The USS Higbee (DD/DDR-806) was a Gearing-class destroyer commissioned in 1945. After her commissioning, she sailed to Boston for conversion into a radar picket destroyer. Following shakedown in the Caribbean, the ship joined Carrier Task Force 38 in the Pacific, where she screened aircraft carriers during air attacks on Japan until the war's end in 1945. She was redesignated DDR-806 in 1949 and deployed to the Korean coast with the 7th Fleet, primarily screening the Fast Carrier Task Force 77 during the Korean War. In 1953, the destroyer underwent significant modernization, including an enlarged CIC, new radar, and an improved anti-aircraft battery. In 1964, she trained on the West Coast before heading to Vietnam in 1965, where she supported operations in the South China Sea and assisted the 9th Marine Brigade. After surviving a bombing in 1972, she spent her final years with Destroyer Squadron 27, later joining the Naval Reserve Force. The USS Higbee (DD/DDR-806) was decommissioned and struck from the Register in 1979. On ships constructed during an era when asbestos was commonly used as an insulating material, personnel were at a high risk of inhaling or ingesting airborne microscopic mineral fibers. Veterans who develop cancer related to their exposure may file compensation claims against asbestos companies.
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