The USS Leyte (ARG-8), later USS Maui (ARG-8), was a Luzon-class internal combustion engine repair ship built at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, during World War II. The USS Leyte (ARG-8) keel was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract as a Liberty-type freighter on 20 January 1944, launched on 18 February 1944 and placed in commission on 17 August 1944 with Commander Elder P. Johnson in command. She served as a repair ship with the Seventh Fleet until February 1945, when she moved up to the Philippines. At the end of May 1945, the ship was renamed Maui, releasing her original name for use on a new aircraft carrier. After nine months of service at Subic Bay, the USS Leyte (ARG-8) left the former western Pacific war zone in December 1945, transporting more than a thousand veterans home to the West Coast. Asbestos was an ideal material for use in the shipbuilding industry to protect key components including boilers, bulkheads, electrical fixtures, valves and steam pipes. Onboard Navy ships, being in close quarters with poor ventilation increased risk of asbestos inhalation, nobody was safe from exposure. For those who served or worked on the USS Leyte (ARG-8), learning more about asbestos exposure is imperative.
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