USS Dewey (DD-349)
The USS Dewey (DD-349) served in the U.S. Navy for a little over a decade in the early 20th century. She was named for Admiral George Dewey, who served in the Spanish-American War and was the only person to achieve the rank of Admiral of the Navy. Dewey was a member of the Farragut-class of destroyers.
Construction
Dewey was laid down at Bath, Maine by the Bath Iron Works Corporation in December 1932, launched in July 1934, and commissioned in October with Commander H.W. Hill in command. Carrying a crew of 160, Dewey was 341 feet three inches long and was armed with five 5-inch anti-aircraft guns, four machine guns, and eight 21-inch torpedo tubes.
Naval History
Dewey conducted training exercises off Cuba and Haiti, and then sailed from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego, California in April 1935, where she participated in fleet exercises until 1938. In October 1939, Dewey continued fleet exercises and battle practice at Pearl Harbor. Dewey survived the December 7, 1941 attack by the Japanese and began patrols off Hawaii. The following week, Dewey was assigned to Wake Island with TF 11, returned to patrols, and then served at Rabaul, New Guinea where she successfully downed several bombers.
In April 1942, Dewey was deployed to the Solomon Islands and served in the Battle of the Coral Sea, where she attempted to defend Lexington against enemy aircraft, and later rescued survivors when the carrier was abandoned. During the Battle of Midway in June, Dewey operated as a screen for Platte and then escorted carrier Saratoga to Midway. Dewey also served during the Guadalcanal troop landings and aided stricken ships Jarvis and George F. Elliot. She remained in the Solomon Islands on escort duty and to protect supply and communications lines until December 1942.
Dewey was deployed to Alaskan waters in December, where she escorted vessels to Attu and operated during the troop landings at Kiska in August. She sailed from San Diego to the Marshall Islands in January 1944 and operated during the Eniwetok and Hollandia invasions, as well as in Saipan and the Marianas. Dewey supported various operations during the invasion of Guam in July and, prior to the Philippines invasion, was damaged during a typhoon in December. During the invasion, Dewey aided other vessels and Marines, and also foiled a Japanese counter attack.
Following convoy duty in the Philippines and logistics operations at Okinawa, Dewey was decommissioned in October 1945 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and sold for scrap in December 1946.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Dewey (DD-349)
Ever since late in the 19th century, asbestos, a fibrous mineral, has been widely used in many industrial buildings due to the mineral's corrosion resistance, fire resistance, and usefulness in insulation. Asbestos fireproofing and insulation has been used in the design of oceangoing craft like Dewey since the 1930s, when an enormous fire aboard a passenger ship resulted in great loss of life. The U.S. military deployed asbestos widely (up until the late 1970s) as insulation as well as to fireproof equipment on board all craft. Today's vessels and shore facilities no longer use asbestos, pursuant to the ban on the use of asbestos that came into effect in 1979.
Asbestos is divided into two overall categories, amphibole and serpentine. Amphibole forms of this mineral have short, straight fibers, while serpentine forms of asbestos have longer, curling fibers. There are a number of varying types of rock within each classification, but the most commonly found form of serpentine asbestos is chrysotile and the most commonly found variety of amphibole is amosite. Substances such as amosite and chrysotile, along with other forms of asbestos, were widely installed on U.S. Navy vessels such as the USS Dewey and both types pose great risk to human health and can cause mesothelioma.
Sources
Haze Gray & Underway. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. DD-349.
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd349txt.htm Retrieved 10 January 2011.
NavSource Naval History, USS Dewey (DD-349).
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/349.htm Retrieved 10 January 2011.
