USS Whipple DD-217

USS Whipple (DD- 217/AG-117), a Clemson-class destroyer, was launched 6 November 1919 from William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia and commissioned on 23 April 1920.

Mezzo-bellum Years

Whipple sailed for the Near East on 29 May 1920; she operated in the region of the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean for eight months, protecting US business interests and providing humanitarian relief in the chaotic years following World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

On 2 May 1921, Whipple sailed for the Far East in order to protect US interests in China as the political, social, and economic situation in that country deteriorated. She sailed for home on 18 May 1925, arriving at Norfolk on 17 July.

For the next several years, she operated off the east coast from Maine to Florida, landed troops in Nicaragua to protect American lives and property threatened by civil unrest, did a second tour in the Mediterranean, and conducted operations in the Caribbean out of Guantanamo Bay. On 1 August 1929. Whipple left for her second tour with the Asiatic Fleet. She remained in Asia for the next ten years.

On 3 September 1939, Whipple's deck log noted that France had declared war on Germany. Whipple operated on neutrality patrol off the Philippines for the next two years as Admiral Thomas C. Hart prepared the Asiatic Fleet for war.

World War II

For the first few months, Whipple operated with the forces of other Allied nations in a desperate rearguard action in the face of a swift-moving and well-organized enemy. She conducted important escort and patrol duties into February 1942. On 26 February, Whipple's crew rescued several crew from the stricken carrier USS Langley as well as those from the oiler USS Pecos when it was sunk near Christmas Island.

After the fall of Java to the Japanese, Whipple joined what remained of the Asiatic Fleet in Australian waters. On 2 May, she left for San Francisco, arriving there on 18 June.

During a yard availability at Mare Island, Whipple's topside weight was cut down as 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns replaced two banks of her torpedo tubes, making her better suited for convoy escort work. When the work was completed, Whipple began the first of seven round-trip convoy escort missions from the west coast to Hawaii, missions that lasted into the spring of 1943.

On 11 May 1943, Whipple sailed for the Caribbean, then proceeded to the New York Navy Yard for voyage repairs in June.

Leaving New York on 10 July, Whipple escorted a convoy to North Africa; this was followed by several convoy runs in the Caribbean and western Atlantic. In January 1944, Whipple was assigned to an anti-submarine task group to hunt German U-boats active in the Atlantic.

After another tour of combat duty in the Mediterranean, Whipple operated as a convoy escort for the duration, sailing primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast.

Fate

Whipple entered the New York Navy Yard on 9 July 1945 for conversion to a high-speed target vessel. On 5 August, she departed New York for duty in the Pacific. When her services were no longer required, Whipple returned to Philadelphia, where she was decommissioned on 9 November 1945. Her hulk was sold on 30 September 1947 to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia.

Asbestos Risks

Asbestos was widely employed for compartment insulation and as fire control in every American naval craft through WWII. Though practically all areas of a ship such as the USS Whipple offered at least some asbestos risk, a crewman or a technician was prone to inhale asbestos in the air near the engine room and mechanical spaces. If the warship was hit, whether in combat, by catastrophic storms, or through misfortune, it usually exposed asbestos-contaminated components to the air or subjected them to flames or flooding. This resulted in even greater risk of being subjected to harmful levels of asbestos exposure.

The most serious risk of harmful exposure associated with asbestos is experienced where items containing the mineral become easily broken, because when tiny asbestos microfibers escape into the surrounding air, the material may then be breathed in by people close to the asbestos. Researchers have shown that grave medical problems such as asbestosis, lung cancer and peritoneal mesothelioma are caused by significant asbestos ingestion.

Those workers and sailors who worked around asbestos should immediately notify their family doctors, since many asbestos-induced problems can be tricky to diagnose because the symptoms can be mistaken for those of other illnesses. If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease and would like to learn more about treatment options or financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill out the form on this page to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

On top of the expected hazards associated with battle, men who sailed aboard the Whipple were, as were sailors on other vessels of this type, all too often subjected to asbestos fiber exposure, even though the ship endured moderate combat damage. Despite the absence of large-scale battle damage, sailors who worked aboard the Whipple were still endangered by asbestos fibers in the daily conduct of their duty.

Moreover, as the ship underwent numerous and at times extensive reworkings and repair jobs, asbestos exposure was a regular occurrence for repair personnel such as machinists and electricians who maintained this destroyer whenever she was in port. Based on our increased understanding of the consequences of prolonged contact with asbestos, those who sailed or worked on board this naval vessel at any time in their career, and those assigned to other American ships, need to learn more about the hazards raised by their service-related exposure to asbestos.

Sources:

Destroyers Index