The USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974) was a Spruance-class destroyer laid down in 1975, launched in 1976, and commissioned in 1978. Known as one of the Navy’s most capable destroyers of the late 20th century, the ship’s early years were spent on intensive training and undergoing additional improvements. During the 1980s, the vessel conducted multiple Mediterranean deployments, participating in several NATO exercises and multinational training operations. In 1981, she was drydocked for repairs and replacement of her Sonar Dome Rubber Window, before departing for a Mediterranean deployment. In 1995, the destroyer participated in CART II and COMPTUEX operations in the Caribbean. Two years later, she participated in multiple UNITAS exercises, the annual training with multinational navies and the U.S. Navy. The USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974) was decommissioned and stricken in 1998. Although Spruance-class destroyers were technologically advanced, Navy documentation indicates that they still contained asbestos. A report from the Comptroller General of the United States to the House of Representatives states that, although specifications for insulation were changed in 1973, asbestos materials had already been purchased and, in some cases, installed in ships under construction.
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