The USS Tucson (CL-98) was an Atlanta-class light cruiser laid down on December 23, 1942, and launched on September 3, 1944. It was commissioned on February 3, the following year under Capt. Arthur D. Ayrault’s command with the hull number CL-98 and served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years until it was decommissioned on June 11, 1949. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 688 people on board and had its main missions in San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Ulithi, Leyte, Kobe, Nagoya, Okinawa, and Yokosuka. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on June 1, 1966, and sold for scrapping in 1971. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Tucson received 1 battle star. The shipbuilding industry turned out thousands of cargo ships for wartime where asbestos was valued for its ability to resist heat and prevent fires that would be disastrous for a vessel at sea. Veterans with a well-traced history of exposure to asbestos while serving aboard Navy ships who have developed lung conditions may have legal grounds to file a claim for compensation.
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