The USS Casablanca (CVE-55) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier laid down on November 3, 1942, and launched on April 5, the following year. It was commissioned on July 8, 1943, with the hull number CVE-55 under Capt. W. W. Gallaway’s command and served in the US Navy for 3 years until it was decommissioned on June 10, 1946. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Casablanca received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" clasp.
Because it was cheap and versatile, asbestos was considered a miraculous, indestructible substance with powerful wartime applications, and used in Navy ships since the mid-1930s. The major application has been as an insulating material around steam boilers and as insulating lagging wrapped around steam and hot water piping. It is this thermal insulation material that has the greatest potential for concentrations of asbestos fibers in the air when seriously damaged or removed.
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