The USS Attu (CVE-102) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier laid down on March 16, 1944, and launched on May 27, the same year. It was commissioned on June 30, 1944, with the hull number CVE-102 under Capt. H. F. MacComsey’s command and served in the US Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on June 8, 1946. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 860 men on board and had its main missions in San Diego, Espiritu Santo, Cuba, Alameda, Eniwetok, Guam, and Ulithi. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on July 3, 1946, and sold for scrapping the following year. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Attu received 2 battle stars. Studies have shown that a big part of the patients with asbestos-related conditions is men in their 60s and older who had occupational exposure to asbestos. People at high risk of asbestos exposure include those who worked in mining and manufacturing, but also those involved in shipbuilding. For example, pipefitters often had heavy exposure to asbestos, because the mineral was widely used for thermal insulation in ships. Not only did pipefitters handle asbestos products on a daily basis, but these products had to be cut or sanded to meet specifications for a particular product.
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