The USS Bausell (DD-845) was a Navy destroyer commissioned after World War II’s end as part of the U.S. military’s post-war rebuilding process. Built when asbestos use was considered integral to assuring ships’ integrity and safety, the Bausell had the toxic mineral included in every aspect of its design, from her operational systems to her basic infrastructure. As a result, many of the Bausell’s crew members have died of asbestos-related diseases like pleural mesothelioma and asbestosis, and others are still at risk of developing symptoms decades after their naval service.
The Ship’s Namesake: Corporal Lewis K. Bausell
The USS Bausell was named in honor of Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell, a Marine Corps hero who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II. Bausell in the United States Marine Corps immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. He participated in the campaign for Guadalcanal and operations to capture the Willaumez Peninsula. He was killed in September 1944, during the Peleliu invasion, throwing himself on a grenade thrown by the Japanese. Corporal Bausell was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.[1]
About the USS Bausell
The USS Bausell served the United States Navy from 1946 to 1978, participating in Korean War operations, Vietnam War combat missions, and Western Pacific deployments for over three decades. During non-combat periods, she was assigned to training exercises and multinational operations.
A Gearing-class destroyer, the USS Bausell displaced 2,425 tons and measured 390.5 feet in length, with a 40.75-foot beam and 18.5-foot draft. Her advanced propulsion systems featured Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure superheated boilers and General Electric geared turbines generating 60,000 horsepower through twin screws. Together, they delivered the 35-knot speed and extensive range that the Gearing-class was designed to provide.[2]
The Bausell was originally equipped with six 5-inch/38 caliber deck guns and two quintuple 21-inch torpedo tube mounts. She maintained a crew complement of 355 officers and enlisted personnel.[2] Throughout her service life, thousands of personnel who served on the ship would end up facing serious health complications from extensive asbestos exposure.
About the Gearing Class Destroyers
Gearing-class destroyers like the USS Bausell represented the final evolution of World War II destroyer technology, reflecting important improvements over the previous Fletcher and Allen M. Sumner designs. Commissioned after World War II ended, these ships became the backbone of Cold War naval operations and were so enduring that many of them served well into the 1970s and 1980s.
The Gearing destroyers were equipped with the proven armament and defense systems that made their predecessors successful, but were improved by the addition of a 14-foot hull extension that increased both fuel capacity and operational endurance. This seemingly simple modification eliminated a major flaw in the earlier designs, allowing the new class of destroyers to accompany and serve vessels sent on Pacific deployments without the need for constant refueling.[2]
Later, these vessels underwent extensive modernization to meet the new challenges posed by the Cold War. Beginning in the 1950s and extending through the 1960s, many received specific comprehensive Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) upgrades, transforming them into advanced anti-submarine warfare platforms that could manage the Soviet submarine threat. These renovations removed obsolete weapons systems and replaced them with cutting-edge sonar, radar, and ASW equipment, while at the same time improving crew living conditions.[2]
Construction and Operational History of the USS Bausell
Early Pacific Assignments
Work on the USS Bausell began in May 1945 at the Bath Iron Works, and the ship was commissioned in February 1946 at the Boston Navy Yard. After shakedown in the Caribbean in March 1946, the ship departed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She conducted training maneuvers en route to San Diego and celebrated Navy Day 1946 at San Pedro, California, one year after her commissioning. In February 1947, she participated in her first major fleet exercise, including the unscheduled rescue of a PBM aircraft crew that was downed during simulated combat conditions.[3]
In July 1947, the USS Bausell conducted three months of intensive hunter-killer exercises at Pearl Harbor and participated in search operations following the crash of a B-17 carrying Ambassador George C. Atcheson Jr., Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s political adviser and allied council chairman. Following the completion of her first Far East deployment, she underwent a comprehensive overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
In early 1949, the ship was ordered to the Far East to rescue the American cargo vessel Flying Arrow, which had been severely damaged during the Chinese communist takeover. The USS Bausell, alongside USS Stickell and USS Anderson, protected the damaged vessel during repairs, facilitating her safe departure despite threats from hostile gunboats.[3]
The Korean Conflict
In the early 1950s, the Bausell was assigned to multiple Far East deployments with United Nations forces during the Korean War. She conducted carrier task force screening operations, maintained blockade duties along Korea’s east coast, and patrolled the Formosa Straits. The ship provided critical support for UN ground forces, participated in numerous sea-air rescue missions, and engaged in anti-submarine warfare exercises. Her Korean War service earned three battle stars.
