to the Arabian Sea in 1982 including a port visit to Mombassa, Kenya, in May 1982. She briefly took up station off Beirut in June 1982. She was next deployed for a six-month period beginning in January 1983 to the Persian Gulf, where she spent over four and a half months.

After returning from her fourth overseas deployment in May 1985, Spruance entered the yard for her second overhaul.

The 1990s

In May 1993, Spruance was assigned to the Red Sea in order to enforce U.N. trade sanctions against Iraq. While there, her crew boarded over 170 vessels during a five-month period. She returned home on 14 November.

In July 1994, as part of Operation Restore Democracy, Spruance which took onboard 900 Haitians for the transit to Guantanamo Naval Station. She was then transferred to Portsmouth, Virginia, for a period of dry-dock repairs.

In mid-1996, Spruance took part in the 24th annual U.S. invitational maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea, the BALTOPS 96, which involved naval forces from 13 nations in the area. These included Russia and the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

Spruance was attached to the USS John F. Kennedy carrier group and in that capacity was again deployed to the Mediterranean from April through October of 1997. During that period, Spruance took part in the Partnership For Peace Operation Sea Breeze 97 in the Black Sea. The purpose of the exercise was to train military forces on how to provide humanitarian relief for victims of a simulated earthquake in Southern Ukraine.

On 1 June 2000, Spruance entered the dry dock in Jacksonville, Florida, where she remained until early August. During the dry dock, the ship was raised out of the water, her hull was cleaned and inspected and corrective and preventative maintenance was performed. This period was followed by exercises in the Caribbean with the Kennedy carrier group. She remained with this group, operating in the waters around Florida and the east coast, for the remainder of her career.

Fate

The USS Spruance returned to Mayport on 7 December 2004. She was decommissioned 23 March 2005 and sunk as a target on 8 December 2006.

Asbestos Risks

For as long as there have been wars, solders and sailors in armies and navies have accepted that they face many risks. But as well as the apparent hazards associated with military service, a lesser-known one endangered soldiers and sailors in the 20th century: asbestos contact.

Being able to stop the spread of flames on a navy vessel is critical; numerous shipboard disasters illustrate the hazards of fire at sea. During the time that USS Spruance and other ships like her were built, the mineral known as asbestos was commonly utilized on ships because of its ability to insulate against flames. Unfortunately, what was not always known or was at times ignored was that inhalation of asbestos is the primary cause of serious diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma. The harm caused by asbestos occurs when microscopic particles are inhaled or ingested so that they can invade the respiratory system and sometimes other organs, causing scar tissue in the case of pleural plaques and damage at the DNA level in the case of mesothelioma.

During an enemy attack or while working to ride out a typhoon, the chance of someday developing lung cancer or mesothelioma was probably the last thing on most people's thoughts. Asbestos exposure was actually a real hazard if a vessel suffered battle damage, however, since such situations all too often exposed asbestos to the elements. And even when not faced with crisis conditions, those who worked on naval vessels still were faced with at least a certain level of exposure since nearly every area of the ship contained asbestos. With asbestos being widely used around USS Spruance's pipes and boiler rooms, service personnel with duties in such places were particularly at risk. But it wasn't only shipboard personnel who suffered from asbestos poisoning; shipyard workers who serviced Spruance when it was in dry dock to be overhauled were also exposed to airborne asbestos.

Because asbestos-related diseases like pericardial mesothelioma sometimes do not appear until as many as 20 or 30 years after the patient came in contact with asbestos, they are very difficult to spot. However, understanding a patient's experience with asbestos contact can help a healthcare professional in being able to determine if a patient is likely to have mesothelioma. If you lived or worked aboard USS Spruance during your career, you should educate yourself about the symptoms of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases and talk about your asbestos exposure history with your physician. 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.

Sources

Destroyers Index