USS Trippe (DD-33)
The USS Trippe (DD-33) served with the US Navy during the second decade of the 20th century and later with the United States Coast Guard. She was named for Lieutenant John Trippe, who was recognized as a hero in the Tripolitan War. Trippe was built as a Paulding-class ship.
Construction
The 742-ton Trippe was laid down by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, in April 1910. Trippe was launched in December 1910 and commissioned in March 1911, with Lieutenant Frank D. Berrien in command. Carrying a crew of 86, she was armed with five three-inch rapid-fire guns and three 18-inch torpedo tubes, and powered by four boilers and three Parsons turbines with 17,393 horsepower.
Naval History
Trippe served with a unit of the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, beginning in 1911, along the east coast of the United States and operated off of Newport, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts; and Virginia. In 1912, Trippe continued exercises and training in the Gulf of Mexico for three months before returning to Boston, and then conducted tactical exercises and gunnery drills near Cuba in January 1913.
In April 1914, Trippe arrived at Tampico, Mexico to patrol against arms delivery, and then conducted patrols and supported battleships and cruisers near Vera Cruz. She was overhauled in Boston and conducted trials and drills from August to September. Assigned with the 2nd Reserve Flotilla in December 1915, Trippe operated with reduced compliment and, in January 1916, was placed in ordinary at the Boston Navy Yard.
Trippe was reactivated in July 1916 with Lieutenant Roy P. Emrich in command and trained in preparation for the United States entry into World War I. In May, 1917, Trippe sailed for Great Britain and arrived at Queenstown, Ireland. During this deployment, she escorted Allied convoys from America to France and England, and patrolled the waters around Queenstown for German submarines. Trippe encountered just one U-boat in September and dropped depth charges, then continued on and lost her starboard waist gun platform in a storm.
Trippe returned to Boston in January 1919, was decommissioned, and placed in reserve in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was transferred to the Coast Guard in April 1924, with Lieutenant Commander John H. Cornel, USCG, in command, and assigned to rum patrol during Prohibition. In May 1931, Trippe was returned to the Navy and remained at Philadelphia until July 1934, when she was stricken from the Navy list, and then sold for scrap to Michael Flynn of Brooklyn, New York.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Trippe (DD-33)
Many locations aboard the USS Trippe utilized asbestos products. Almost any system that required durable, inexpensive insulation or fireproofing potentially employed this dangerous mineral. The areas at highest risk for exposure are the ships boilers, engine rooms, and mess halls, but pipes covered with asbestos were common throughout Paulding-class ships. When asbestos is worn or damaged it can become friable, which means that fibers can be broken off and enter the atmosphere, where they can be inhaled or ingested by sailors or dockworkers, increasing the chances of contracting mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive asbestos cancer. Those diagnosed with the disease face an average life expectancy of less than 18 months. Treatment for the disease is expensive, and often only palliative, meaning that it offers relief for symptoms, but not a cure. If you or a loved one was injured by asbestos while serving on the Trippe or while servicing the vessel, you may have a right to compensation. Find out more by completing the form on this page. We'll send you a free Mesothelioma Information Packet that can answer your questions and explain your legal options.
Sources
NavSource Naval History, USS Trippe (DD-33).
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/033.htm Retrieved 18 December 2010
Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-t/dd33.htm Retrieved 18 December 2010
Tin Can Sailors, USS Trippe (DD-33), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
http://www.destroyers.org/DANFS/h-DD-33.htm Updated 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2010
