USS Reprisal (CV-35)

History of the USS Reprisal Aircraft Carrier

The USS Reprisal was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York on July 1, 1944. Work was about half-finished on August 12, 1945 when construction was cancelled because of an accident.

The hulk of the unfinished USS Reprisal was launched in 1946 without ceremony in order to clear the slipway and towed to Bayonne, New Jersey. She was then used for various experiments in Chesapeake Bay, including some explosives testing on April 1, 1948. In January 1949, she was inspected with the intention of completing her as an attack aircraft carrier, but this never came to be. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on April 1, 1948. The unfinished carrier was sold for scrap to the Boston Metals Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland on August 2, 1949, and she was broken up that November.

The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma .

Sources include:

John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed, "Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences," Ulster Med. J. 77(3):191-200 (Sep 2008) Naval Historical Center, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships—USS Reprisal