The USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer laid down on December 9, 1943, as DD-733 and launched on April 23, the following year. It was commissioned on July 4, 1944, under Comdr. Alton E. Parker’s command and served in the US Navy for 1 year until it was sunk in 1945 during the battle for Okinawa. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 336 people on board and had its main missions in Bermuda, Norfolk, Iwo Jima, Eniwetok, Saipan, Boston, Ulithi, Kerama Retto, and the Ryukyu Islands. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Mannert L. Abele received 2 battle stars.
Asbestos was very popular from the 1940s to the mid-70s and used by each branch of the U.S. military. Being resistant to fire, asbestos was in nearly every naval ship as an insulator to inhibit heat transfer and exchange. Handling materials containing asbestos in assembly operations, maintaining, repairing and dismantling, may release asbestos fibers which then remain suspended in the air, putting Navy personnel present in the working area at risk of inhaling small-sized particles that lodge themselves within the lungs irritating them constantly.
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