The USS Sangay (AE-10) was an ammunition ship laid down on October 30, 1941, and launched on April 5, 1942. The name of the ship comes from the Sangay volcano, and it is suggestive of what would happen to an ammunition carrier if an enemy fire would hit it. On March 25, 1943, the USS Sangay was commissioned and started to serve in the US Navy under Comdr. W.D. Ryan's command. Some of its missions were carried out in Pearl Harbor, Marshall Islands, Palau Islands, Kossol Passage, and Okinawa. On July 20, 1947, the USS Sangay was decommissioned and sold for scrap on July 1, 1960. It carried a complement of over 300 people on board and, for the services brought to the country during World War II, it received 2 battle stars. As a naturally occurring mineral, asbestos has exceptional properties that resist fire and heat. By the early 1980s, its use was curtailed when it became evident that breathing in asbestos fibers causes life-threatening diseases and even death. Unfortunately, for many Navy veterans, the damage had already been done, as they had already been exposed to this hazardous material between World War II and the late 1970s.
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