The USS Tinsman (DE-589) was a Rudderow-class destroyer escort laid down on December 21, 1943, and launched on January 26, the following year. It was commissioned on June 26, 1944, under Lt. William G. Grote’s command as DE-589 and served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on May 11, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 186 people on board and had its main missions in Bermuda, Boston, Panama, New Guinea, Hollandia, San Pedro, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Nasugbu, Mindoro, Ulithi, and Eniwetok. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on May 15, 1972, and sold for scrapping to Levin Metals Corporation in San Jose the following year. The Navy used asbestos throughout ships as pipe and streamline, in pumps, valves, and in floor and wall panels. It was even contained in adhesives, paint, wallboard, sprayed coatings, and thermal materials. Microscopic asbestos fibers, used in various applications in the U.S. Navy from the 1930s through the early 1980s, were released into the air when disturbed or worn away with equipment use. Those airborne asbestos fibers were then breathed deep into the lung tissue of military service personnel where they cause scarring and inflammation.
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