The USS Dionne (DE-261) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort laid down on January 27, 1943, and launched on March 10, 1943. It was commissioned on July 16, the same year under Lt. Cmdr. R. S. Paret’s command as DE-261, and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on January 18, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 198 people on board and had its main missions in Boston, Pearl Harbor, Norfolk, San Francisco, Saipan, Eniwetok, the Marshalls, Iwo Jima, Ulithi, and Guam. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on February 7, 1946, and sold for scrapping the following year. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Dionne received 6 battle stars. Between World War II and the late 1970s, large quantities of asbestos went through shipyards into new ships and out of refurbished and decommissioned ships. Its affordability and ability to withstand high temperatures and chemical attacks made asbestos an ideal material for insulating the vessels' heat-producing components in warships. Enclosed, poorly ventilated spaces aboard Navy ships, such as where piping or boilers were located, tended to accumulate loose asbestos fibers and dust.
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