The USS Sloat (DE-245) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort laid down on November 21, 1942, and launched on January 21, the following year. It was commissioned on August 16, 1943, under Lt. Cmdr. Edmund Ernest Garcia’s command as DE-245 and served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years until it was decommissioned on August 6, 1947. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 209 people on board and had its main missions in Texas, Norfolk, Casablanca, Charleston, Bermuda, New York, Pearl Harbor, and Argentia. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on January 2, 1971, and sold for scrapping the following year to Peck Equipment Company in Portsmouth. When asbestos-containing materials are installed or disturbed through daily maintenance and repairs on the ship's gas turbine engines, propulsion systems, and auxiliary equipment, asbestos fibers become airborne. Long-term inhalation of these fibers can cause them to build up in the lining of the lungs, which can eventually lead to the development of cancer. Symptoms often do not become apparent until decades after exposure meaning that asbestos-related cancers are often not diagnosed until an advanced stage, where treatment known as palliative care may control the symptoms and prolong life.
760-621-6147
