The USS Freestone (APA-167) was a Haskell-class attack transport laid down on September 4, 1944, and launched on October 9, the same year. It was commissioned on November 9, 1944, under Capt. C. L. Carpenter’s command, with the hull number APA-167 and it served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on April 17, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 536 people on board and had its main missions in Pearl Harbor, Saipan, Ulithi, Leyte, Okinawa, Guam, Saipan, San Francisco, Manila, New Guinea, and Japan. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Naval Register in 1973 and sold for scrapping. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Freestone received 1 battle star. Asbestos lagging was common in the shipbuilding industry to protect key components including boilers, bulkheads, electrical fixtures, valves, and steam pipes. Thousands of naval shipyard workers and Naval sailors serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam all risked daily exposure to asbestos. Compared to the other branches of the military, asbestos exposure levels were highest among enlisted sailors in the U.S. Navy.
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