The USS O'Neill (DE-188) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort laid down on August 26, 1943, and launched on November 14, the same year. It was commissioned on December 6, 1943, under Lt. Davis S. Bill’s command with the hull number DE-188 and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on May 2, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 216 men on board and had its main missions in the United Kingdom, New York, Maine, Belfast, Casablanca, Bizerte, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Panama Canal, San Diego, and the Philippines. After decommissioning, the ship was struck on December 20, 1950, and transferred to the Netherlands, where it was renamed Dubois. The threat of fire on the Navy ships could be as dangerous as an enemy attack which is why asbestos was extensively used on ships of all kinds, especially on combatant ships. Many Navy veterans who served on ships built during World War II and the Vietnam War can recall sleeping in bunks where asbestos-wrapped pipes were placed inches from their mouths and noses.
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