The USS Tazewell (APA-209) was a Haskell-class attack transport laid down on June 2, 1944, and launched on August 22, the same year. It was commissioned on October 25, 1944, under Comdr. Herbert S. Olsen’s command, with the hull number APA-209 and it served in the US Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on October 25, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 536 people on board and had its main missions in California, Okinawa, San Francisco, Saipan, Seattle, Hagushi, Yokosuka, and Subic Bay. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on October 1, 1958. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Tazewell (APA-209) received 1 battle star.
Navy veterans are among those with especially high rates of malignant mesothelioma, because asbestos – the only cause of mesothelioma, was found on virtually all of the ships from submarines to aircraft carriers. For decades, the United States Navy used asbestos to insulate boilers, pipes, turbines, pumps, engines, incinerators, and other heat-sensitive areas.