The USS Rich (DD-820/DDE-820) was a Gearing-class destroyer during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, laid down and launched in 1945 and commissioned in 1946. After shakedown, the destroyer embarked on a Mediterranean tour, patrolling the Atlantic from 1946 to 1947. Later, she was converted to a specialized anti-submarine warfare ship and resumed operations with the 2nd Fleet. Between 1948 and 1949, the ship operated in the hunter-killer (HUK) group, contributing to developing anti-submarine warfare tactics. In 1950, she was redesignated an escort destroyer (DDE-820). A year later, the destroyer underwent an overhaul and rotated regularly to duty with the 6th Fleet. Modernized in 1963 in a FRAM I conversion, she resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet's anti-submarine forces. In 1968, the ship deployed to Vietnam, providing escort and plane-guard services for attack aircraft carriers. Between 1969 and 1973, the vessel was deployed with the Middle East Force, operated in the Indian Ocean area, underwent another overhaul, and continued operations and exercises with the Sixth Fleet. She was decommissioned in 1977 and was struck from the Navy list the same year. Much of the asbestos exposure aboard Navy ships occurred in the boiler and engine rooms, weapons and ammunition storage rooms, and even mess halls and sleeping quarters.
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