The USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6), originally and later AVP-28, was a United States Navy motor torpedo boat tender that saw service in World War II. The ship was laid down as a Barnegat-class small seaplane tender designated AVP-28 at Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton Washington, on April 17, 1942, and was launched on September 7, 1942. It was commissioned on November 17, 1943, with Lieutenant Commander Walter W. Holroyd, USNR, in command. From 1957 to 1993, the former USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) served in the Italian Navy as the special forces tender Pietro Cavezzale (A 5301). Asbestos is a mineral that was used for insulation and fireproofing, both of which the military highly valued. Asbestos was used to insulate and fireproof ship floors, ceilings, walls, and hulls, as well as boilers, hot steam pipes, fuel lines to pumps, turbines, compressors, and condensers. Asbestos was released into the air around for all to breathe, each time a pipe was repaired, a ceiling or hull was scraped to be repainted. As a consequence, thousands of Navy veterans now have lung disease, lung cancer, COPD, mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another illness as a result of their asbestos exposure.
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