USS Stribling (DD-867) and Asbestos

The USS Stribling (DD-867) was a U.S. Navy Gearing-class destroyer that served over three decades spanning the Korean War, Cold War peacekeeping, Vietnam combat duty, and NATO exercises across the Atlantic and Mediterranean. As with every naval vessel of her era, the asbestos-containing materials woven throughout the Stribling’s construction have since been directly linked to veterans and shipyard workers being diagnosed with asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other serious diseases.

About the USS Stribling

The USS Stribling was built at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard on Staten Island, New York, a facility credited for significant wartime construction, but that would later be associated with significant asbestos exposure for the workers who built vessels there, as well as the sailors who crewed them. Her keel was laid down in January 1945, she was launched in June, and she was commissioned in under the command of Commander J. D. Buckeley.[1]

The Gearing-Class Destroyers

There were 98 Gearing-class destroyers like the USS Stribling produced during and immediately after World War II. The ships were the culmination of World War II destroyer design. The most important improvement in the ships’ construction was a 14’ hull extension that was added to the earlier Allen M. Sumner class. The change expanded the vessels’ fuel capacity and extended their operational range while preserving the high-speed performance essential to fleet screening and escort missions.[2]

The Stribling’s key specifications included:[1]

• Displacement: 2,425 tons standard; 3,460 tons full load
• Length: 390 feet 6 inches
• Speed: 34.6 knots (trial)
• Complement: 345 officers and enlisted personnel
• Propulsion: General Electric geared turbines, 60,000 shaft horsepower, two screws
• Original armament: Six 5-inch guns, ten 40mm anti-aircraft guns, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, depth charge projectors, and tracks

The ship was propelled by high-pressure Babcock & Wilcox boilers driving General Electric steam turbines. The combination generated intense heat, and along with their steam lines, valves, gaskets, and other associated components, they were heavily insulated and sealed with the asbestos-containing materials that the Navy had mandated as the standard of safe shipboard construction. The machinery spaces housing these systems were both cramped and underventilated, making inhalation of the high concentration of airborne asbestos fibers unavoidable.  

The Ship’s Namesake

The USS Stribling was named in honor of Rear Admiral Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling, whose five-decade-long career as a naval officer included the War of 1812 and the Civil War.[1] Stribling became a midshipman on the day the United States declared war on Great Britain. Highlights of his career included the capture of two Algerine ships in 1815, service during the Mexican War and as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 1851 to 1853, service as Commandant of the Pensacola Navy Yard from 1857 to 1859, and command of the East India Squadron.

When he returned from this service to the United States in 1861, he found the country at war, and chose to support the Union cause despite having been born in South Carolina. He was promoted to Commodore in August 1862 and assigned command of the Philadelphia Navy Yard during the Civil War, followed by command of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron for the duration of the conflict, and then served as President of the Lighthouse Board from 1869 until 1871.

The destroyer bearing his name was sponsored at its June 1945 launch ceremony by Mrs. W. Hunter Powell.[1]

Active Service and Tours of Duty

After shaking down at Guantanamo Bay and reporting to the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, the Stribling began her three decades of service.  

Early Mediterranean Operations and Palestine Patrol (1948–1953)

• Began the first of many Mediterranean deployments in 1948, flying the United Nations flag while on Palestine Patrol
• In 1949, became the first American ship to visit a Spanish port since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936
• Visited northern European ports during her 1950 Sixth Fleet deployment
• Continued alternating Mediterranean and Atlantic operations through 1953

Korean War Service and Global Circumnavigation (1953–1954)

In August of 1953, the Stribling left the Norfolk Navy Base for the Pacific. Her Korean War service included:

• Operations with the carriers of Task Force 77 in the Sea of Japan
• Patrol with Task Force 95, the United Nations Escort and Blockading Force, along the west coast of Korea and in the Yellow Sea
• Circumnavigation of the globe, passing through Port Said, transiting the Mediterranean, and completing the round-the-world voyage at Norfolk between March and April of 1954

Cold War Peacekeeping and FRAM Modernization (1954–1966)

• Resumed Mediterranean and Atlantic Fleet deployments from 1954 onward, participating in American and NATO exercises
• Stood by during the 1958 Lebanon crisis as part of the Sixth Fleet
• Completed a comprehensive FRAM modernization overhaul at the Charleston Naval Shipyard from June 1960 to May 1961
• Following FRAM completion, stood watch during the recovery of astronaut John Glenn in February 1962
• Deployed to the Sixth Fleet in August 1962, spending a large portion of that tour in the Persian Gulf with the Middle East Force, conducting exercises with Saudi Arabian and Iranian naval units and visiting Djibouti, Kharg Island, and Aden
• Conducted two additional Middle East Force deployments before receiving a Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter (DASH) system in the spring of 1966, completing DASH qualification by May 1966
• Participated in Polaris missile firing tests on the Atlantic test range in February and March 1967

