The USS Harold E. Holt (FF-1074) was a Knox-class frigate laid down in 1968, launched in 1969, and commissioned in 1971. Similar to the frigates of this class, the ship had extended range without a long-range missile system and was armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward. The frigate also had an eight-round ASROC launcher for close-range anti-submarine defense. Her typical crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men. The ship wasn’t scheduled for deployment right after commissioning but was sent to the Gulf of Tonkin as soon as the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive began in 1972. She served as PIRAZ escort and provided gunfire support, earning a Meritorious Unit Commendation for this deployment. In 1975, the frigate was involved in recapturing the container ship Mayaguez, when marines conducted the first hostile ship-to-ship boarding by the U.S. Navy since 1826 from her deck. The USS Harold E. Holt (FF-1074) was decommissioned in 1992 and struck from the Register in 1995. Asbestos fibers are harmful because they can pass through the body's natural filtration system and can lodge themselves inside the organs, leading to cancer decades after the initial exposure. Veterans harmed by asbestos exposure may qualify for benefits and compensations.
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