Destroyer Escorts With Asbestos

Destroyer escorts were a class of warships deployed by the U.S. Navy during the mid-20th Century to escort convoys of merchant marine ships as they crossed the ocean.

During World War II, destroyer escorts were widely built by the Navy as a cheaper alternative to fleet destroyers for conducting anti-submarine warfare. Because they only needed to sail as fast as convoy ships and to protect them against submarines or aircraft, destroyer escorts could be produced much more cheaply than full-size destroyers. Dozens of destroyer escorts were converted to high-speed transport ships (ADPs) during World War II to help carry troops.

Following the Second World War, the Navy’s need for destroyer escorts to protect shipping convoys was decreased. After 1954, destroyer escorts were known by the Navy as “ocean escorts”. After the U.S. Navy’s ship reclassification in 1975, they were known as “frigates”. As of 2006, the U.S. Navy has announced no plans to build additional frigate ships.

Because destroyer escorts were built during World War II at a time before the health risks of asbestos exposure were widely known, veterans who served onboard these ships may have been exposed to large amounts of asbestos, putting them at risk of developing mesothelioma cancer, asbestosis, or other diseases linked to asbestos exposure.

Asbestos was widely used on destroyer escorts in boiler rooms, engine rooms, pipe insulation, pumps, valves, and other areas where large amounts of heat were present. Asbestos materials could also be found onboard destroyer escorts in crew sleeping quarters, mess halls, and other common areas of the ship.

The following is a list of destroyer escorts used by the U.S. Navy that may have contained asbestos materials:

