USS Tillman DD-641

The USS Tillman was a Gleaves-class destroyer laid down on 1 May 1941 by the Charleston Navy Yard and launched on 20 December 1941. She was named for the US Senator Ben Tillman and first captained by Lt. Cmdr. Francis Douglas McCorkle.

History of Service

The Tillman took her shakedown cruise off the U.S. East Coast and continued to train there from June until September 1942. In September and October she escorted convoys and on 23 October departed Chesapeake Bay with a convoy bound for Operation Torch - the invasion of North Africa. On 7 November, the Tillman arrived and began to screen troop transports.

While engaged in screening duties in the transport area, the Tillman encountered a German patrol vessel and sank it. She departed the area on 12 November and returned to New York on 1 December.

With the new year, the Tillman found herself in the Atlantic, participating in exercises and running convoy escorts. It was during this duty - on 8 February 1943 - that she took damage after running into a merchant vessel anchored in New York Harbor. She was forced to make repairs in New York.

The rest of 1943 would prove very difficult for the Tillman. While on escort duty in the Mediterranean, the destroyer was attacked by a German torpedo plane; the encounter resulted in 13 injuries among the crew. On 6 November, off the coast of Algeria, she engaged 25 German aircraft. While she remained undamaged, two merchant ships and the U.S. destroyer Beatty were sunk.

In the last month of 1943 and throughout 1944, the Tillman escorted convoys between the United States, the Mediterranean, and the United Kingdom. She was overhauled in New York during this period, and also undertook exercises off the coast of New England. In January, February, and March of 1945, the Tillman also participated in exercises in the Caribbean.

She was next redeployed to the Pacific and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 April. She participated in exercises around the Hawaiian Islands and sailed for picket duties around Guam on 1 May.

As a historical side note, it was aboard the Tillman that the Japanese commander of the forces on Yap Island formally surrendered to the Allies.

The Decommissioning and Retirement of the Tillman

The Tillman continued operations in the Carolines and southern Marianas until 3 November 1945, when she left the area for Pearl Harbor. She sailed for the U.S. East Coast through the Panama Canal and arrived at Charleston on 11 December 1946. She was decommissioned on 6 February 1947 and remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until she was struck from the naval register in March 1972.

Asbestos Risks

In every American naval craft through both world wars, the substance known as asbestos was commonly employed for insulating pipes and as fireproofing, with a ship's boilers and engineering spaces usually where sailors or a dockworker was apt to be in danger of inhaling air contaminated with asbestos; nevertheless, nearly all parts of a ship such as the Tillman offered a significant level of asbestos risk. Additional risk of major asbestos contact occurred whenever the vessel was damaged, in combat or accidentally, as that frequently uncovered asbestos-laden fixtures to the air or subjected them to flames or flooding.

With asbestos, the most serious hazard of harmful exposure is experienced in circumstances where fibers become exposed, because when very small asbestos fibers are released into the air, the particles may then be breathed in by people nearby. Even modest levels of asbestos proximity are definitively linked with peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestosis, tumors, and many other grave health conditions.

Since many asbestos-induced problems are tricky to diagnose because the symptoms can be mistaken for those of other illnesses, anyone with a history of exposure to this mineral should make a point to notify their medical professionals of the details about this history. To learn more about the diagnostic process, available treatment options and financial assistance to help pay for medical costs, please fill in the form on this page to receive a comprehensive packet in the mail.

Like servicemen on the other vessels of her class, those who lived and worked aboard the Tillman were constantly, on top of the inherent dangers associated with battle, at risk for asbestos exposure even though the ship experienced mostly moderate damage in battle. In spite of the absence of major combat damage, sailors who lived and worked aboard the Tillman were nevertheless in contact with asbestos fibers in the ordinary conduct of their duties. This was particularly true for repair personnel such as welders and mechanics who serviced the Tillman whenever she spent time in port for repairs.

For the troops who sailed or worked on board the Tillman at any point in their career, as well as those who served on other vessels like her, it is critical to become fully aware of the dangers posed by their service-related exposure to this deadly fiber, especially based on what we now know about the result of prolonged contact with asbestos.

Sources:

Destroyers Index