The USS Dyess (DD/DDR-880) was a Gearing-class destroyer laid down in 1944, launched, and commissioned in 1945. After shakedown and conversion to a radar picket destroyer, the ship joined the 5th Fleet at Tokyo Bay. In early 1947, she escorted President Harry S. Truman from Rio de Janeiro, where he traveled aboard USS Missouri (BB-63), and later screened the presidential yacht USS Williamsburg (AGC-369) to Washington. Reclassified DDR-880 in 1949, the vessel completed nine Mediterranean deployments with the 6th Fleet, supporting NATO patrols and exercises. Her duties included carrier plane guard, hunter-killer and amphibious exercises, and evacuating Americans during the Suez Crisis. In 1966, she deployed to the WestPac, providing naval gunfire support during the Vietnam War. After years of Atlantic and Caribbean operations, the USS Dyess was decommissioned and stricken from the Register in 1981. Before asbestos was officially recognized as carcinogenic, shipbuilding used it for its thermal and electrical insulating properties. Consequently, all ships built before the 1980s contained asbestos materials throughout their structures, potentially exposing naval personnel to asbestos dust. Asbestos-related illnesses don't manifest symptoms in their early stages, so Navy veterans should attend regular check-ups for timely diagnosis and treatment.
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