The USS Deede (DE-263) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort launched on April 6, 1943. It was commissioned on July 29, the same year under Lt. Cmdr. J. W. Whaley’s command as DE-263 and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on January 9, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 156 people on board and had its main missions in Boston, Pearl Harbor, Makin, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Eniwetok, the Palaus, Iwo Jima, Ulithi, and Tokyo Bay. After the decommissioning, the ship was sold for scrapping the following year. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Deede received 6 battle stars. Many types of insulation commonly used on the ships built between the 1930s and the 1970s contained asbestos. Additionally, the hazardous mineral was incorporated into other products that shipyard insulators came in contact with on a daily basis. When the fibers from these products became airborne due to regular maintenance and repair, service members aboard these ships could have breathed them in.
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