The USS Price (DE-332) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort laid down on August 24, 1943, and launched on October 30, the same year. It was commissioned on January 12, 1944, under Lt. Comdr. J. W. Higgins’ command with the hull number DE-332 and served in the U.S. Navy for 16 years until it was decommissioned on June 30, 1960. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 209 people on board and had its main missions in Bermuda, Norfolk, Bizerte, Ulithi, Guam, New York, Boston, Okinawa, Newfoundland, and Iwo Jima. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on August 1, 1974, and sold for scrapping the following year. Asbestos was used to insulate electrical wiring, to line brakes, and clutch facings, and to insulate pipes, turbines, pumps, and other heat-sensitive areas in the engine, boiler, storage, weapons, and ammunition rooms. The sharp needle-like fibers of the asbestos mineral can become airborne when the products deteriorate with age, or when they are drilled, scraped, or sanded during the repair work onboard.
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