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Asbestos on Frigates

Expert Fact Checked

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Jennifer Lucarelli Lawyer and Legal Advisor

At least 114 frigates were used during World War II to escort and protect destroyers and participate in other fleet protection and patrol missions. Asbestos products were used extensively in the construction of these warships due to the need for protection against extreme heat and fire. Depending on the size of the frigate, crews could range from a little over 100 to upwards of 500 people at a time, putting thousands at risk of asbestos exposure.


01. List of Frigates

Complete List of Frigates

Name Hull Class Commissioned Fate
USS Ainsworth FF-1090 Knox 3/31/1973 Transferred to Turkey
USS Albert David FF-1050 Garcia 10/19/1968 Sold to Brazil, 2001
USS Antrim FFG-20 Oliver Hazard Perry 9/26/1981 Disposed through SAP
USS Aubrey Fitch FFG-34 Oliver Hazard Perry 10/9/1982 Scrapped
USS Aylwin FF-1081 Knox 9/18/1971 Transferred to Taiwan, 1998
USS Badger FF-1071 Knox 12/1/1970 Sunk as Target, 1998
USS Bagley FF-1069 Knox 5/6/1972 Recycled, 2000
USS Barbey FF-1088 Knox 11/11/1972 Sold to Taiwan 1999
USS Blakely FF-1072 Knox 7/18/1970 Scrapped, 2000
USS Boone FFG-28 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/15/1982
USS Bowen FF-1079 Knox 5/22/1971 Transferred to Turkey, 2002
USS Bradley FF-1041 Garcia 5/15/1965 Transferred to Brazil
USS Brewton FF-1086 7/8/1972 Transferred to Taiwan, 1999
USS Bronstein FF-1037 Bronstein 6/16/1963 Sold to Mexico, 1993
USS Brooke FFG-1 Brooke 3/12/1966 Disposed, 1994
USS Brumby FF-1044 Garcia 8/5/1965 Disposed, 1994
USS Capodanno FF-1093 11/17/1973 Sold to Turkey
USS Carr FFG-52 Oliver Hazard Perry 7/27/1985
USS Clark FFG-11 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/9/1980 Disposed through SAP
USS Clifton Sprague FFG-16 3/21/1981 Disposed through SAP
USS Connole FF-1056 Knox 8/30/1969 Transferred to Greece, 1992
USS Cook FF-1083 Knox 12/18/1971 Transferred to Taiwan, 1999
USS Copeland FFG-25 Oliver Hazard Perry 8/7/1982 Transferred to Egypt, 1996
USS Crommelin FFG-37 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/18/1983
USS Curts FFG-38 Oliver Hazard Perry 10/8/1983 Naval Reserve Force, Active
USS Davidson FF-1045 Garcia 12/1/1965 Transferred to Brazil
USS De Wert FFG-45 Oliver Hazard Perry 11/19/1983
USS Donald B. Beary FF-1085 7/22/1972 Transferred to Turkey, 2002
USS Downes FF-1070 Knox 8/28/1971 Disposed, 2003
USS Doyle FFG-39 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/21/1983
USS Duncan FFG-10 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/15/1980 Disposed through SAP
USS Edward McDonnell FF-1043 Garcia 2/15/1965 Scrapped, 2002
USS Elmer Montgomery FF-1082 Knox 10/30/1971 Transferred to Turkey, 1993
USS Elrod FFG-55 Oliver Hazard Perry 9/21/1985
USS Estocin FFG-15 1/10/1981 Disposed through SAP
USS Fahrion FFG-22 Oliver Hazard Perry 1/16/1982 Transferred to Egypt, 1998
USS Fanning FF-1076 Knox 7/23/1971 Transferred to Turkey, 1993
USS Flatley FFG-21 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/20/1981 Disposed through SAP
USS Ford FFG-54 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/29/1985
USS Francis Hammond FF-1067 Knox 7/25/1970 Scrapped, 2003
USS Gallery FFG-26 Oliver Hazard Perry 12/5/1981 Transferred to Egypt, 1996
USS Garcia FF-1040 Garcia 12/21/1964 Scrapped, 1994
USS Gary FFG-51 Oliver Hazard Perry 11/17/1984
USS George Philip FFG-12 Oliver Hazard Perry 10/10/1980 Stricken, to Be Disposed
USS Glover FF-1098 Garcia 11/13/1965 Scrapped, 1994
USS Gray FF-1054 Knox 4/4/1970 Scrapped, 2001
USS Halyburton FFG-40 Oliver Hazard Perry 1/7/1984
USS Harold E. Holt FF-1074 Knox 3/26/1971 Disposed, 2002
USS Hawes FFG-53 Oliver Hazard Perry 2/9/1985
USS Hepburn FF-1055 Knox 7/3/1969 Sunk as Target, 2004
USS Ingraham FFG-61 Oliver Hazard Perry 8/5/1989
USS Jack Williams FFG-24 Oliver Hazard Perry 9/19/1981 Transferred to Bahrain, 1996
USS Jarrett FFG-33 Oliver Hazard Perry 7/2/1983
USS Jesse L. Brown FF-1089 Knox 2/17/1973 Transferred to Egypt, 1994
USS John A. Moore FFG-19 11/14/1981 Disposed through SAP