In November 1954, the ship completed her sixth Far East deployment, participating in the Tachen Islands evacuation in February 1955. After an overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, she returned for her seventh deployment, conducting various operations with the Seventh Fleet, Japanese Navy, and Chinese Nationalist Navy.
Her eighth Far East tour in 1957 featured participation in Operation Beacon Hill, a major Pacific Fleet training exercise off Luzon, Philippines. The ship was recognized for her outstanding performance throughout the year. In 1959, during another Far East deployment, the crew created the ship’s distinctive logo through an onboard design contest. Yeoman Third Class Glen Griffin’s winning design featured a seahorse breathing fire on a jet aircraft with its tail wrapped around a submarine, symbolizing the ship’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities and primary mission.
FRAM Modernization
In July 1960, the USS Bausell underwent a twelve-month FRAM Mark I rehabilitation and modernization at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard that extended her useful service life by approximately eight years. It added the most advanced naval armaments available while removing her aft 5-inch gun mount, installing ASROC anti-submarine rockets, two triple-tube Mark 32 torpedo launchers, and a reconfigured superstructure with hangar facilities for the DASH drone anti-submarine helicopter system.[3]
Following the modernization, the USS Bausell participated in Operation Swordfish, the only test of an ASROC-launched nuclear depth charge. Though she was designated as the target vessel, she emerged from the test unscathed, then sailed to the Far East for the eleventh time.
Vietnam War
The USS Bausell was assigned to Vietnam War combat operations in 1964. She distinguished herself during Sea Dragon operations against North Vietnamese coastal targets and participated in escort and rescue operations for carrier strike forces, completing sixteen Western Pacific deployments by 1970. Her Vietnam combat service earned the Meritorious Unit Citation and Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V.”
Between 1971 and 1977, the ship’s homeport was Japan as she continued providing support in Vietnam.. In 1975, she participated in Operation Frequent Wind, earning the Humanitarian Service Medal, and between combat missions, conducted multinational anti-submarine warfare exercises with naval units from Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. The ship’s Japanese deployment included the Saigon evacuation in 1975 and assistance in the SS Mayaguez rescue operation. She earned the Battle Efficiency “E” following an eighteen-month competition with other Destroyer Squadron 15 vessels.[3]
Final Years
After more than three decades of service and over 2.5 million miles sailed, the USS Bausell was decommissioned in San Diego in October 1977. The ship then served as a target vessel for missile testing programs, surviving several direct Harpoon missile impacts before being sunk in the Pacific Ocean in July 1987.[3]
Where was Asbestos Found on the USS Bausell?
The Navy set strict construction standards during the time that the USS Bausell and other destroyers were built, and those standards emphasized widespread asbestos integration. From the time the ship was initially commissioned through her various modernization programs and upgrades, asbestos-containing materials were the norm in Navy vessel infrastructure and operational systems.
Decades before the Bausell was built, the military had identified asbestos as beneficial for its superior thermal insulation, exceptional fire-retardant properties, and chemical resistance. Its light weight, low cost, and ready availability were also attractive. Naval engineers were unaware of the severe health consequences posed by asbestos exposure and requested the material for its protective advantages. At the same time, manufacturers elected to suppress the emerging scientific evidence regarding these hazards so they could continue earning wartime profits.
Asbestos contamination extended throughout virtually every compartment of the USS Bausell, but areas that contained heat-generating equipment or that required significant strength or insulation had particularly dense concentrations of the toxic material. These included:
- Power plant compartments contained vast quantities of asbestos that insulated boilers, steam turbines, pumps, condensers, and other high-temperature propulsion machinery vital to the Bausell’s operations.
- The vessel’s piping network, including its steam distribution system, exhaust routing, and utility systems depended on asbestos insulation for thermal control and crew protection from contact burns.
