The USS Dale W. Peterson (DE–337) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort laid down on October 25, 1943, and launched on December 22, the same year. It was commissioned on February 17, 1944, under Lt. Comdr. A. A. Hero’s command with the hull number DE-337 and served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on March 27, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 209 people on board and had its main missions in New York, Norfolk, Naples, France, Guantanamo Bay, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and Florida. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on January 2, 1971, and sold for scrapping the following year. As the military and other industries began to learn more about the dangers of asbestos, the fanfare surrounding the hazardous mineral gradually shifted to fear. While today’s regulations regarding asbestos removal help protect individuals handling the task, regulations were not sound a few decades ago. A number of crewmembers died from an illness caused by asbestos exposure.
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