The USS Bisbee (PF-46) was a Tacoma-class frigate laid down and launched in 1943 and commissioned in 1944. The vessel served in both World War II and the Korean War and was later transferred to foreign service. In commission from 1944 to 1945 and again from 1950 to 1951, the frigate joined the Pacific Fleet during World War II. She then took part in the Biak Island landings and patrolled off New Guinea. In the Leyte invasion, the ship served as a patrol and harbor control vessel before assignment to escort duty. After repairs in 1945, the vessel departed for the Alaska Territory, where she escorted merchant ships and U.S. Army transports and served as a guard ship for North Pacific Fleet Air Wing 4. Selected for transfer to the Soviet Navy under Project Hula, the frigate underwent repairs and conversion in preparation for the transfer later that year. Like many Navy ships of the era, the vessel contained considerable amounts of asbestos insulation used to reduce fire risk and improve heat resistance throughout the ship. Working with or around asbestos products posed serious health hazards to crew members, exposing them over time to inhaling or ingesting asbestos dust, which is considered one of the most toxic and potent occupational carcinogens that humans can be exposed to.
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