The USS John P. Gray (APD-74) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort laid down on December 18, 1943, and launched on March 18, 1944. It was commissioned as a high-speed transport on March 15, 1945, under Lt. Comdr. W. E. Sims’ command with the hull number APD-74 and served in the U.S. Navy for one year until it was decommissioned on April 29, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 186 men on board and had its main missions in New London, San Diego, Eniwetok, Hawaii, Maui, Jinsen, Guam, Norfolk, and Hampton Roads. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on March 1, 1967. Because of its affordability, tensile strength, resistance to heat and chemical damage, and due to the property of being thermally inert, asbestos was included in hundreds of products used in U.S. Navy ships. Asbestos diseases are so frequent nowadays among Navy veterans because the toxic substance was present everywhere starting with boiler and turbine rooms, to mess halls and sleeping quarters.
760-621-6147
