The USS Tidewater (AD-31) was a Shenandoah-class destroyer tender laid down on November 27, 1944, and launched on June 30, 1945. It was commissioned on February 19, 1946, under Capt. Frank H. Ball’s with the hull number AD-31 and served in the U.S. Navy for 25 years until it was decommissioned on February 20, 1971. During its activities, the ship carried a complement of 1,017 people on board and had the main missions in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Crete. After decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List and sold to Indonesia where it was renamed KRI Dumai. Because of its remarkable strength, fire-resistant abilities, and its capacity to withstand massive amounts of heat, asbestos was widely used for insulation purposes on a number of Navy ships including aircraft carriers, destroyers, and transport vessels. Since there was an abundance of heat-producing equipment aboard, asbestos was the perfect solution to alleviate the risk of potential fires in case of a malfunction or an attack.
760-621-6147
