The USS Osterhaus (DE-164) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort laid down on November 11, 1942, and launched on April 18, the following year. It was commissioned on June 12, 1943, under Comdr. Rowland H. Groff’s command with the hull number DE-164 and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on June 26, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 216 men on board and had its main missions in New York, Espiritu Santo, Pearl Harbor, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, the Solomons, Saipan, Eniwetok, the Marshalls, the Fijis, and Bougainville. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy Register on November 1, 1972, and sold for scrapping in 1974. Unfortunately, millions of Navy service members and civilian naval yard workers have been exposed to asbestos over the years. Asbestos was used as insulation for hot pipes or helping to prevent condensation on boilers, tanks, pipes, and more. Materials that contained asbestos would have been contained in products such as condensers, pumps, valves, and gaskets, all of which require repairing and/or replacing after a period of time. Regular maintenance and repair would cause the release of asbestos fibers into the air.
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