The USS Kalk (DD-611) was a Benson-class destroyer laid down on June 30, 1941, and launched on July 18, the following year. It was commissioned on October 17, 1942, under Lt. Comdr. C. T. Singleton’s command with the hull number DD-611 and served in the US Navy for 4 years until it was decommissioned on May 3, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 258 people on board and had its main missions in California, San Francisco, the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor, Panama Canal, North Africa, Norfolk, Ulithi, and French Morocco. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on June 1, 1968. During WWII, the military insisted on using asbestos in hundreds of applications in military settings, particularly aboard Navy ships, because the mineral was considered to be superior to other forms of insulation. Members enlisted in the US Navy between 1940 and 1970 particularly during and after WWII were the most likely to develop respiratory conditions like mesothelioma and asbestosis from high airborne concentrations of the asbestos fibers. Navy jobs with likelihoods for asbestos exposure include ships, aircraft, or submarine members, boiler operators, demolition specialists, hull technicians, machinists, mechanics, pipefitters, welders, and Seabees.
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