USS Lansdale (DD-766)
The USS Lansdale (DD-766) was constructed by the United States Navy between April of 1944 and December of 1946, but was never completed, commissioned, or placed into active service.
The ship was named for Phillip Van Horne Lansdale, a United States Navy officer during the latter portion of the 19th century. Lansdale graduated from the Naval Academy in June of 1879 and later served in Asiatic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific stations. He was killed in action when American forces landed at Samoa and were attacked by the local people.
The USS Lansdale was sponsored by Mrs. Ethel S. Lansdale. Lansdale was built as a Gearing-class ship.
Construction
Lansdale was laid down in San Francisco, California by Bethlehem Steel in April of 1944. She was launched in December of 1946, but she was never commissioned or officially deployed. Lansdale was designed to carry a crew of 336 and offer a cruising speed of 36.8 knots. Plans were to arm the vessel with six five-inch anti-aircraft guns, twelve 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, eleven 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes.
She was to offer a range of 4,500 nautical miles at a speed of 20 knots, have a displacement of 3460 tons, and offer 60,000 SHP. She was to be outfitted with General Electric geared turbines.
Naval History
Lansdale was never placed into active service. She was laid down and launched at a time when World War II was coming to an end, and the U.S. Navy no longer needed to continue growing its fleet at the rapid pace to which it had become accustomed. With so many ships being re-directed from service stations in the Pacific to other points across the globe, it was simply not fiscally responsible to complete work on yet another vessel.
Instead of being commissioned, the ship (then just an incomplete hulk) was berthed at Suisun Bay for a period of nearly ten years. She remained there until May of 1956, when she was towed to Long Beach, California. There, her bow was removed. It was repurposed replacement for damaged parts on the USS Floyd B. Parks (DD-884), an active ship in the Navy’s fleet.
Lansdale was officially struck from the Navy list in June of 1958.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Lansdale (DD-766)
The industrial revolution of the 1800s brought about an increased demand for new products like asbestos insulation. Asbestos fireproofing has been employed aboard oceangoing craft such as Lansdale ever since the 1930s. Pumps and boilers produce intense heat, and for many years these devices were manufactured with asbestos fire-retardant insulation and other asbestos product parts.
Though Lansdale never entered active service, the shipyard workers building her were exposed to asbestos throughout the construction process. Asbestos insulation was laid down in most sections of the ship early in the construction process, and the ship was quite near completion before being cancelled.
An exposed shipyard or dockyard worker’s likelihood of developing mesothelioma goes up dramatically if he or she worked frequently with asbestos-containing products. When breathed in, tiny asbestos fibers can become lodged in the lungs and eventually cause malignant mesothelioma.
Sources
Haze Gray & Underway. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. DD-766.
(http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd766txt.htm) Retrieved 13 February 2011.
NavSource Naval History, USS Lansdale (DD-766).
(http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/766.htm) Retrieved 13 February 2011.
