USS Bates (DE-68/APD-47) Areas With Asbestos Exposure

The USS Bates (DE-68/APD-47) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort launched on June 6, 1943. It was commissioned on September 13, the same year under Lt. Comdr. E. H. Maher’s command with the hull number DE-68 and served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it sank on May 25, 1945. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 213 men on board and had its main missions in Normandy, Plymouth, New York, Brooklyn, Hawaii, and Okinawa. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Bates received three battle stars. The asbestos fibers are extremely durable, being heat, acid, and alkalis resistant, easily woven, and good electrical and thermal insulators, and therefore became known as the ‘magic mineral’. Common asbestos-related products that can release asbestos fibers if damaged, repaired, or removed improperly include boilers and steam pipes insulated with an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape.