The SS Claymont Victory was a Type C2 Victory ship-based VC2-S-AP2 troop transport which was laid down by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Corporation in 1944 for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps to serve during World War II. During the conflict, the ship was responsible with carrying troops back home from the European Theatre of Operations. It was sponsored by Mrs. Ruth Holt and was operated on behalf of USAT by Eastern Steamship Lines. After being briefly laid up in the U.S. the SS Claymont Victory was purchased by a company from the Netherlands and renamed Mariekerk. In 1966 she was sold to a company in Greece and renamed Kavo Longos. She was scrapped at Whampoa Dock, Hong Kong, in 1971.
Because asbestos was a very popular building material when the SS Claymont Victory was laid down, she unavoidably had numerous asbestos-containing products aboard, which greatly endangered the health of the people serving on the ship. Asbestos exposure can cause awful diseases within 20 to 50 years, such as mesothelioma and other serious respiratory illnesses. It occurs when one inhales or ingests asbestos fibers from the air.
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