The USS Loeser (DE-680) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort laid down on July 27, 1943, and launched on September 11, the same year. It was commissioned on October 10, 1943, under Lt. Comdr. Chester A. Kunz’s command with the hull number DE-680 and served in the U.S. Navy for 19 years until it was decommissioned on August 1, 1962. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 213 men on board and it had its main missions in Bermuda, Norfolk, Guadalcanal, Funafuti, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, and Guam. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on August 23, 1968. Several months later, it sank as a target. The Navy used asbestos in almost every part of its vessels including boiler rooms, navigation rooms, engineering spaces, mess halls, and sleeping areas, because it was affordable, had high tensile strength, and was highly resistant to heat and corrosion. Navy veterans who served aboard ships may first begin to notice a problem decades after being exposed to asbestos, leaving them unaware of their condition until symptoms become noticeable.
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