The USS Arthur Middleton was an Arthur Middleton-class attack transport laid down on July 1, 1940 and launched on June 28, the following year. It was commissioned on September 7, 1942 under Comdr. Paul K. Perry’s command with the hull number APA-25 and it served in the US Navy for 4 years until it was decommissioned on October 21, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 530 people onboard and had its main missions in Norfolk, Panama, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, California, and Leyte. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on October 1, 1958 and sold to Consolidated Steel Corporation in 1973. For the services brought to the country during the World War II, the USS Arthur Middleton received 6 battle stars. Many parts of the USS Arthur Middleton (AP-55/APA-25) were heavily lined with asbestos as it made a good insulation material. This hazardous chemical might have exposed the ship's crew to high levels of toxicity. People working in the engine rooms, fire control rooms, boilers, and propulsion rooms were at higher risk of inhaling asbestos and developing correlated lung diseases as the mineral was present in large quantities in these areas.
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