The USS Healy (DD-672), a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, was launched by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., on 4 July 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Howard R. Healy, widow of the namesake; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 3 September 1943, Commander J. C. Atkeson in command. The ship spent several weeks training in Hawaiian waters with other ships which would become the famous Task Force 58 (TF 58) under Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. The USS Healy (DD-672) was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1974; it was sold on 12 April 1976 and broken up for scrap. Asbestos was used extensively throughout all types of Navy ships between the 1930s and the late 1970s before it was recognized for its cancer-causing properties. Asbestos fibers are resistant to heat, electricity, and chemical corrosion. The fluffy-like consistency of the mineral fibers are the contributing factor to asbestos being the primary cause of occupational cancer in the world.
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