Vietnam War Service (1969)

In January 1969, the Stribling left Mayport for her second Far East voyage, transiting the Panama Canal and proceeding via San Diego and Pearl Harbor to Yokosuka and then to operations off the coast of Vietnam. Her combat duties included:

• Naval gunfire support on the gunline
• Search and rescue missions, primarily for downed carrier pilots
• Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone (PIRAZ) duty, riding escort for larger PIRAZ ships equipped with more sophisticated radar systems
• Plane guard operations for carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin
• Port calls at Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, and Subic Bay for rest, upkeep, and provisions

The Stribling left the combat zone in August 1969. The ship earned two battle stars for her Vietnam service.

Later Mediterranean Deployments and Final Service (1970–1975)

• Deployed to the Sixth Fleet from August 1970 to March 1971. The Jordanian crisis of 1970 led to the fleet being mobilized in the eastern Mediterranean; the Stribling cruised the Syrian coast in the anti-aircraft screen. Her activities included the pursuit of an unidentified nuclear submarine for nearly 48 hours
• Completed a second post-Vietnam Mediterranean deployment from February to September 1972
• Sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and through the Indian Ocean to rejoin the Middle East Force in March 1973
• Participated in exercise Northern Merger in September and October 1974, visiting the Netherlands and England
• Continued eastern seaboard operations through early 1975

The Stribling was decommissioned and stricken in July 1976 and was sunk as a target off Puerto Rico in July 1980.

Where Was Asbestos Found on the USS Stribling?

From the 1930s through the 1970s, asbestos was a mandated component of Navy shipboard construction. Though the manufacturers of asbestos-containing products had received many insider reports and evidence of the mineral’s lethality, the industry consistently suppressed that information to protect their commercial relationships. As a result, it was used in hundreds of shipboard applications, leaving sailors and shipyard workers without the warnings they deserved.

Asbestos was a component throughout the Stribling. Key locations included:

• Steam lines and piping systems: Asbestos insulation wrapped the steam lines running throughout the ship
• Hull insulation: Asbestos materials were applied directly to interior hull surfaces, including in berthing areas
• Engineering spaces: Boiler rooms, engine compartments, and turbine spaces housing high-temperature steam propulsion required intensive thermal protection
• Boilers and economizers: Components of this essential equipment included asbestos
• Marine turbines: General Electric turbines were insulated with asbestos and had asbestos-containing parts
• Gaskets, packing seals, and valves: Made with asbestos, these mechanical components were present throughout the ship’s piping and machinery systems
• Deck coatings, adhesives, and structural materials: The mineral was included in flooring, bonding agents, and materials integrated throughout the ship’s living and working spaces
• Firefighting and protective gear: Safety equipment found throughout the ship and issued to crew members incorporated asbestos in various forms

The FRAM overhaul completed at the Charleston Naval Shipyard added to the hazard already that was already present in the ship. Rebuilding superstructure sections, overhauling the engineering plant, and installing new weapons systems and electronics required workers to cut through, remove, and replace materials that had been in place and slowly deteriorating for more than 15 years. Every phase of that work disturbed accumulated asbestos and released fibers into the enclosed spaces of the shipyard and the ship itself.

Documented Cases: Asbestos Exposure Linked to Stribling Service

The connection between service aboard the USS Stribling and asbestos-related disease has been established in formal legal and administrative proceedings involving veterans who served aboard her.

VA Benefits Granted for Asbestosis

In a case presented to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, a veteran with asbestosis, who served aboard the USS Stribling from December 1951 to October 1952 and from June 1953 to June 1955, was granted benefits and compensation based on his documented exposure to asbestos during his time of service. In his application, the veteran described conditions aboard the ship in detail:[3]

• Asbestos was present on the steam lines and the hull throughout the vessel
• His sleeping berth was approximately eight inches from both the hull and the asbestos-wrapped steam lines
• When the ship’s guns were fired, the asbestos above him cracked and fell down on top of him
• During rough weather and hurricanes, violent motions within the ship led to cracks, and asbestos dust fell throughout the ship

The veteran’s physician confirmed a diagnosis of asbestosis related to military service, and the Board found his testimony credible and granted service connection.

