The USS Kearny (DD-432), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was launched 9 March 1940, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, sponsored by Miss Mary Kearny. She was commissioned on 13 September 1940, with Commander Anthony L. Danis in command. The ship was noted for being torpedoed by a German U-boat in October 1941, before the U.S. had entered the war. It survived that attack and later served in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The USS Kearny (DD-432) was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1971, sold on 6 October 1972, and broken up for scrap. Everyone who served in the Navy between the 1930s and mid-1970s inhaled asbestos fibers and is at risk for developing lung diseases. Though fragile in appearance, asbestos fibers resist heat, electricity, and corrosion. When inhaled, asbestos fibers can lodge in the lungs and cause disease. Because of their virtual indestructibility, the fibers can remain in the lungs indefinitely. Asbestos-related diseases don’t usually occur until years, sometimes decades, later.
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