The USS Kleinsmith (APD-134), former DE-718, was a Crosley-class high-speed transport of the U.S. Navy, laid down in 1944, launched in 1945, and commissioned the same year. As an APD, the ship’s primary role was to land troops on enemy beaches and Underwater Demolition Team personnel on beach obstacle clearance operations. ADPs were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. After shakedown, the ship departed for the Pacific and operated between Okinawa and the Japanese islands until 1946. During the next six years, she operated along the Atlantic coast, serving as an amphibious command ship while conducting amphibious and anti-submarine operations. Between 1951 and 1960, the vessel was part of filming a movie, was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea with the 6th Fleet, and participated in amphibious operations. In 1957, she again departed for duty with the 6th Fleet and operated in the Eastern Mediterranean. The vessel continued her activities along the Atlantic coast in the following years until her decommissioning in 1960. Asbestos exposure was a severe problem in the Navy throughout the last century because of numerous asbestos products onboard ships built before the 1980s.
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