Abercrombie (DE-343)
Acree (DE-167)
Ahrens (DE-575)
Ainsworth (DE-1090)
Albert David (DE-1050)
Albert T. Harris (DE-447)
Alexander J. Luke (DE-577)
Alger (DE-101)
Alvin C. Cockrell (DE-366)
Aylwin (DE-1081)
Amesbury (DE-66)
Amick (DE-168)
Andres (DE-45)
Arthur L. Bristol (DE-281)
Atherton (DE-169)
Austin (DE-15)
Badger (DE-1071)
Bagley (DE-1069)
Baker (DE-190)
Balduck (DE-716)
Bangust (DE-739)
Barber (DE-161)
Barbey (DE-1088)
Baron (DE-166)
Barr (DE-576)
Bassett (DE-672)
Bates (DE-68)
Bauer (DE-1025)
Bayntun (BDE-1)
Bazely (BDE-2)
Bebas (DE-10)
Begor (DE-711)
Belet (DE-599)
Berry (BDE-3)
Beverly W. Reid (DE-722)
Eisele (DE-75)
Bivin (DE-536)
Blackwood (BDE-4)
Blair (DE-147)
Blakely (DE-1072)
Blessman (DE-69)
Booth (DE-170)
Borum (DE-790)
Bostwick (DE-103)
Bowen (DE-1079)
Bowers (DE-637)
Brackett (DE-41)
Bradley (DE-1041)
Bray (DE-709)
Breeman (DE-104)
Brennan (DE-13)
Brewton (DE-1086)
Bridget (DE-1024)
Bright (DE-747)
Brister (DE-327)
Brock (DE-234)
Bronstein (DE-189)
Bronstein (DE-1037)
Brough (DE-148)
Brumby (DE-1044)
Buckley (DE-51)
Bull (DE-52)
Bull (DE-693)
Bullen (DE-78)
Bunch (DE-694)
Burden R. Hastings (DE-19)
Burdo (DE-717)
Burges (BDE-12)
Burke (DE-215)
Burrows (DE-105)
Byron (DE-79)
Cabana (DE-260)
Calcaterra (DE-390)
Camp (DE-251)
Canfield (DE-262)
Cannon (DE-99)
Capodanno (DE-1093)
Carlson (DE-9)
Carpellotti (DE-720 / APD-136)
Carroll (DE-171)
Carter (DE-112)
Cates (DE-763)
Cavallaro (DE-712)
Cecil J. Doyle (DE-368)
Chaffee (DE-230)
Chambers (DE-391)
Charles Berry (DE-1035)
Charles E. Brannon (DE-446)
Charles J. Kimmel (DE-584)
Charles Lawrence (DE-53)
Charles R. Greer (DE-23)
Chase (DE-158)
Chatelain (DE-149)
Chester T. O’Brien (DE-421)
Christopher (DE-100)
Clarence L. Evans (DE-113)
Claud Jones (DE-1033)
Cloues (DE-265)
Coates (DE-685)
Cockrill (DE-398)
Cofer (DE-208)
Coffman (DE-191)
Conklin (DE-439)
Conn (DE-80)
Connole (DE-1056)
Connolly (DE-306)
Cook (DE-714)
Cook (DE-1083)
Coolbaugh (DE-217)
Cooner (DE-172)
Corbesier (DE-106)
Corbesier (DE-438)
Cosby (DE-94)
Cotton (DE-81)
Courtney (DE-1021)
Cranstoun (DE-82)
Cread (DE-227)
Cromwell (DE-1014)
Cronin (DE-107)
Cronin (DE-704)
Crosley (DE-108)
Crosley (DE-226)
Cross (DE-448)
Crouter (DE-11)
Crowley (DE-303)
Cubitt (DE-83)
Currier (DE-700)
Curzon (DE-84)
Dakins (DE-85)
Dale W. Peterson (DE-337)
Damon M. Cummings (DE-643)
Daniel (DE-335)
Daniel A. Joy (DE-585)
Daniel T. Griffin (DE-54)
Darby (DE-218)
Davidson (DE-1045)
Day (DE-225)
Dealey (DE-1006)
Deane (DE-86)
Decker (DE-47)
Deede (DE-263)
DeLong (DE-684)
Dempsey (DE-26)
Dempsey (DE-267)
Dennis (DE-405)
Diachenko (DE-690)
Dionne (DE-261)
Dobler (DE-48)
Doherty (DE-14)
Don O. Woods (DE-721)
Donald B. Beary (DE-1085)
Donaldson (DE-44)
Donaldson (DE-55)
Donald W. Wolf (DE-713)
Doneff (DE-49)
Donnell (DE-56)
Douglas A. Munro (DE-422)
Douglas L. Howard (DE-138)
Downes (DE-1070)
Doyle C. Barnes (DE-353)
Drury (BDE-46)
Duffy (DE-27)
Dufilho (DE-423)
Durant (DE-389)
Durik (DE-666)
Earheart (DE-603)
Earl K. Olsen (DE-765)
Earl V. Johnson (DE-702)
Earle B. Hall (DE-597)
Ebert (DE-74)
Ebert (DE-768)
Edgar G. Chase (DE-16)
Edmonds (DE-406)
Edsall (DE-129)
Edward C. Daly (DE-17)
Edward H. Allen (DE-531)
