The USS Mason (DE-529) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort laid down on October 14, 1943, and launched on November 17, the same year. It was commissioned on March 20, 1944, under Lt. Cmdr. William M. Blackford’s command as DE-529 and served in the U.S. Navy for one year until it was decommissioned on October 12, 1945. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 156 people on board and had its main missions in Bermuda, Charleston, New London, Belfast, Boston, New York, Azores, Plymouth, Oran, and Miami. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on November 1, 1945, and sold for scrapping in 1947. Did you serve in the United States Navy between World War II and the late 1970s? If yes, you were likely exposed to asbestos. Pipe and boiler insulation, adhesives, electrical cables, deck coverings, galley equipment, and valves contained the dangerous mineral. These materials, used aboard Navy ships exposed everyone serving onboard the ship or those involved in the ship’s construction, repair, overhaul, or decommissioning to asbestos. This accounts for the high rate of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma among Navy veterans and shipyard workers.
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