The USS Hector (AR-7) was a Vulcan class repair ship of the U.S. Navy between 1944 and 1987. The vessel was launched in 1942, commissioned in 1944, and decommissioned in 1987. After shakedown, the new repair ship departed for the Pacific, reaching Pearl Harbor in 1944, where she repaired various vessels, primarily landing craft. The ship sailed for her first WestPac cruise in 1947, but her peacetime schedule was interrupted three years later by the outbreak of the Korean War. During the war, the repair ship conducted repair service on the Korean coast and in Japan and regular duty out of Long Beach. She underwent a modernization overhaul between 1965 and 1966 to increase her repair capabilities and resumed fleet services until departing for the WESTPAC in 1972, serving as the flagship for COMSERVGRU THREE. The repair ship was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation the same year for supporting Seventh Fleet combat operations in Southeast Asia. After 43 years of continuous service, The USS Hector was decommissioned in 1987 and leased to Pakistan. Asbestos was used in the construction of most Navy ships, and consequently, every sailor who served on these ships almost certainly inhaled asbestos and might have developed asbestos diseases.
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