The USS Rupertus (DD-851) was a Gearing-class destroyer that served the United States Navy with distinction from 1946 until 1973. While the vessel saw extensive combat action during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the greatest danger to those who served on her decks may have come from the asbestos-containing materials found throughout its structure, exposing countless sailors and shipyard workers to the risk of mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other serious illnesses.
History of the USS Rupertus (DD-851)
The Ship’s Namesake
The USS Rupertus was named in honor of Major General William H. Rupertus, a distinguished Marine Corps officer who served from 1913 until his death in 1945. Born in Washington, D.C., he was best known as the author of “My Rifle – The Creed of a United States Marine.” He served in both World Wars, leading forces in Pacific campaigns in the latter as Assistant Division Commander and later as Commander of the 1st Marine Division. He earned numerous decorations, including the Navy Cross, two Distinguished Service Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Major General Rupertus died of a heart attack while serving as Commandant of the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico, Virginia, months before the end of World War II.[1]
Construction and Early Days
The USS Rupertus was laid down in May 1945 by Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, and launched four months later, in September. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. William H. Rupertus, widow of the Major General. Commander William C. F. Robards took command when the ship was commissioned in March 1946.[2]
Following shakedown exercises off Guantanamo Bay and visits to various East Coast ports, the Rupertus transited the Panama Canal and steamed to San Francisco, beginning a pattern she would follow for the next 27 years. From 1946 onward, the ship alternated deployments between the western Pacific and operations off the U.S. West Coast.[2]
The Korean War
The Rupertus’s first deployment in 1947 took her throughout the Far East, where she was assigned to operations at Tsingtao, China. After several eastern Pacific operations, she returned to Tsingtao in 1949, and was one of the last three American ships to leave there before it fell to Communist forces.
In late 1950, the Rupertus left San Diego to operate with United Nations forces off the coast of Korea. She escorted the carrier Sicily (CVE-118) from Sasebo to Hungnam, Korea, and later operated with Task Force 95 off the west coast of Korea and in the Yellow Sea. The destroyer’s combat duties intensified when she steamed to Wonsan and spent 10 days off the coast near Songju, firing thousands of rounds of ammunition at targets on shore. The Rupertus saw continuous combat service until July 1951, when she returned to Inchon during armistice talks.
She returned to San Diego in August 1951, then rejoined the 7th Fleet in February 1952, operating first with carrier Task Force 77 before departing to bombard the Hungnam-Hannum area with Manchester (CL-83). During this deployment, she rescued a pilot while under heavy Communist shore battery fire. Following the Korean truce, the Rupertus continued annual deployments to the western Pacific until 1960, when she was assigned to Yokosuka as a homeport.
For her distinguished service during the Korean Conflict, the USS Rupertus earned seven battle stars.[2]
Modernization and the Vietnam War Years
In the 1950s, the USS Rupertus underwent a FRAM I (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) conversion. The upgrade replaced World War II-era armament with modern integrated anti-submarine warfare weapons, including ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) and DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) systems. The conversion also included installation of advanced radar systems, improved submarine warfare capabilities, and enhanced electronic warfare systems, enabling the ship to adapt to evolving Cold War threats.[3] Though designed to significantly enhance her capabilities, this work exposed both shipyard workers and sailors who remained on the Rupertus to asbestos that was disturbed during the process.
After returning to San Francisco in December 1962 and completing her FRAM I overhaul, the Rupertus sailed to her temporary homeport of Long Beach, California. In May 1964, she steamed back to Yokosuka and Taiwan Patrol, and after the August Tonkin Gulf incident, she deployed to the South China Sea, marking the beginning of her extensive Vietnam War service.
The destroyer participated in various operations supporting the Gemini IV space flight in June 1965, then returned to Vietnamese waters for “Market Time” operations. During these missions, she boarded and inspected numerous boats and ships off South Vietnam, searching for Communist contraband while providing naval gunfire support to U.S. forces.[2]
One of the most dramatic moments for the Rupertus came in July 1967, when she was with the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) during a series of explosions that temporarily disabled the carrier. The Rupertus maneuvered to within 20 feet of the crippled ship and remained alongside her for three hours, fighting fires, cooling magazines, and rescuing personnel thrown into the sea. The destroyer later participated in “Sea Dragon” operations involving the interdiction of waterborne logistics craft staging from North Vietnamese ports. During these operations, the ship drew enemy fire off Dong Hoi, North Vietnam, resulting in minor shrapnel hits.
Following an overhaul and exercises off the California coast, the Rupertus again sailed for the western Pacific in July 1968, arriving in her new homeport of Yokosuka, and assumed naval gunfire support responsibilities off South Vietnam in August. She again took up “Sea Dragon” duties and again came under fire. After serving as part of the Apollo 7 recovery team, she returned to duties off Vietnam and then plane guard duty off Korea.
The Rupertus continued operating throughout the Far East during 1969, spending part of that time off the coast of Vietnam before returning to San Diego in August 1970. In both 1971 and 1972, the destroyer alternated between operations in the San Diego area and being deployed on six-month western Pacific cruises.
Final Years and Decommissioning
In the spring of 1973, the Rupertus underwent an INSURV inspection, which resulted in the ship being declared unfit for further service. The destroyer was offered to the Hellenic Navy on a loan basis, was decommissioned in July, and concurrently transferred to the Hellenic Navy.
Asbestos Use Aboard the USS Rupertus (DD-851)
Like virtually all naval vessels constructed during the World War II era and the decades that followed, the USS Rupertus contained extensive amounts of asbestos throughout its structure and equipment. The Navy’s shipbuilders valued asbestos for its exceptional heat resistance, durability, and insulating properties, making it seem an ideal material for an environment where fire prevention and containment were essential.
