The USS Somers (DD-381) was a destroyer commissioned in the United States Navy from 1937 to 1945. During World War II, the ship that was the lead ship of the Somers-class of destroyer leaders and was named for Richard Somers was active in the South Atlantic, the North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The USS Somers (DD-381) was laid down on 27 June 1935 at Federal, Kearny, New Jersey launched on 13 March 1937; co-sponsored by Miss Marie Somers and Miss Suzanne Somers; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 1 December 1937, CDR James E. Maher in command. It was decommissioned at Charleston on 28 October 1945 and was retained there until removed by her purchaser, Boston Metals of Baltimore, Md., on 16 May 1947. It was struck from the Navy list on 28 January 1947. Between World War II and the late-1970s, the use of asbestos in the shipbuilding industry was unusually high and included a disproportionately large amount of blue and brown asbestos, which are seen as the worst types. The shipbuilding industry also often applied the asbestos using spraying methods, which can be particularly dangerous because means that even minor disturbance of sprayed coatings can release large quantities of asbestos fibers into the air where they can be breathed in.
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