The USS Glacier AVG-33 was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier laid down on June 9, 1942, and launched on September 7, the same year. It was commissioned on July 3, 1943, as HMS Atheling with the hull number D-51 under the United Kingdom’s flag and served in the Royal Navy for a month until it was decommissioned on July 31, 1943. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 890 men on board and had its main missions in the Far East. After the decommissioning, the ship was transferred back to the USA and sold for scrapping in 1967 in Italy.
During and in the years following World War II, the U.S. Navy took a particular interest in asbestos-containing materials as the natural properties of the mineral increased their durability and also decreased their risk for combustion. In wanting to keep those on board as safe as possible, the Navy ordered asbestos to not only be a part of the infrastructure of the vessel but to also be used in many types of equipment.