The USS Dade (APA-99) was a Bayfield-class attack transport laid down on November 2, 1943, and launched on January 14, the following year. It was commissioned on November 11, 1944, under Comdr. M. P. Du Val’s command with the hull number APA-99 and it served in the U.S.Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on February 25, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 575 people on board and had its main missions in San Pedro, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Guam, Tsingtao, and Norfolk. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List and later sold to Matson Navigation Company where it was renamed Hawaiian Retailer. For the services brought to the country during World War II, the USS Dade received one battle star. When asbestos is disturbed by installation, maintenance, or removal, it becomes friable or easily crumbling, and that will release inhalable asbestos fibers into the air as a result. Service members who came in contact with asbestos products could then inhale the invisible asbestos particles. Boiler operators, gunner’s mates, damage controlmen, electricians, pipefitters, those working in boiler rooms, were at an increased risk for asbestos exposure.
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