SS Minnie M. Fiske Areas With Asbestos Exposure

The SS Minnie M. Fiske was a Liberty ship built at J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida, during World War II. She was named after Minnie Maddern Fiske, one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. The SS Minnie M. Fiske was laid down on 8 December 1943, under a Maritime Commission contract, and launched on 29 January 1944. On 15 March 1944, the ship was allocated to American South African Line, Inc. She was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Astoria, Oregon, on 28 February 1947. Eight years later, she was withdrawn from the fleet to be loaded with grain under the "Grain Program 1955", and she returned loaded on 20 June 1955. On 30 March 1966, she was sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for scrapping. Before the dangers of asbestos were widely known, hundreds of asbestos products were used on U.S. Navy ships. Veterans represent the largest single group of asbestos victims with approximately 30 percent of all mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer cases in the U.S.