USS Walke DD-723

USS Walke (DD-723), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was built by the Bath Iron Works. She was launched on 27 October 1943 and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 January 1944 under the command of Cmdr. John C. Zahm.

World War II

After several months of shakedown, crew training, and other preparations, Walke sailed on 14 May 1944 for Europe and the staging of the Normandy invasion. Between 6 and 26 June, she conducted shore bombardments, destroying blockhouses and machine-gun positions, and assisted in driving off a counterattack by German armored units. This was followed by minesweeping operations at Cherbourg, where she engaged in gun battles with enemy shore batteries.

After the French coast had been secured, Walke sailed for home, undergoing repairs and maintenance at the Boston Navy Yard during July and August.

On 30 August, Walke sailed for the Pacific. She reported to Pearl Harbor on 25 September for a month of crew training before sailing for Ulithi on 23 October.

On 6 January, Walke was operating in the Lingayen Gulf with minesweepers when four Nakajima "Oscars" attacked. One of the planes penetrated her defensive fire and crashed into Walke's bridge on the port side. Though seriously injured, the ship's captain continued to man the helm and direct her crew to save the ship. Only after he was certain that the ship was safe did he relinquish command to the executive officer and allow himself to be carried below. Cmdr. Davis died several hours later. He was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Amazingly, Walke continued to operate until after the troop landings on 9 January. Once temporary repairs had been effected, she sailed to Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco for permanent repairs that were completed by 4 April. Walke sailed for Okinawa, supporting combat operations until 23 July. She left to escort a convoy to the Philippines and then for yard availability; by the time she returned to the combat zone on 18 August, Imperial Japan had surrendered.

Post-War

Walke arrived in Seattle on 24 October 1945. In May 1946, she was ordered to Bikini Atoll during the atomic tests. Following the tests, she got underway for the west coast, ultimately going into Mare Island Naval Shipyard for three months of repairs.

The ship returned to San Diego in mid-June 1947 and was decommissioned on the 30th.

Korean War

Walke was recommissioned in October 1950. She sailed from San Diego on 2 January 1951; after undergoing repairs for storm damage at Yokosuka, Japan, she joined Task Force 77 off the coast of Korea.

On 12 June, Walke struck a floating mine that severely damaged her hull on the port side, killing 26 crewmen and injuring 40. After temporary repairs, she returned to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard to receive permanent repairs. Walke returned to Korea in June 1952 and resumed screening duty and shore bombardment missions until January 1953.

Vietnam War

Walke's first direct participation in the Vietnam conflict came in August 1965, when she served as antisubmarine (ASW) picket for Task Group 70.4 on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin.

On 9 June 1966, she departed Long Beach for another deployment to Vietnam. As she was passing the outer breakwater, a fire broke out. Walke's damage control crew succeeded in containing the flames, but as she was being towed back into Long Beach, her towline parted and she ran aground. Later that day, she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for repairs to her hull and her main propulsion plant.

Repairs completed on 18 July, Walke continued her mission. She would be deployed to Vietnam several more times over the next three years, interspersed with SEATO anti-submarine exercises in the Philippines and patrols of the Taiwan Strait. During her final tour of Vietnam, she provided gunfire support in the I Corps combat zone and at Danang until 4 October 1969, after which she sailed home for the last time.

She was decommissioned at Bremerton, Washington, in 1970 and sold to General Metals, Inc., of Tacoma five years later.

Asbestos Risks

In the first seven decades of the 20th century, each Navy vessel routinely installed asbestos for insulating pipes and for fire control. The engines and engineering spaces usually were the spaces where a Navy file or a civilian worker was prone to be in danger of inhaling airborne asbestos, but practically all areas of a ship like the Walke offered a measurable level of asbestos risk. Even greater danger of major asbestos inhalation occurred whenever the vessel was hit, whether in combat or through misfortune, since such events often exposed asbestos-containing compartments to the open air or subjected them to fire or water.

With asbestos, the most serious hazard to human health is experienced in circumstances where fibers become easily broken; if minute asbestos fibers go into the surrounding air, the material may then be inhaled by people close to the asbestos. Research has shown that grave diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma are the result of extensive asbestos contact.

Since many asbestos-caused diseases are hard to accurately diagnose, anyone who worked around asbestos should immediately notify their primary care physicians of the details about 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.

Along with the expected hazards of enemy encounters, crewmen who served aboard the Walke were, as were people on her sister vessels, frequently at risk for asbestos exposure, particularly since the ship suffered serious combat damage and required extensive renovations and overhauls. On top of the significant battle damage and repair work, sailors who lived and worked on the Walke were often in contact with asbestos in the daily execution of their duty.

Asbestos exposure was also commonplace for port-based workers such as welders and electricians who maintained the vessel when the vessel spent time at a shipyard. Based on our increased understanding of the outcome of prolonged contact with asbestos, the troops who sailed and toiled aboard this naval vessel at any point in their career, as well as those who served on other vessels like her, need to educate themselves about the hazards raised by service-related exposure to asbestos, especially in light of the ship's history.

Sources:

1. Mooney, James. Dictionary of American Fighting Ships. (Washington DC; Department of the Navy, 1991).
2. National Association of Destroyer Veterans. Tin Can Sailors (Web site).

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