USS Waters (DD-115)
The USS Waters (DD-115) served in the US Navy for two-and-a-half decades during the early 20th century. She was named for Daniel Waters, one of the Minutemen who engaged British soldiers during the American Revolutionary War. Waters was built as a Wickes-class ship.
Construction
The 1,090-ton Waters was laid down in July 1917 by William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched in March 1918, and commissioned in August with Lieutenant Commander Charles F. Russell in command. Waters was 314 feet, five inches long and carried a crew of 103. She was armed with four 4-inch rapid-fire guns, two anti-aircraft guns, and twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes.
Naval History
Waters was assigned as a shipping escort across the Atlantic toward the end of World War I, and operated mainly along the east coast of the United States following the Armistice. In May 1919, Waters sailed to the Azores as a plane guard for a Navy trans-Atlantic flight. Waters joined the Pacific Fleet in July 1919 and operated off Hawaii, South America, as well as the Far East until 1922, when she was decommissioned in San Diego, California.
Waters regained commissioned status in 1930 and returned to Hawaii in 1932, then operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean from April through October 1934. Beginning in 1936, Waters spent three years in Hawaii to assist with developing anti-submarine sonar techniques, and continued this mission along the west coast from 1939-1941. She searched for Japanese submarines once the Pacific War broke out in December 1941, and also escorted shipping between Alaska and the lower 48 states.
In December 1942, Waters was converted to a high-speed transport and redesignated with the hull number APD-8. Waters was deployed to the south Pacific in 1943 for combat operations, and participated in amphibious operations to capture Rendova, New Georgia, Vella Lavvella, the Treasury Islands, Emirau, the Green Islands, and Bougainville. She battled enemy aircraft several times and rescued survivors of the cruiser USS Helena in July 1943.
Waters operated in the central Pacific beginning in 1944. During this deployment, she helped seize Saipan and Tinain in June and July, Iwo Jima in February, and Okinawa in March through May. Re-designated a destroyer in August 1945, Waters was overhauled at San Pedro, California. When World War II ended, she was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list in October, and sold for scrap the following year.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Waters (DD-115)
The U.S. Navy employed asbestos any and everywhere that required inexpensive, durable heat and fire resistance. On the USS Waters, you'd likely have encountered asbestos in and around the engine room, in the mess halls, and even in bunk rooms as pipe insulation. Pumps, gaskets, and even rope were also frequently made with the dangerous mineral. Sailors from the Waters and those that participated in its construction, overhaul, and eventual scrapping face a significant risk of exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer. The disease is caused when tiny asbestos fibers infiltrate the the lining of cells that protects and buffers most internal organs (called the mesothelium). The damage from asbestos inhalation can take many years to manifest. This time between exposure and symptoms of the disease is called the mesothelioma latency period, and is part of what makes asbestos cancer so difficult to diagnose and problematic to properly treat. If you or a loved one has suffered from mesothelioma after serving aboard or servicing the USS Waters, you have legal rights. Fill out the form on this page for more information about the disease, treatments, and your legal options.
Sources
Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-w/dd115.htm Retrieved 20 December 2010
NavSource Naval History, USS Waters (DD-115).
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/115.htm Retrieved 20 December 2010
