The USS Alshain (AKA-55) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship laid down on October 29, 1943, and launched on January 26, 1944, with the hull number AKA-55. It was commissioned on April 1, 1944, and served in the US Navy for 12 years until it was decommissioned on January 14, 1956. It carried a complement of 392 men on board. On October 1, 1949, the ship was reclassified as USNS Alshain with the hull number T-AKA-55. During World War II, the ship operated in the Admiralty Islands, Hawaii, Leyte, Hollandia, Solomon Islands, Okinawa, and Japan. It also participated in the Korean War and it had the main missions in Yokosuka, Pusan, Kobe, Wonsan, Golfe Juan, and Norfolk. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs, which have no effective means of getting rid of them. The constant irritation of the lung tissues by the asbestos fibers causes cellular changes that can eventually turn malignant. If you have developed an asbestos-related disease as a consequence of exposure to asbestos during military service, it is likely you are entitled to very substantial compensation.