USS John R. Craig (DD-885)
The USS John R. Craig (DD-885) served in the U.S. Navy for nearly three and a half decades in the mid-20th century. She was named for Lieutenant Commander John Rich Craig who commanded Grampus in World War II. John R. Craig was laid down as a Gearing-class destroyer.
Construction
John R. Craig was laid down at Orange, Texas by the Consolidated Steel Corporation in November 1944, launched in April 1945, and commissioned in August with Commander Leston G. Cornwell in command. Carrying a crew of 336, John R. Craig was 390 feet, six inches long and armed with ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, six five-inch anti-aircraft guns, eleven 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and twelve 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns.
Naval History
John R. Craig trained in the Caribbean and arrived at San Diego in February 1946. The destroyer was deployed with the 7th Fleet a week later and helped repatriate Japanese soldiers from North China, before returning to San Diego in January 1947. John R. Craig then alternated training missions off California with routine deployments to the Far East.
John R. Craig was deployed to duty during the Korean War in February 1951. While serving with Task Force 77, John R. Craig protected aircraft carriers during strikes on shore targets, and performed shore bombardments herself at Wonsan in the spring. The destroyer returned to San Diego twice during the war, and then continued to patrol the region to sustain peace. Annual deployments to the Far East resumed from 1954 to 1962, which were interspersed with routine exercises on the west coast.
Deployments to the Far East during this time included the evacuation of Chinese nationalists from the Tachen Islands, service on the Formosa Patrol, and anti-submarine exercises. John R. Craig was fitted with helicopter landing equipment during an FRAM overhaul in 1962, which was completed in March 1963. Reunited with the Pacific Fleet after the conversion, John R. Craig patrolled the Formosa Straits and visited a variety of ports in the Far East, and remained there from October 1963 to May 1964.
John R. Craig returned to the Far East in March 1965 during the Vietnam War, remained there until August, and operated off southern California prior to another Vietnam deployment from September 1966 through early 1967. The destroyer was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list in July 1979, and then sunk during training exercises off California in June 1980.
Asbestos Risk on the USS John R. Craig (DD-885)
Most personnel sailing or working on board the USS John R. Craig were likely exposed to asbestos fibers to one degree or another. Crew members who worked in the ship's engineering section, worked with machinery, or worked with fire suppression would have been exposed to asbestos more frequently. Aboard destroyers like John R. Craig, however, asbestos-containing materials were generally employed throughout the ship, so any crew member had the potential to be exposed.
Shipyard personnel who worked on John R. Craig, performing repairs, maintenance or refits, were also at risk. Asbestos was prevalent in shipyards both on the ships and in the buildings.
The family members of shipyard workers also ran the risk of being exposed to asbestos-containing materials through secondhand exposure. This occurred because asbestos fibers had a propensity to cling to the work clothing worn at the job site by repair and maintenance personnel. When they went home at the end of the day, those responsible for laundering the clothes could potentially breathe in loose fibers. If it is inhaled or ingested, asbestos damages the mesothelium and may cause mesothelioma.
Sources
Haze Gray & Underway. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. DD-885.
(http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd885txt.htm) Retrieved 22 February 2011.
NavSource Naval History. John R. Craig (DD-885).
(http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/885.htm) Retrieved 22 February 2011.
