USS Dortch DD-670

The USS Dortch was one of 175 Fletcher-class vessels constructed during World War II. Her keel was laid at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Kearney, New Jersey, on 2 March 1943. She was completed in 110 days and launched six weeks later.

World War II

Dortch's first assignment was to screen the new Independence-class carrier USS Langley on her own shakedown cruise to the Caribbean. This was followed by escort duty for the carrier Essex from the Norfolk NOB to Pearl Harbor in December 1943.

Dortch saw action almost immediately, assigned as a screening vessel for the Fast Carrier Task Force, which was at the forefront of virtually every major action in the Pacific. Dortch served in almost every invasion during the island-hopping campaign that culminated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was during an attack on Tokyo Bay itself on 18 February 1945 that the Dortch lost 14 crewmen in battle.

After the Japanese surrender, Dortch was among the first U.S. ships to enter Tokyo Bay with the post-war occupation force. She spent the remainder of the autumn of 1945 in Japan, returning to the United States at the end of December. She was decommissioned in Charleston, South Carolina in July 1946.

Korea and the Cold War

Dortch was pulled out of retirement in 1951, assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, and stationed at Newport, Rhode Island. After participating in a NATO exercise off the coast of Scandinavia, she was ordered to Korea, where she completed a six-month tour of duty between April and October 1953. Her next major assignment took her to the Mediterranean with the Sixth Fleet. She alternated between the eastern Mediterranean and routine patrols in her home waters until she was decommissioned in December 1957.

In 1961, the USS Dortch was transferred to the Argentine Navy, where she was renamed Espora and served for another 16 years before she was scrapped in 1977.

Asbestos Risks

Through World War I and World War II, every vessel utilized by the United States Navy commonly used the mineral asbestos for insulating compartments and as a fireproofing material. Asbestos possesses a natural resistance to heat and fire, making it ideal for use in many applications on destroyers like the USS Dortch. The boiler room and engineering sections of a vessel were generally the areas where those aboard were most apt to come into contact with asbestos fibers, however, nearly all sections of a ship like the USS Dortch offered a measurable level of asbestos risk. Whenever a warship was damaged, whether through battle or everyday wear and tear, asbestos fibers were often released into the air where anyone nearby could inhale or ingest the particles into the body.

Asbestos exposure can lead to the development of mesothelioma, asbestosis, tumors and a myriad of other health problems. Those who sailed on board the USS Dortch were constantly in danger of asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers, machinists and mechanics who serviced vessels or worked on the construction of destroyers like the USS Dortch may have also been exposed to the toxic mineral.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure, or served aboard the USS Dortch and wish to learn more about treatment and legal options, please click here and Asbestos.com will send you a complimentary comprehensive packet.

Sources:

Destroyers Index