USS Tetonkaha (AOG-41) Areas With Asbestos Exposure

The USS Tetonkaha (AOG-41) was a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker laid down on September 27, 1944, and launched on October 29, the same year. It was commissioned on December 8, 1944, under Lt. Paul J. Hall’s command with the hull number AOG-41 and it served in the U.S. Navy for 2 years until it was decommissioned on January 22, 1946. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 62 people on board and had its main missions in Norfolk, West Indies, Hawaii, Aruba, San Diego, Johnston Island, California, and Hampton Roads. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on March 12, 1946, and sold to Sun Oil Corporation in Philadelphia, where it was renamed Maumee Sun. Asbestos could be found in almost any part of the Navy ships - built during World War II and Vietnam War - from bow to stern, in boiler and engine rooms, in mess halls and crew berthing spaces, and as insulation and protection around any heat-producing equipment. Although the U.S. Navy stopped filling new ships with asbestos in the 1970s, exposure continued throughout the 1990s, as shipyards sold scrap pieces of asbestos-containing ships that were no longer in use.