USS John L. Hall FFG-32 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/26/1982
USS Joseph Hewes FF-1078 Knox 4/24/1971 Transferred to Taiwan
USS Julius A. Furer FFG-6 Brooke 11/11/1967 Disposed, 1994
USS Kauffman FFG-59 Oliver Hazard Perry 2/28/1987
USS Kirk FF-1087 Knox 9/9/1972 Transferred to Taiwan
USS Klakring FFG-42 Oliver Hazard Perry 8/20/1983
USS Knox FF-1052 Knox 4/12/1969 Sunk as Target, 2007
USS Koelsch FF-1049 Garcia 10/19/1968 Scrapped in Hong Kong
USS Lang FF-1060 Knox 3/28/1970 Scrapped, 2001
USS Lewis B. Puller FFG-23 Oliver Hazard Perry 4/17/1982 Transferred to Egypt, 1998
USS Lockwood FF-1064 Knox 12/5/1970 Recycled, 2000
USS Mahlon S. Tisdale FFG-27 Oliver Hazard Perry 11/27/1982 Disposed through SAP
USS Marvin Shields FF-1066 Knox 4/10/1971 Sold to Mexico
USS McCandless FF-1084 3/18/1972 Transferred to Turkey, 2002
USS McCloy FF-1038 Bronstein 10/21/1963 Sold to Mexico, 1993
USS McClusky FFG-41 Oliver Hazard Perry 12/10/1983
USS McInerney FFG-8 Oliver Hazard Perry 12/15/1979 Sold to Pakistan
USS Meyerkord FF-1058 Knox 11/28/1969 Scrapped, 2001
USS Miller FF-1091 Knox 6/30/1973 Sold to Turkey, 1999
USS Moinester FF-1097 Knox 11/2/1974 Transferred to Egypt, 1994
USS Nicholas FFG-47 Oliver Hazard Perry 3/10/1984
USS O’Callahan FF-1051 Garcia 7/13/1968 Scrapped in Hong Kong
USS Oliver Hazard Perry FFG-7 12/17/1977 Scrapped
USS Ouellet FF-1077 Knox 12/12/1970 Transferred to Thailand
USS Patterson FF-1061 Knox 3/14/1970 Scrapped, 1999
USS Paul FF-1080 Knox 8/14/1971 Transferred to Turkey, 2000
USS Pharris FF-1094 1/26/1974 Sold to Mexico
USS Ramsey FFG-2 Brooke 6/3/1967 Sunk as Target, 2000
USS Rathburne FF-1057 Knox 5/16/1970 Sunk as Target, 2002
USS Reasoner FF-1063 7/31/1971 Sold to Turkey
USS Reid FFG-30 Oliver Hazard Perry 2/19/1983 Transferred to Turkey, 1999
USS Rentz FFG-46 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/30/1984
USS Reuben James FFG-57 Oliver Hazard Perry 3/22/1986
USS Richard L. Page FFG-5 Brooke 8/5/1967 Disposed, 1994
USS Roark FF-1053 Knox 11/22/1969 Scrapped, 2004
USS Robert E. Peary FF-1073 Knox 9/23/1972 Transferred to Taiwan
USS Robert G. Bradley FFG-49 Oliver Hazard Perry 6/30/1984
USS Rodney M. Davis FFG-60 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/9/1987
USS Sample FF-1048 Garcia 3/23/1968 Leased to Brazil, 1989.
USS Samuel B. Roberts FFG-58 Oliver Hazard Perry 4/12/1986
USS Samuel Eliot Morison FFG-13 10/11/1980 Sold to Turkey, 2002
USS Schofield FFG-3 Brooke 5/11/1968 Sunk as Target, 1999
USS Sides FFG-14 Oliver Hazard Perry 5/30/1981 Stricken, to Be Disposed
USS Simpson FFG-56 Oliver Hazard Perry 9/21/1985
USS Stark FFG-31 Oliver Hazard Perry 10/23/1982 Scrapped, 2006
USS Stein FF-1065 Knox 1/8/1972 Sold to Mexico
USS Stephen W. Groves FFG-29 Oliver Hazard Perry 4/17/1982
USS Talbot FFG-4 Brooke 4/22/1967 Scrapped, 1994
USS Taylor FFG-50 Oliver Hazard Perry 12/1/1984
USS Thach FFG-43 Oliver Hazard Perry 3/17/1983
USS Thomas C. Hart FF-1092 Knox 7/28/1973 Transferred to Turkey
USS Trippe FF-1075 Knox 9/19/1970 Transferred to Greece, 1992
USS Truett FF-1095 Knox 6/1/1974 Sold to Thai Navy, 1999
USS Underwood FFG-36 Oliver Hazard Perry 1/29/1983
USS Valdez FF-1096 Knox 7/27/1974 Transferred to Taiwan
USS Vandegrift FFG-48 Oliver Hazard Perry 11/24/1984
USS Voge FF-1047 Garcia 11/25/1966 Scrapped, 2001
USS Vreeland FF-1068 Knox 6/13/1970 Transferred to Greece, 1992
USS W. S. Sims FF-1059 Knox 1/3/1970 Transferred to Turkey, 1999
USS Wadsworth FFG-9 Oliver Hazard Perry 4/2/1980 Transferred to Poland
USS Whipple FF-1062 Knox 8/22/1970 Sold to Mexico, 2002
02. Asbestos Use on Frigates

Asbestos Use on Frigates

Asbestos use was extensive on frigates. Engine rooms, boiler rooms and navigation rooms all required protection from heat and fire. At the time these ships were built, asbestos was the additive of choice.

Currently, there are no active frigates in the U.S. Navy. However, those who served on these ships when they were active are still at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma cancer. On average, it can take 10 to 50 years for these diseases to develop after initial exposure.