USS Schley (DD-103)

The USS Schley (DD-103) served the United States during World War II, earning 11 battle stars for her service. Commissioned in 1918, she was named in honor of Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, whose service spanned both the United States Civil War and the Spanish-American War.

Construction

As part of a three-year program that authorized the construction of fifty “Wickes-class destroyers,” Schley was laid down on October 29, 1917, by Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California. Launched in 1918, she was officially commissioned in September of that year under the command of Commander R.C. Giffin.

Naval History

Prior to World War II, Schley’s duties were fairly uneventful; she acted as a station ship in Italy and visited various European ports of call until she headed to San Diego in September of 1919, when she was placed out of commission on reserve in June of 1922. That changed when she was reactivated on October 3, 1940, and she was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. However, due to ongoing maintenance, she was able to do little during the Japanese attack. Immediately following the attack, her maintenance overhaul was sped to completion, and she took up patrol in the waters around Pearl Harbor. A year later, in December of 1942, she was sent to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, for conversion to a fast transport and reclassification as APD-14.

The conversion took little time, and in February of 1943, Schley was serving in the Pacific theater, acting as a patrol and escort vessel among the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, American Samoa, and New Zealand. After serving in direct combat operations during the summer of 1943, Schley spent time in both Pearl Harbor and San Diego for repairs and maintenance. She departed again for combat on January 13, 1944, proving her worth in the Battle of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.

Schley spent the rest of the war in the Pacific theater, conveying troops, providing gunfire support, and sinking two Japanese barges and silencing an enemy shore battery off of Wake Island. She was part of an advance group that cleared the way for the invasion of Leyte Gulf in October of 1944, and she later survived heavy enemy fire in both the Battle of Ormoc Bay and off of Japanese-occupied Corregidor Island.

By the spring of 1945, Schley’s career was at an end. In May, she arrived in San Diego for repairs, and after a final voyage to Philadelphia for deactivation, she decommissioned in November and scrapped in 1946. For her service in World War II, Schley received 11 battle stars.

Asbestos Risk on the USS Schley (DD-103)

Schley was laid down before the “asbestos era”, which began with new fire safety regulations in the 1930s. But it is known that the U.S. Navy used asbestos materials even before those regulations were made. The engineering sections of this ship likely featured asbestos-based insulation and fireproofing. Other areas of the ship may have also been contaminated. Because no amount of asbestos is safe, veterans of Schley may have developed mesothelioma resulting at least in part from their maritime asbestos exposure.

Sources

Schley. Dictionary of American Fighting Ships.
http://www.history.navy.mil/DANFS/s7/schley.htm). Retrieved 31 December 2010.