The USS Alcor (AK-259), a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship was laid down as SS Rockland Victory on February 28, 1944, under a Maritime Commission contract at Oregon Shipbuilding Co., Portland OR. The ship was launched on April 29, 1944, and served during World War II for two years. The ship was acquired by the U.S. Navy on July 16, 1951, and was converted to a Navy Cargo Ship. The ship was commissioned as USS Alcor (AK-259) under CDR. Harry A. Long’s command on March 1, 1952 and served the Navy for 16 years until it was decommissioned on December 30, 1968, at Charleston. The ship was struck from the Naval Register on December 31, 1968, and was sold for scrapping on January 7, 1970. Navy ships were outfitted with components made of asbestos, a heat-resistant substance that has been linked to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other illnesses in veterans who served aboard these ships. Airborne asbestos fibers from damaged asbestos products may readily be inhaled or ingested below deck, where inadequate ventilation was prevalent. As these asbestos fibers accumulate in the lungs and other internal tissues, they may cause harm, placing Navy veterans at risk of developing the diseases mentioned above, as well as other asbestos-related illnesses.
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