The USS San Diego (CL-53) was an Atlanta-class light cruiser laid down on March 27, 1940, and launched on July 26, the following year. It was commissioned on January 10, 1942, under Capt. Benjamin F. Perry’s command with the hull number CL-53 and served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years until it was decommissioned on November 4, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 796 people on board and had its main missions in Luzon, San Diego, Ulithi, Manila, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Guam, Okinawa, Majuro, Espiritu Santo, and Formosa. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on March 1, 1959, and sold for scrapping in 1960 to Todd Shipyards in Seattle. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS San Diego received 18 battle stars. Once asbestos fibers enter the respiratory tract, they become embedded in tissue very easily due to their rough texture. Since the human body cannot naturally eliminate asbestos, a considerable portion of fibers will remain in the lungs, where inflammation and tissue scarring may gradually occur over the years. Depending on how severe the asbestos exposure is, these symptoms can give way to the onset of asbestos-related lung diseases at some point.
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