The USS Jesse L. Brown (DE/FF/FFT-1089) was a Knox-class frigate laid down in 1971, launched in 1972, and commissioned a year later. She served during her entire career in the Atlantic Fleet on deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, and northern European waters. The ship also participated in two joint operations with Latin American Navies. In 1974, she welcomed her first LAMPS helicopter air detachment, sailed for Puerto Rico afterward, and took part in LantReadEx 3-74, for which she received the Top Operator Award for outstanding performance in all operational areas. The USS Jesse L. Brown was the first ship to escort three Pegasus-class patrol hydrofoils. While underway, she refueled them using her helicopter refueling system as a replenishment refueling rig. In the early 1990s, the frigate was tasked with counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean area. The ship was transferred to the Naval Reserve in 1992, was redesignated FFT-1089, and participated in training reservists while carrying out missions in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico until decommissioning in 1994. Because asbestos was used in nearly every part of Navy ships built before the 1980s, naval personnel risked asbestos exposure and developing severe conditions linked to it.
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