USS Wasmuth DD-338

USS Wasmuth (DD-338/DMS-15) was a Clemson-class destroyer built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, launched on 15 September 1920, and commissioned on 16 December 1921, Cmdr. W. P. Gaddis in command.

Early Service

After only six months of routine service, Wasmuth was put out of commission at San Diego on 26 July 1922; she remained in reserve for nearly eight years. Recommissioned on 11 March 1930, Wasmuth operated as a destroyer for the next decade, participating in an intensive slate of tactical exercises and maneuvers.

With the construction of newer, more heavily armed and far-ranging destroyers, many of the old, but still serviceable "flush-deckers" were converted to other roles. Wasmuth was among the Clemson-class ships chosen for conversion to high-speed minesweepers. Reclassified as DMS-15 on 19 November 1940, Wasmuth underwent the conversion at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, which was completed on 5 April 1941.

Wasmuth operated out of Pearl Harbor through the autumn of 1941, as tensions increased in the Far East. She operated on local patrol and minesweeping exercises during that time, as the fleet maintained an intensive training schedule.

World War II

When IJN aircraft appeared in the skies over Pear Harbor on the morning of 7 December, Wasmuth went to general quarters at once and Lt. JG J. R. Grey assumed command of the ship in the absence of both the commander and executive officer. Within three minutes, her gunners had all of the .50-caliber Browning machine guns ready for action while the ship prepared to get underway. Inside the nest, however, the high-speed minesweeper could only bring her aftermost machine guns to bear against the approaching planes.

Wasmuth's gunners expended 6,000 rounds of ammunition during the attack. Proceeding out of her harbor soon after the raid, Wasmuth took up patrols off the channel entrance.

Wasmuth operated in the Hawaiian chain between Johnston Island and Pearl Harbor into the spring of 1942. On 14 August, Wasmuth was ordered to the Aleutian Islands. She reported to Kodiak, Alaska, and was assigned to escort supply ships.

Fate

Two days after Christmas of 1942, Wasmuth was escorting a convoy through a heavy storm when two depth charges were wrenched from their tracks by the pounding sea, fell over the side, and exploded beneath the ship's fantail. The blasts carried away part of the ship's stern, and she began to founder.

Despite the heavy sea, the oiler USS Ramapo came alongside the foundering vessel, successfully transferring her crew and two passengers.

Wasmuth slipped beneath the waters of the Gulf of Alaska in the early morning hours of 29 December 1942.

Asbestos Risks

On board every American navy destroyer in the first seven decades of the 20th century, the mineral asbestos was commonly installed for compartment insulation and as fireproofing. A ship's engine room and engineering spaces generally were the areas where a seaman or shipyard workers were likely to be in danger of inhaling fibers of asbestos; nevertheless, nearly all compartments of a ship such as the USS Wasmuth offered a real danger of asbestos contamination. When a warship was damaged, whether due to enemy fire, by catastrophic storms, or through misfortune, it usually exposed asbestos-contaminated components to the open air or subjected them to flames or water; this brought about even greater risk of undergoing high levels of asbestos inhalation.

The highest level of danger of harmful exposure associated with asbestos is experienced in circumstances where products made from the mineral deteriorate and become exposed, because when the asbestos strands are released into the air, the particles can then be inhaled by those near the hazard. Scientists have shown that dangerous medical conditions such as asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma are the result of even modest levels of asbestos inhalation.

Navy personnel with a history of contact with asbestos fibers, therefore, should make a point to notify their physicians, because most asbestos-induced problems can be puzzling to diagnose since 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 in the form on this page to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

As with servicemen on the other destroyers of the same type, those who served aboard the Wasmuth were constantly at risk for asbestos fiber exposure, especially because the ship suffered heavy damage and required serious reworkings and patch jobs. In addition to the major damage and repair activity, the troops who worked aboard the Wasmuth were also endangered by asbestos in the normal course of their duties.

Asbestos exposure was also commonplace for repair personnel such as pipe fitters and mechanics who worked on the ship whenever the craft was at a shipyard. In light of what we now know about the outcome of prolonged contact with asbestos, those who sailed and worked on board the Wasmuth at any point in their career, and those assigned to other American ships, must be thoroughly informed about the risks posed by wartime exposure to asbestos fibers, especially considering the ship's service record.

Sources:

Destroyers Index