Edward McDonnell (DE-1043)
Edwin A. Howard (DE-346)
Eichenberger (DE-202)
Eisele (DE-34)
Eisner (DE-192)
Eisner (DE-269)
Ekins (DE-87)
Elden (DE-264)
Eldridge (DE-173)
Elmer Montgomery (DE-1082)
Emery (DE-28)
England (DE-635)
Engstrom (DE-50)
Enright (DE-216)
Essington (DE-67)
Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686)
Evans (DE-1023)
Evarts (DE-5)
Eversole (DE-404)
Fair (DE-35)
Falgout (DE-324)
Fanning (DE-1076)
Farquhar (DE-139)
Fechteler (DE-157)
Fessenden (DE-142)
Fieberling (DE-640)
Finch (DE-328)
Finnegan (DE-307)
Fiske (DE-143)
Fitzroy (DE-88)
Flaherty (DE-135)
Fleming (DE-32)
Fleming (DE-271)
Fogg (DE-57)
Foreman (DE-633)
Formoe (DE-509)
Formore (DE-58)
Forster (DE-334)
Foss (DE-59)
Fowler (DE-222)
Frament (DE-677)
Francis Hammond (DE-1067)
Francis M. Robinson (DE-220)
Francovich (DE-606)
Frederick C. Davis (DE-136)
French (DE-367)
Frost (DE-144)
Frybarger (DE-705)
Gandy (DE-764)
Gantner (DE-60)
Garcia (DE-1040)
Garfield Thomas (DE-193)
Gary (DE-326)
Gaynier (DE-751)
Gendreau (DE-639)
Gentry (DE-349)
George (DE-276)
George (DE-697)
George A. Johnson (DE-583)
George E. Davis (DE-357)
George W. Ingram (DE-62)
Gillette (DE-270)
Gillette (DE-681)
Gilligan (DE-508)
Gilmore (DE-18)
Glover (DE-1098)
Goss (DE-444)
Gosselin (DE-710)
Grady (DE-445)
Gray (DE-1054)
Greenwood (DE-679)
Greiner (DE-37)
Griswold (DE-7)
Gunason (DE-795)
Gustafson (DE-182)
Haas (DE-424)
Haines (DE-792)
Halloran (DE-305)
Halsted (DE-91)
Hammann (DE-131)
Hammerberg DE-1015)
Hanna (DE-449)
Hargood (DE-573)
Harmon (DE-72)
Harmon (DE-678)
Harold C. Thomas (DE-21)
Harold E. Holt (DE-1074)
Harry L. Corl (DE-598)
Hartley (DE-1029)
Harveson (DE-316)
Haverfield (DE-393)
Hayter (DE-212)
Hemminger (DE-746)
Henry R. Kenyon (DE-683)
Hepburn (DE-1055)
Herbert C. Jones (DE-137)
Herzog (DE-178)
Herzog (DE-277)
Heyliger (DE-510)
Hilbert (DE-742)
Hill (DE-141)
Hissem (DE-400)
Hodges (DE-231)
Holder (DE-401)
Hollis (DE-794)
Holmes (DE-572)
Holt (DE-706)
Holton (DE-703)
Hooper (DE-1026)
Hopping (DE-155)
Horace A. Bass (DE-691)
Hoste (DE-521)
Hotham (DE-574)
Hova (DE-110)
Howard D. Crow (DE-252)
Howard F. Clark (DE-533)
Hubbard (DE-211)
Hunter Marshall (DE-602)
Hurst (DE-250)
Huse (DE-145)
Inch (DE-146)
Inglis (DE-525)
Inman (DE-526)
Ira Jeffery (DE-63)
J. Douglas Blackwood (DE-219)
J. R. Y. Blakely (DE-140)
J. Richard Ward (DE-243)
Jaccard (DE-355)
Jack C. Robinson (DE-671)
Jack Miller (DE-410)
Jack W. Wilke (DE-800)
Jacob Jones (DE-130)
James E. Craig (DE-201)
Janssen (DE-396)
Jenks (DE-665)
Jesse L. Brown (DE-1089)
Jesse Rutherford (DE-347)
Jobb (DE-707)
John C. Butler (DE-339)
John J. Powers (DE-528)
John L. Williamson (DE-370)
John M. Bermingham (DE-530)
John P. Gray (DE-673)
John Q. Roberts (DE-235)
John R. Perry (DE-1034)
John Willis (DE-1027)
Johnnie Hutchins (DE-360)
Jordan (DE-204)
Joseph E. Campbell (DE-70)
Joseph E. Connolly (DE-450)
Joseph Hewes (DE-1078)
Joseph M. Auman (DE-674)
Joyce (DE-317)
Julius A. Raven (DE-600)
Keith (DE-241)
Kendall C. Campbell (DE-443)
Kenneth M. Willett (DE-354)
Kephart (DE-207)
Key (DE-348)
Kingsmill (DE-280)
Kinzer (DE-232)
Kirk (DE-1087)
Kirkpatrick (DE-318)
Kirwin (DE-229)
Kleinsmith (DE-376)
