The USS Parks (DE-165) 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 23, 1943, under Lt. Comdr. Milford McQuilkin’s command with the hull number DE-165 and served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned in March 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, New Hebrides, Ulithi, Funafuti, Guam, Saipan, Palau, the Philippines, and Majuro. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy Register on July 1, 1972, and sold for scrapping in 1973. Pipefitters, steamfitters, engine mechanics, and hull maintenance technicians worked with a number of asbestos products that had to be cut or sanded down during repair jobs performed regularly on the Navy ships in areas that were often unventilated. As a result, many of those who worked in these professions were exposed to harmful asbestos fibers that were released into the air.
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