The USS Abercrombie (DE-343) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort laid down on November 8, 1943, and launched on January 14, the following year. It was commissioned on May 1, 1944, under Lt. Cmdr. Bernard H. Katschinski’s command as DE-343 and served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on June 15, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 222 people on board and had its main missions in Pearl Harbor, Galveston, Panama Canal, Manus, Leyte, Balboa, Seeadler, Kerama Retto, Biak, and Mindoro. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on May 1, 1967, and used as a target ship during training exercises the following year. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Abercrombie received 4 battle stars. Some of the naval occupations with a high risk of exposure to asbestos fibers include any position or job site where a service member routinely handles products containing asbestos or works in areas where products containing asbestos are often used. These high-risk occupations and job sites include ship, aircraft, and submarine members, boiler operators, demolition specialists, hull technicians, machinists, mechanics, pipefitters, welders, and seabees.
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