The USS Prentiss (AKA-102) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship laid down on October 10, 1944, and launched on December 6, the same year. It was commissioned the next year under Lt. Comdr. George P. Walker’s command and served in the US Navy for 1 year until it was decommissioned on May 31, 1946. It carried a complement of 425 men on board. During World War II, the ship operated in Norfolk, Hawaii, Okinawa, and San Francisco. After decommissioning, the USS Prentiss was struck from the Navy List on June 19, 1946. Later, the ship was sold to Aluminum Company of America where it was renamed SS Alcoa Ranger. Asbestos was once seen as something of a miracle product. Unlike other rocks, it can easily be spun into thread for cloth, and unlike other types of cloth, it is remarkably fireproof. Asbestos was crucial in the shipbuilding industry for decades, and vulnerability to the hazardous material remains a risk to Navy veterans.
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