Kleinsmith (DE-718)
Kline (DE-687)
Knox (DE-1052)
Knudson (DE-591)
Koelsch (DE-1049)
Koiner (DE-331)
Kretchmer (DE-329)
Kyne (DE-744)
La Prade (DE-409)
Lake (DE-301)
Lamons (DE-64)
Lamons (DE-743)
Lang (DE-1060)
Laning (DE-159)
Lansing (DE-388)
Lawford (DE-516)
Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415)
Lawson (DE-518)
Le Ray Wilson (DE-414)
Lee Fox (DE-65)
LeHardy (DE-20)
Leland E. Thomas (DE-420)
Leopold (DE-319)
Leslie L.B. Knox (DE-580)
Lester (DE-1022)
Levy (DE-162)
Lewis (DE-535)
Liddle (DE-76)
Liddle (DE-206)
Lloyd (DE-209)
Lloyd E. Acree (DE-356)
Lockwood (DE-1064)
Loeser (DE-680)
Loring (DE-520)
Lough (DE-586)
Louis (DE-517)
Lovelace (DE-198
Lovering (DE-39)
Lovering (DE-272)
Lowe (DE-325)
Loy (DE-160)
Lyman (DE-302)
Mack (DE-358)
Major (DE-796)
Maloy (DE-791)
Manlove (DE-36)
Manners (DE-523)
Manning (DE-199)
Marchand (DE-249)
Marocain (DE-109)
Marsh (DE-699)
Martin (DE-30)
Martin H. Ray (DE-338)
Marts (DE-174)
Marvin Shields (DE-1066)
Mason (DE-529)
Maurice J. Manuel (DE-351)
McAnn (DE-73)
McAnn (DE-179)
McCandless (DE-1084)
McClelland (DE-750)
McCloy (DE-1038)
McConnell (DE-163)
McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)
McGinty (DE-365)
McMorris (DE-1036)
McNulty (DE-581)
Melvin R. Nawman (DE-416)
Menges (DE-320)
Merrill (DE-392)
Metivier (DE-582)
Meyerkord (DE-1058)
Micka (DE-176)
Miller (DE-1091)
Mills (DE-383)
Mitchell (DE-43)
Moinester (DE-1097)
Moore (DE-240)
Moorsom (DE-522)
Mosley (DE-321)
Mounsey (DE-524)
Muir (DE-770)
Myers (DE-595)
Naifeh (DE-352)
Narborough (DE-569)
Neal A. Scott (DE-769)
Neuendorf (DE-200)
Neunzer (DE-150)
Newell (DE-322)
Newman (DE-205)
Oberrender (DE-344)
O’Callahan (DE-1051)
Odum (DE-670)
O’Flaherty (DE-340)
Oliver Mitchell (DE-417)
O’Neill (DE-188)
O’Reilly (DE-330)
Osberg (DE-538)
Osmus (DE-701)
Osterhaus (DE-164)
Oswald (DE-71)
Oswald (DE-767)
O’Tool (DE-274)
O’Toole (DE-527)
Otter (DE-210)
Otterstetter (DE-244)
Ouellett (DE-1077)
Parks (DE-165)
Parle (DE-708)
Pasley/Lindsay (DE-519)
Patterson (DE-1061)
Paul (DE-1080)
Paul G. Baker (DE-642)
Pavlic (DE-669)
Peiffer (DE-588)
Pennewill (DE-175)
Peterson (DE-152)
Pettit (DE-253
Pharris (DE-1094)
Pillsbury (DE-133)
Poole (DE-151)
Pope (DE-134)
Pratt (DE-363)
Presley (DE-371)
Price (DE-332)
Pride (DE-323)
Raby (DE-698)
Rall (DE-304)
Ramsden (DE-382)
Rathburne (DE-1057)
Ray K. Edwards (DE-237)
Raymond (DE-341)
Raymon W. Herndon (DE-688)
Reasoner (DE-1063)
Redmill (DE-89)
Rednour (DE-592)
Reeves (DE-156)
Register (DE-233)
Retalick (DE-90)
Reuben James (DE-153)
Reybold (DE-177)
Reybold (DE-275)
Reynolds (DE-42)
Rhodes (DE-384)
Rich (DE-695)
Richard M. Rowell (DE-403)
Richard S. Bull (DE-402)
Richard W. Suesens (DE-342)
Richey (DE-385)
Ricketts (DE-254)
Riddle (DE-185)
Riley (DE-579)
Rinehart (DE-196)
Ringness (DE-590)
Riou (DE-92)
Rizzi (DE-537)
Roark (DE-1053)
Robert Brazier (DE-345)
Robert E. Peary (DE-132)
Robert E. Peary (DE-1073)
Robert F. Keller (DE-419)
Robert I. Paine (DE-578)
Roberts (DE-749)
Roche (DE-197)
Rogers Blood (DE-605)
Rolf (DE-362)
Rombach (DE-364)
Rowley (DE-95)
Roy O. Hale (DE-336)
Ruchamkin (DE-228)
Rudderow (DE-224)
Runels (DE-793)
Rupert (DE-96)
