The USS Torrance (AKA-76) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship laid down on April 1, 1944, and launched on June 6, the same year. It was commissioned on November 18, 1944, under Lt. Comdr. George A. Euerle’s command and served in the US Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on June 20, 1946. It carried a complement of 395 men on board. During World War II, the ship operated in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, the Caribbean, San Francisco, Manus, and Hollandia. After decommissioning, the USS Torrance was struck from the Navy List on July 3, 1946. In 1947 the ship was sold to Alcoa Steamship Company where it was renamed SS Alcoa Roamer. Asbestos is a group of minerals resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals, which was part of the reason it was so widely used in the shipbuilding industry. Asbestos exposure was first linked to mesothelioma in 1964 when the first diagnosis of cancer was announced. It is believed that between 1940 and 1978, more than 10 million people were exposed to asbestos. Currently, more than 2,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year.
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