Federal Litigation Involving Stribling Contractors

The Stribling has repeatedly been the subject of federal court proceedings filed by veterans seeking damages for asbestos-related personal injuries:

• Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation was a manufacturer of boilers and economizers installed aboard the USS Stribling.[4]
• General Electric was named in a wrongful death action by the estate of a veteran who testified to having been exposed to asbestos while working on or around GE marine turbines aboard the Stribling from 1958 to 1960.[5]

Asbestos Exposure Risks to Stribling Veterans

Each year, thousands of Americans are diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, including pleural mesothelioma, and roughly one-third of all mesothelioma diagnoses involve United States Navy veterans as a result of the asbestos-contaminated working conditions aboard Navy ships built before 1980. Stribling veterans are part of this at-risk population.

Who Faced the Greatest Risk

While every crew member aboard the Stribling encountered asbestos as part of daily shipboard life, those at greatest risk included:

• Engineering personnel: Boiler technicians, machinists’ mates, and enginemen who worked in direct proximity to the most heavily insulated machinery
• Berthing compartment occupants: As documented in the VA case above, crew members sleeping in close quarters near asbestos-wrapped steam lines and hull insulation faced continuous exposure
• Damage control and maintenance personnel: Those responsible for repairing, replacing, or working around insulated pipes and structural materials
• Shipyard workers: Civilian personnel who participated in the FRAM overhaul at Charleston and subsequent maintenance periods at other facilities

How Exposure Extended Through the Ship

Asbestos fibers are lightweight, and once they become airborne, they can be inhaled or come to rest on surfaces. They can also land on clothing, skin, and hair, and then be carried wherever those on whom they land go. In this way, the contamination spread from engineering spaces into:

• Berthing compartments and sleeping areas
• Mess decks and common spaces
• Passageways and duty stations throughout the vessel

This meant that even crew members who had no direct contact with asbestos-containing machinery were at risk of exposure to the deadly fibers because of their duties and interactions with shipmates who worked in high-exposure areas

The Latency Factor

It typically takes between 20 and 50 years after initial exposure for mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other asbestos diseases to show symptoms. Veterans who served aboard the Stribling during the thirty years she sailed may only now be confronting diagnoses directly tied to their shipboard service.

Support and Compensation for Veterans with Mesothelioma

Health Monitoring

Any veteran who served aboard the USS Stribling or worked on her at any of the facilities involved in her construction, conversion, or maintenance should make sure that their physician knows about their potential asbestos exposure history so it can be added to their medical records. Key reasons to act now include:

• Mesothelioma and asbestosis develop silently over decades before producing recognizable symptoms
• Documenting exposure history alerts treating physicians to monitor proactively for relevant warning signs
• Early detection significantly improves the range and effectiveness of available treatment options

VA Claims

As described in the asbestosis case above, veterans who are diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related conditions after having served aboard the Stribling may be eligible for benefits with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Several things are important to know about asbestos-related VA claims:

• The VA recognizes shipboard asbestos exposure during military service as a service-connected cause of disease
• Malignant mesothelioma qualifies for a 100% disability rating, and other asbestos-related conditions may also qualify for service connection and disability compensation
• Eligible veterans receive both financial compensation and access to specialized VA medical care at facilities nationwide
• Detailed personal statements, describing the nature and circumstances of shipboard asbestos exposure— as well as documentation of service time and duty and medical diagnosis—are valuable components of a successful claim

Seeking Legal Assistance for Asbestos Cases

Veterans and shipyard workers harmed by asbestos exposure during their time aboard or working on the Stribling may also have grounds for civil legal claims.

Manufacturers, including Foster Wheeler and General Electric, have been named as defendants in Stribling-related asbestos cases, and specific products and contractors involved are already part of the legal record

Attorneys specializing in asbestos litigation have extensive resources with which to support personal injury claims, including detailed records of prior cases involving Gearing-class destroyers and the specific suppliers whose products have been identified as having been installed in various Navy vessels.

Some important points to keep in mind when considering filing an asbestos lawsuit:

• Many manufacturers declared bankruptcy as a result of massive asbestos-related liabilities. As part of the bankruptcy protection process, most were required to establish dedicated asbestos trust funds as a condition of that protection. Those funds remain available to eligible claimants and are estimated to hold approximately $30 billion dollars.
• Statutes of limitations are laws that limit how much time victims have to file a personal injury claim. Each state and municipality establishes its own deadline, so it’s important to reach out to a professional familiar with these rules as soon after your diagnosis as possible.

A mesothelioma attorney will evaluate your specific service history aboard the Stribling and identify the compensation that’s most likely to apply to your situation and meet your personal goals. They’ll guide you through every step of the process.