USS Fitch DD-462

The Gleaves-class destroyer was the last pre-war type to be built, and except for the subsequent Fletcher-class, was more numerous than any other type of naval vessel. The USS Fitch was built during the first six months of 1941 at the Boston Navy Yard and commissioned on 3 February 1942 under command of Lt. Cmdr. Henry Crommlein.

To North Africa

After six months of shakedown and crew training, the Fitch's first missions took her to Africa as an escort and carrier screen. She returned to Norfolk NOB on 24 November 1942, and she spent the last six weeks of the year in routine exercises and local escort duties. She returned to North Africa two more times during the first part of 1943, then was assigned to the North Atlantic for joint duty with ships of Britain's Royal Navy. That fall, she accompanied the carrier USS Ranger on raids against German installations in occupied Norway before returning to the United States in December.

From December 1943 until late April 1944, Fitch patrolled the Caribbean as an escort and submarine hunter, then sailed to Britain for preparations for the Normandy landing. On D-Day, Fitch was stationed off Utah Beach, shelling German shore positions in advance of the troop landings. Following her duties in that area, she was posted to the Mediterranean to support the invasion of Vichy (Axis) France in August.

Fitch returned to Norfolk on 10 November 1944 and spent the next two months being converted to a high-speed minesweeper. Reclassified DMS-25, she was ordered to the Pacific in February 1945. During a training exercise off Ulithi, she ran across a coral reef, damaging her screws and requiring a trip back to Pear Harbor for replacement, taking her out of service for nearly three months. By the time she returned, the Japanese Empire had surrendered. After three months of post-war minesweeps, Fitch sailed for home in December 1945.

After The War

Fitch continued in active service as training vessel, operating primarily along the east coast and Caribbean, doing three tours of the Mediterranean in the early years of the Cold War. She was mothballed at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1956 and ended her days at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico as a result of serving as a training target in November 1973.

Asbestos Risks

On every US Navy destroyer through the 1960s, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, was commonly installed for compartment insulation and as fireproofing. Although practically all sections of a ship like the USS Fitch presented a significant level of asbestos exposure, the vessel's boiler room and engineering spaces were generally seamen or dockworkers were most likely to come into contact with asbestos particles. Increased danger of extensive asbestos exposure occurred whenever the ship was hit, whether in battle or accidentally, since such events frequently exposed asbestos-contaminated components to the air or subjected them to fire or flooding.

When dealing with asbestos, the most serious danger of harmful exposure happens in situations where items containing the mineral become easily broken (or "friable"), because when very small asbestos fibers go into the surrounding air, the material can then be inhaled by people near the hazard. Researchers have demonstrated that serious health diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and several types of mesothelioma are the result of a history of asbestos contact.

Navy personnel who worked around this substance should promptly notify their primary physician, since asbestos-related problems are puzzling to diagnose. To learn more about the diagnostic process, available treatment options and financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill out this form to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

It is one of the unfortunate realities of World War II that on top of normal dangers associated with enemy encounters, crewmen who lived and worked on board the Fitch were, as were people on other vessels of the same class, all too often imperiled by asbestos exposure. This was the case even though the Fitch suffered minimal damage in battle. In spite of the absence of important damage, the men who lived and worked aboard the USS Fitch were still endangered by asbestos fibers in the ordinary course of their routine duties. This was particularly true for port-based workers such as pipefitters and mechanics who worked on the ship when the Fitch spent time in dry dock for repairs, as the ship went through some relatively major redesigns and patch jobs.

In light of our increased understanding of the result of prolonged contact with asbestos, it is urgent that the hazards raised by service-related exposure to asbestos are clearly explained to those who at any time in their career served or labored aboard this ship, as well as those who served on other Navy ships

Sources:

Destroyers Index