The USS Baker (DE-190) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort laid down on September 9, 1943, and launched on November 28, the same year. It was commissioned on December 23, 1943, under Lt. Comdr. Luke B. Lockwood’s command with the hull number DE-190 and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on March 4, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 216 men on board and had its main missions in Long Island Sound, Bermuda, New York, Hampton Roads, Casablanca, French Morocco, Maine, North Africa, Bizerte, Rhode Island, Norfolk, Iceland, and New London. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck on April 18, 1952, and transferred to France, where it was renamed Malgache. Asbestos was found in a number of areas on the Navy ships built between World War II and the late 1970s, in particular the insulation that lined piping. The Navy personnel on these ships faced a number of dangers on a day-to-day basis, and one of the dangers they faced, unknowingly, was the inhalation of asbestos fibers. For Navy veterans who served or worked on the USS Baker (DE-190), learning more about asbestos exposure is imperative.
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