The USS Milwaukee (CL-5) was an Omaha-class light cruiser laid down on December 13, 1918, and launched on March 24, 1922. It was commissioned on June 20, 1923, with the hull number CL-5 and served in the U.S. Navy for 21 years until it was transferred to the Soviet Union on April 20, 1944. Five years later, the ship was returned to the U.S. Navy and scraped the same year at American Shipbreakers Incorporated in Wilmington. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 458 people on board and had its main missions in the Caribbean, Pearl Harbor, Belfast, New York and Recife. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List and sold for scrapping in 1946. Asbestos is known to be a killer, causing asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, and mesothelioma. When breathing in asbestos disturbed from its compounds because of maintenance and repair jobs, the microscopic fibers enter the lungs and can gradually damage them over time. See your GP if you have shortness of breath, persistent cough, wheezing, extreme tiredness, or pain in your chest, and think you may have been exposed to asbestos while serving aboard the USS Milwaukee (CL-5).
760-621-6147
