The USS Southampton (AKA-66) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship laid down on May 26, 1944, and launched on July 28, the same year. It was commissioned on September 16, 1944, under Lt. Comdr. Lester V. Cooke’s command and served in the US Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on June 21, 1946. It carried a complement of 395 men on board. During World War II, the ship operated in Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, and Tinian. After decommissioning, the USS Southampton was struck from the Naval Register on July 3, 1946, and was sold to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines where it was renamed SS Flying Clipper. While asbestos has outstanding insulation and fire-proofing properties, exposure to its airborne fibers can cause diseases like mesothelioma, and lung cancer, plus many other types of pulmonary issues such as asbestosis, lung scarring, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, emphysema, pleural effusion, pleural thickening, pleural plaques, and rounded atelectasis among many others.
760-621-6147
