USS Boyd DD-544

One of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during World War II, the USS Boyd (DD-544) was a product of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, constructed between 2 April and 29 October 1942 in the company's San Pedro, California yard. She was commissioned in May 1943 under command of Lieutenant Commander Ulysses Sharp Jr.

World War II

After reporting to Pearl Harbor on 14 July, she was deployed to the South Pacific for carrier screening duty. Damaged by Japanese shells in December during a rescue mission near Nauru Island, she was forced to withdraw to the nearest naval base in the New Hebrides for emergency repairs.

Reporting to Pearl Harbor in March 1944, Boyd was assigned to Task Force 58 for the next six months, taking part in several invasions, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the invasion of Guam. In October, she was attached to Task Force 38, supporting operations against Okinawa, Luzon (Philippines) and Formosa (present-day Taiwan). Following the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she functioned as a carrier screen then as an escort. In January 1945, Boyd supported the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iwo Jima and was active in the final operations against Japanese home territory during the final months of the war.

The USS Boyd returned to San Francisco in September 1945 and went into the Mare Island Navy Yard in nearby Vallejo for a two-month overhaul before she was sent to San Diego and placed in reserve.

Korea and Turkey

The Navy reactivated the Boyd in November 1950 for training, then ordered her to Korea in May 1951. She spent eight months patrolling the Formosa Strait, returned to San Diego near the end of December, then returned to Korea in July 1952 for a second tour, which lasted until the following February. She spent the next 16 years patrolling the west coast during which time she also completed three tours to Asia.

In 1969, the Boyd was sold to Turkey and renamed TCG Iskenderun. She sailed under the Turkish flag until she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1981.

Asbestos Risks

Through the 1960s, every American navy ship widely utilized the fibrous mineral asbestos for insulating pipes and as fire control. While practically all parts of the USS Boyd offered a significant level of asbestos exposure, the vessel's boilers and engineering compartments usually were the workspaces where a crewman or a civilian worker was most likely to be at risk of exposure to asbestos particles. When a craft, whether in battle or through misfortune, took damage, uncovering asbestos-laden materials to the air or subjecting them to flames or water, even greater danger of major asbestos exposure resulted.

With asbestos, the highest level of risk to human health is experienced whenever items containing the mineral become damaged and fragile, because when minute asbestos filaments become airborne, the particles may then be inhaled and become lodged in organs or body cavities. Asbestos exposure is known to cause serious illnesses such as malignant mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer. Navy personnel with a history of exposure to this mineral may wish to inform their family doctor, since asbestos-related disorders are hard to diagnose as symptoms can be mistaken for symptoms of other illnesses.

If you worked on the USS Boyd, served aboard the vessel or have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and wish to learn more about treatment and legal options available to those with the cancer, please click here and Asbestos.com will send you a complimentary comprehensive packet.

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Destroyers Index