- The ship’s infrastructure throughout numerous compartments included asbestos, including electrical control panels, insulation boards, and deck and ceiling tiles.
- Firefighting equipment, safety clothing, protective gloves, and fire-resistant blankets contained asbestos fibers specifically for their heat-resistant capabilities.
Who On the USS Bausell Was Exposed to Asbestos?
During their service, crew members on the USS Bausell were focused on their assignments and assumed that external combat posed the greatest threat to their well-being. Unfortunately, over the years, more Navy personnel have experienced negative health outcomes from asbestos exposure than from enemy action. The Bausell’s sailors and officers encountered asbestos regularly, inhaling microscopic particles as they circulated through ventilation systems and were carried on their shipmates’ clothing.
When asbestos fibers are breathed in or swallowed, they can become permanently embedded in the cells of the mesothelioma – an organ that lines the pleural and peritoneal cavities. Once there, the fibers cause chronic inflammatory reactions that can lead to cell death and genetic mutations. Little is known about the earliest phase of these processes, as these diseases have long latency periods and typically remain hidden for decades before appearing as severe health conditions 20 to 50 years after exposure. The deadliest of these conditions is pleural mesothelioma, but other conditions, including pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and COPD, are life-changing.
Although all personnel aboard the USS Bausell faced some degree of exposure risk, specific occupational specialties were at greater danger than others. Engineering department personnel, maintenance technicians, and damage control specialists experienced the most concentrated exposures, especially when their duties were performed in asbestos-contaminated spaces with inadequate ventilation.
Those most likely to be diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease include:
- Boiler technicians who operated and maintained equipment with heavy asbestos insulation.
- Plumbers and pipefitters who regularly repaired the destroyer’s piping networks. The most dangerous exposures occurred during replacement operations when they removed deteriorating thermal protection to access damaged piping sections.
- Repair technicians who worked on equipment protected with asbestos-containing materials, including generators, pumps, and ventilation equipment that incorporated asbestos gaskets, seals, and thermal barriers.
- Electrical specialists who worked with electrical distribution systems, cables, control panels, and switching equipment that often contained asbestos for fire prevention purposes.
- Shipyard workers who built, modernized, and maintained the USS Bausell experienced the heaviest exposure, as vessel construction and overhaul operations were exposed to asbestos products that were being removed and installed.
Help for USS Bausell Veterans Diagnosed with Mesothelioma
Former crew members of the USS Bausell, as well as shipyard personnel who worked on her construction, modernization, and repair, were likely to have experienced significant asbestos exposure during their service. If you served on the USS Bausell and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related condition, you may qualify for compensation through the Department of Veterans Affairs. You may also be eligible to take legal action against the companies that manufactured or supplied the asbestos-containing products you were exposed to.
Veterans Benefits
Veterans whose illness is linked to asbestos exposure during their military service are eligible for comprehensive benefits, including specialized medical treatment at VA healthcare facilities or civilian medical centers with proven expertise in asbestos-related disease treatment. Mesothelioma and related conditions frequently receive a 100% disability rating, providing the maximum compensation allowed to affected veterans and their qualified dependents.
Lawsuits, Settlements, and Asbestos Trust Funds
Beyond military benefits, Navy veterans exposed to asbestos aboard the USS Bausell may seek compensation directly from manufacturers and suppliers of asbestos products that provided contaminated materials to the Navy. Though victims may assume that filing a lawsuit leads to a jury trial, claims are frequently settled out of court, as companies prefer to avoid prolonged litigation and the risk of considerable jury awards. Additionally, many asbestos manufacturers’ asbestos liabilities have led to them declaring bankruptcy, and bankruptcy courts have required the creation of trust funds specifically created to compensate exposure victims.
Call an Asbestos Attorney
The best place to start is with an experienced asbestos attorney who has extensive experience and knowledge of pursuing mesothelioma compensation. These dedicated legal professionals can analyze service and employment histories, identify the companies behind your exposure, and provide evaluations of the legal remedies available to you. They can also assist with VA benefits applications to ensure you obtain all the service-connected disability compensation you have earned through your years of service.
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