Rutherford (DE-93)
Sample (DE-1048)
Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)
Samuel S. Miles (DE-183)
Sander (DE-273)
Sanders (DE-40)
Savage (DE-386)
Schmitt (DE-676)
Scott (DE-214)
Scribner (DE-689)
Scroggins (DE-799)
Sederstrom (DE-31)
Seid (DE-256)
Sellstrom (DE-255)
Seymour (DE-98)
Shelton (DE-407)
Silverstein (DE-534)
Sims (DE-154)
Slater (DE-766)
Sloat (DE-245)
Smartt (DE-257)
Snowden (DE-246)
Snyder (DE-745)
Solar (DE-221)
Somali (DE-111)
Spangenberg (DE-223)
Spangler (DE-696)
Spragge (DE-563)
Stadtfeld (DE-29)
Stafford (DE-411)
Stanton (DE-247)
Stayner (DE-564)
Steele (DE-8)
Stein (DE-1065)
Stern (DE-187)
Stewart (DE-238)
Stockdale (DE-399)
Stockham (DE-97)
Straub (DE-77)
Straub (DE-181)
Straus (DE-408)
Strickland (DE-333)
Sturtevant (DE-239)
Sutton (DE-771)
Swasey (DE-248)
Swearer (DE-186)
Swenning (DE-394)
Tabberer (DE-418)
Tatum (DE-789)
Taussig (DE-1030)
Thaddeus Parker (DE-369)
Thomas (DE-102)
Thomas C. Hart (DE-1092)
Thomas F. Nickel (DE-587)
Thomas J. Gary (DE-61)
Thomason (DE-203)
Thornborough (DE-565)
Thornhill (DE-195)
Tills (DE-748)
Tinsman (DE-589)
Tisdale (DE-33)
Tisdale (DE-278)
Tollberg (DE-593)
Tomich (DE-242)
Torrington (DE-568)
Traw (DE-350)
Trippe (DE-1075)
Trollope (DE-566)
Truett (DE-1095)
Trumpeter (DE-180)
Trumpeter (DE-279)
Truxtun (DE-282)
Tweedy (DE-532)
Tyler (DE-567)
Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442)
Underhill (DE-682)
Upham (DE-283)
Valdez (DE-1096)
Vammen (DE-644)
Van Hoorhis (DE-1028)
Vance (DE-387)
Vandivier (DE-540)
Varian (DE-798)
Voge (DE-1047)
Vreeland (DE-1068)
Wagner (DE-539)
Waldegrave (DE-570)
Walsh (DE-601)
Walter B. Cobb (DE-596)
Walter C. Wann (DE-412)
Walter S. Brown (DE-258)
Walter S. Gorka (DE-604)
Walter X. Young (DE-715)
Walter X. Young (DE-723)
Walton (DE-361)
Wantuck (DE-692)
Waterman (DE-740)
Weaver (DE-741)
Weber (DE-675)
Weeden (DE-797)
Weiss (DE-378)
Weiss (DE-719)
Wesson (DE-184)
Whipple (DE-1062)
Whitaker (DE-571)
Whitehurst (DE-634)
Whitman (DE-24)
Wileman (DE-22)
Wilhoite (DE-397)
William C. Cole (DE-641)
William C. Miller (DE-259)
William J. Pattison (DE-594)
William M. Hobby (DE-236)
William S. Sims (DE-1059)
William Seiverling (DE-441)
William T. Powell (DE-213)
Williams (DE-372)
Willis (DE-395)
Willmarth (DE-638)
Wingfield (DE-194)
Wintle (DE-25)
Wintle (DE-266)
Wiseman (DE-667)
Witter (DE-636)
Woodson (DE-359)
Wyffels (DE-6)
Wyman (DE-38)
Yokes (DE-668)

Free Asbestos Health Exam for Naval Veterans

If you or a loved one served onboard a destroyer escort or other U.S. Navy ships between World War II and the 1980s, you may be eligible to receive a free asbestos health exam to find out if you have developed mesothelioma cancer, asbestosis, or other diseases caused by asbestos exposure.

For more information about how to receive free asbestos testing, contact the lawyers at Hissey, Mulderig & Friend by calling our office toll-free at 1-855-500-3734, or by filling out the free case evaluation form located in the upper left corner of this page.

After we receive your information, a member of our staff will contact you for more information and to help schedule your free asbestos health exam.

Destroyer Escorts