USS Kendrick (DD-612)
The USS Kendrick (DD-612) served in the U.S. Navy for half a decade in the mid-20th century. She was named for Charles S. Kendrick, who served in the Civil War, and was a member of the Benson-class of naval destroyers.
Construction
Kendrick was laid down at San Pedro, California by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in May 1941, launched in April 1942, and commissioned in September with Lieutenant Commander C.T. Caufield in command. Featuring a displacement of 2,395 tons, Kendrick was 348 feet, four inches long and armed with ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, six one-half inch machine guns, and four five-inch anti-aircraft guns. Kendrick was driven by Bethlehem turbines and had a range of 6,500 nautical miles at 12 knots.
Naval History
Kendrick conducted anti-submarine exercises off Casco Bay, Maine after leaving the west coast, and then sailed from New York to Casablanca on convoy duty in January 1943. Following patrol and escort operations along the east coast, Kendrick continued escort duty on a mission to Algeria from April to June, and was deployed to the Mediterranean for the invasion of Sicily shortly thereafter. She was attacked by a German dive bomber in September and was towed back to Norfolk, Virginia for repairs.
Kendrick resumed escort duty in February 1944 to the United Kingdom, and then conducted patrol and screening operations with Philadelphia. The destroyer provided gunfire support for ground troops in Italy for three months, and then participated in the invasion of southern France in August, in support of the 36th Infantry Division. Kendrick returned to the United States in September.
Sailing to the Mediterranean on an escort mission in November and December, Kendrick joined the 8th Fleet out of Norfolk in January 1945, and was also assigned to fire support and air-sea rescue duties at the end of World War II in Europe. Kendrick returned to New York in late May and took part in training exercises at Pearl Harbor from late-August to mid-October, when she sailed for Charleston, South Carolina. The destroyer was decommissioned and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Texas in March 1947, struck from the Navy list in May 1966, and sunk off Key West, Florida in March 1968.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Kendrick (DD-612)
Because of its heat resistant and fireproof properties, asbestos became the primary material used for fireproofing ships starting in the 1930s. On board the USS Kendrick asbestos insulation was installed in most areas of the ship, to insulate heavy equipment and for fireproofing the many ship compartments.
Asbestos was used in larger quantities in certain sections of Kendrick, however. The engineering and power plant compartments of Kendrick used asbestos in large amounts as insulation for steam pipes, to fireproof boilers, and to cover elements of the ship's motors or turbines. Essentially every sailor aboard the ship would have been exposed to some level of asbestos regardless of what area of the ship he/she worked in, but mechanics, boilermen, and engineers were most likely to sustain the highest levels of exposure.
Scientists have discovered a causal link between asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma. Unfortunately many of our Nation’s Navy veterans were exposed to this toxic substance while in service to their country and today are at risk for developing this serious asbestos cancer.
Sources
Haze Gray & Underway. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. DD-612.
(http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd612txt.htm) Retrieved 27 January 2011.
NavSource Naval History. USS Kendrick (DD-612).
(http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/612.htm) Retrieved 27 January 2011.