Asbestos was integrated into hundreds of products and components aboard the Rupertus. The ship’s boiler rooms and engine spaces contained heavy concentrations of asbestos insulation that was wrapped around pipes, boilers, turbines, and other high-temperature equipment. Asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials were used throughout the propulsion system to create heat-resistant seals. The destroyer’s hull, bulkheads, and decks incorporated asbestos materials for fireproofing and insulation purposes.
Additional asbestos-containing materials aboard the USS Rupertus included electrical wiring insulation, valve packing, pumps, adhesives, floor tiles, ceiling tiles, paint, and damage control equipment. Even sleeping quarters and mess areas contained asbestos in deck tiles, wall panels, and insulation. The FRAM I modernization the ship underwent in the early 1960s also involved the removal of old asbestos materials and installation of new asbestos-containing components as part of the extensive upgrades.
Who Was at Risk of Asbestos Exposure?
Everyone who served aboard the USS Rupertus or worked on the vessel during construction, maintenance, and repair faced potential asbestos exposure. The destroyer’s complement of 376 sailors meant that hundreds of Navy personnel rotated through during her 27 years of service.
Certain occupational specialties were subjected to elevated exposure risks due to their responsibilities and work locations.
- Boiler technicians, machinists’ mates, and enginemen who worked in the ship’s engine rooms and boiler spaces faced daily exposure to asbestos insulation and components. These compartments operated at extreme temperatures, and the constant heat could cause asbestos materials to deteriorate and release fibers into the air.
- Hull technicians and damage controlmen who performed welding, cutting, grinding, and repair work on asbestos-containing materials faced significant exposure risks.
- Pipe fitters and plumbers who installed, maintained, or repaired the ship’s extensive piping systems regularly handled asbestos gaskets, packing, and insulation.
- Electrician’s mates worked with asbestos-insulated wiring throughout the vessel.
- Shipyard workers who built the Rupertus at Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, encountered asbestos exposure during the ship’s construction. Later, civilian workers at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and other maintenance facilities where the destroyer underwent overhauls and repairs also faced exposure risks. The FRAM I conversion required extensive work on the ship’s interior systems, potentially disturbing large quantities of existing asbestos materials.
The confined spaces characteristic of destroyer design compounded the exposure risks aboard the ship. Unlike larger vessels, destroyers had limited ventilation in many compartments, and this allowed asbestos fibers that had been disturbed during routine maintenance or combat damage repair to remain in the air, where service members breathed them in constantly. During the ship’s combat operations off Korea and Vietnam, damage from enemy fire and the subsequent repair work likely released additional asbestos fibers.
Health Risks Associated with Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos exposure can lead to several serious diseases, often with latency periods of 20 to 50 years between exposure and symptom development.
- Mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer affecting the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart, is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure. Veterans who served aboard ships like the USS Rupertus face elevated mesothelioma risk compared to the general population.
- Asbestosis, a chronic lung disease causing scarring of lung tissue, results from inhaling asbestos fibers over time. This progressive condition causes shortness of breath, persistent cough, and reduced lung capacity.
- Asbestos exposure also increases the risk of lung cancer, particularly among those who smoke.
- Other asbestos-related conditions include pleural plaques, pleural thickening, and pleural effusion, all affecting the tissue surrounding the lungs.
Microscopic asbestos fibers, when inhaled or swallowed, become embedded in the mesothelium or lung tissue, and once they’re there, the body struggles to break down or expel these fibers. When they remain, chronic inflammation and cellular damage follow, and that can eventually develop into cancer or other diseases decades after exposure occurred.
Justice and Compensation for Those Affected by Asbestos on the USS Rupertus
VA Benefits
Navy veterans who served aboard the USS Rupertus and who have later developed asbestos-related diseases may qualify for assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA provides disability compensation, healthcare benefits, and other support services to veterans with service-connected asbestos-related conditions. To qualify, veterans need to document their service history, including specific duty stations and occupational specialties.
Personal Injury Lawsuits
Veterans and their families may be eligible to pursue compensation from asbestos manufacturers whose products were used aboard the ship. Many companies that supplied asbestos materials to the Navy were aware of the health risks posed by their products but chose not to provide adequate warnings. Successful legal claims can provide compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Asbestos Trust Fund Claims
Asbestos trust funds are another option available to veterans sickened by asbestos exposure experienced during their service. These financial reserves were established by asbestos companies that filed for bankruptcy after having to pay significant jury awards and settlements to victims of exposure to their products. The funds were designated specifically to compensate those who would develop mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases years after the company was gone.
Veterans may be eligible to file claims with multiple trust funds, depending on which companies’ products they encountered during their service. The primary advantage of filing trust fund claims is that they typically provide faster compensation than personal injury lawsuits—often within months rather than years—and rather than proving negligence, victims only need to provide documentation of exposure to the company’s asbestos products. Additionally, veterans can file claims with multiple trusts simultaneously and still pursue other forms of compensation, including VA benefits. However, trust fund claims generally offer lower payouts than successful lawsuits because the funds must be preserved to compensate all current and future claimants. Despite these limitations, asbestos trust funds are a valuable option for veterans, especially when faced with medical expenses and other costs associated with their diagnosis.
Contact an Asbestos Attorney for Assistance
Victims of asbestos exposure face medical, emotional, and financial challenges, and lawyers who specialize in these cases have the expertise necessary to help you get the resources you need to navigate all of them. To make sure you have the assistance you need, schedule a consultation with an asbestos attorney at your earliest opportunity, since legally mandated deadlines restrict how much time you have to pursue legal action.
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