USS Hazelwood DD-531

USS Hazelwood (DD-531) was a Fletcher-class destroyer constructed by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company at its San Francisco shipyard in 1942. She was commissioned on 18 June 1943 under the command of Cmdr. Hunter Wood, Jr.

World War II

Hazelwood reported for duty at Pearl Harbor on 9 September 1943. She sailed on the 11th for preliminary strikes against Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, followed by strikes against Wake Island in early October.

Returning to Pearl Harbor on 11 October, Hazelwood's crew took part in intensive training in preparation for the island-by-island campaign to defeat the Japanese Empire. After participating in the Gilbert Islands campaign in November, Hazelwood returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 December in order to prepare for the next operation.

As the war in the Pacific escalated, Hazelwood sailed in January 1944 as part of Task Force 52 for the invasion of the Marshall Islands. After troops landed on 31 January, she anchored in Kwajalein Harbor as the primary fighter-director ship and also patrolled against enemy submarines. Once Kwajalein was officially secured, Hazelwood commenced several months of patrol and escort duty throughout the Solomons and Marshalls.

Hazelwood's next combat assignment was invasion of the Palaus in September, followed by the invasion and liberation of the Philippines during October and November.

In December, Hazelwood patrolled the waters of Leyte Gulf and underwent gunnery and training exercises out of Ulithi until joining the Fast Carrier Task Force on the 30th. The carriers launched heavy air raids against Japanese positions in the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Okinawa and along the China coast in early January 1945 while diverting attention from the Philippines. The task force returned to Ulithi on 26 January.

Hazelwood continued in her duties under the worst conditions throughout the strikes on the Japanese home islands through the first part of 1945. On 29 April, however, her luck ran out when, as she was operating off the coast of Okinawa, a kamikaze suicide pilot smashed into her bridge and exploded. With 113 crewmen and officers dead, as well as her captain, Hazelwood's engineering officer, Lt. JG C. M. Locke, took command and directed the survivors in saving the vessel and aiding their injured crewmates. Proceeding by tow and part way under her own power, Hazelwood reached the naval base at Ulithi Atoll on 5 May for temporary repairs that enabled her to get to Mare Island Naval Shipyard via Pearl Harbor permanent repairs.

Although ultimately made seaworthy and combat-ready once more, the war was over for Hazelwood. She was decommissioned on 18 January 1946 and entered the Mothball Fleet at San Diego, California.

Korea

Hazelwood was reactivated in September 1951, Cmdr. R. M. Niles serving as captain. After a shakedown cruise she left San Diego in January 1952 to join the Atlantic Fleet. After nearly two years of crew training and patrol duty, Hazelwood departed for the Far East on 7 December 1953.

For the first six months of 1954, Hazelwood operated with a carrier force, patrolling along the Korean coast to enforce the cease-fire (the actual war has never been officially "over"). She departed Hong Kong on 28 May 1954 and sailed westward to circumnavigate the globe through the Suez Canal, arriving in Newport on 17 July.

The Cold War

For next four years, Hazelwood operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean with periodic deployments to the Mediterranean. During the Suez Crisis in the fall of 1956 she served in the 6th Fleet, patrolling the eastern Mediterranean and helping to prevent a major armed conflict in the region.

In 1958, Hazelwood began extensive testing of helicopters for antisubmarine warfare with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Maryland. These experiments would continue for several years. In the meantime, she would continue with the routine duties assigned to a destroyer. In October 1962, Hazelwood was ordered to the Caribbean for antisubmarine and surveillance patrols during the missile crisis, arriving at the Guantanamo Naval Base on 5 November as the quarantine of Cuba was beginning.

Hazelwood resumed helicopter testing in June 1963, continuing both developmental and tactical operations along the Atlantic coast until being decommissioned in March 1965.

Fate

USS Hazelwood was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1974 and sold in April 1976.

Asbestos Risks

Through WWII, each American navy ship routinely used the substance known as asbestos for compartment insulation and for fireproofing. While essentially all compartments of a ship like the Hazelwood presented a measurable level of asbestos exposure, a vessel's engines and mechanical compartments were the sections where a Navy file or dockworker was most apt to be in danger of inhaling asbestos in the air. If the vessel took damage, whether in combat, by severe weather, or accidentally, it usually exposed asbestos-contaminated materials to the air or subjected them to fire or flooding; this meant even greater risk of undergoing harmful levels of asbestos exposure.

The highest level of hazard of exposure relating to asbestos occurs when fibers become damaged and fragile, since if the asbestos microfibers are released into the surrounding air, the material may then be breathed in by those nearby. Studies have demonstrated that dangerous health conditions such as asbestosis, lung cancer and several types of mesothelioma are associated with repeated asbestos inhalation.

Navy personnel exposed to this mineral should definitely inform their medical professionals, since asbestos-induced disorders can be hard to accurately 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 an unfortunate fact that along with the inherent dangers of war, men who served aboard the Hazelwood were, as with people on other ships of her type, frequently imperiled by asbestos inhalation. This was particularly true because the Hazelwood saw heavy damage in battle and underwent extensive renovations and repairs. Besides the serious combat damage and repair work, the men who lived and worked on board the Hazelwood were often in contact with asbestos in the daily execution of their loyal service, as were repair personnel such as welders and carpenters who maintained the vessel when the Hazelwood was in port.

In light of what we now know about the outcome of asbestos exposure, the sailors who sailed or worked on board this ship at any time in their career, and those assigned to other Navy ships, should educate themselves about the risks posed by their former exposure to this deadly mineral, particularly considering the USS Hazelwood's record.

Sources:

Destroyers Index