Asbestos on U.S. Navy Ships

Asbestos Exposure on U.S. Navy Ships

Asbestos was once considered an ideal substance for military assets because it is fireproof, lightweight, inexpensive, and corrosion-proof. Every branch of the military used asbestos during the 20th century.

Call Sokolove Law right now at (800) 647-3434 if you've been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease.

In the U.S. Navy, asbestos was considered so important that the U.S. government once mandated its use in shipbuilding. As a result, it was used extensively throughout ships built from the late 1930s on. The U.S. Navy fleet grew from 394 vessels in 1939 to nearly 7,000 in 1945 — due, in part, to asbestos.

However, the same properties that made the use of asbestos so advantageous for shipbuilding also made it extremely dangerous to the human body.

Much like the victims of asbestos exposure, the U.S. military was misled about the safety of this toxic mineral by the companies that made and sold products containing asbestos.

These companies had scientific and medical knowledge that asbestos could cause health problems but chose to hide this information from the public in an overarching effort to maximize profits — at the expense of so many U.S. Navy veterans’ health.

The Risk of Mesothelioma on U.S. Navy Ships

Americans who served in the U.S. Navy protected our freedom at home, on ships, and at bases and ports around the world. While many brave men and women lost their lives fighting for and protecting our nation, countless other U.S. Navy veterans now face another battle: mesothelioma.

Though the U.S. Navy greatly reduced their asbestos use in the 1980s, it was too late for the thousands of U.S. Navy personnel who had already been exposed.

Because mesothelioma symptoms can take 20-50 years to appear, some veterans who served in the U.S. Navy decades ago are only now being diagnosed with this rare cancer.

“When I was in the U.S. Navy, our ship’s boiler blew up. The shipyard was brought in to fix the boiler. As they were cutting it open, I was standing on fire watch with a fire extinguisher in hand and sitting next to the boiler under where they were cutting. When they removed the metal, the worker discovered the asbestos.”
– UnDra, U.S. Navy Veteran & Asbestos Exposure Victim

Asbestos Parts and Equipment on U.S. Navy Ships

Since asbestos naturally traps heat and sound, it was used mainly for fireproofing and as an insulator on U.S. Navy vessels. It was often used to line, cover, or pad equipment on the ship to prevent fires aboard vessels and reduce any potential damage from enemy gunfire.

U.S. Navy ship parts that contained asbestos include:

• Adhesives
• Boilers, boiler linings, and heat shields
• Cables
• Caulk
• Ceiling and floor tiles
• Deck coverings
• Electrical coating
• Engines
• Gaskets and valves
• Grinders
• Insulation
• Lagging and rope
• Linings of steel wall plates and doors
• Meters
• Packing
• Paint
• Paneling
• Pipes, pipe insulation, and pipe coverings
• Pumps
• Thermal insulation
• Tubing
• Turbines

Because of how extensively asbestos was used on naval vessels, there are many different ship parts that may have exposed you to asbestos during your service in the U.S. Navy. The above list is not exhaustive.

By working with a mesothelioma law firm like Sokolove Law, you can get experienced legal help gathering the evidence necessary to prove your asbestos exposure and build a case against the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing products responsible for causing your illness.

Get a free case review today to see if one of our VA-accredited lawyers may be able to help you.

“I was surprised at the stuff that [my mesothelioma lawyer] knew. He just knew the names of all the pumps and the valves going far back for a way...They were prepared. They could go back to Day 1.”
– Walter Twidwell, U.S. Navy Veteran and Sokolove Law Client

Areas of U.S. Navy Ships with Asbestos

In addition to the common ship parts listed above, asbestos was also used to help protect different areas of U.S. Navy ships.

Throughout the ship, asbestos products could be found in: 

• Engine rooms
• Boiler rooms
• Galleys
• Mess halls
• Pump and propulsion rooms
• Crew living quarters

On land, U.S. Navy barracks and family housing utilized asbestos in its roofing, walls, and shingles.

A sad consequence of abundance, members of the U.S. Navy had nowhere to escape from asbestos. Asbestos dust was virtually everywhere — and being packed in close quarters with poor ventilation did not help.

As a result, service members who worked on U.S. Navy ships or in shipyards have the greatest risk of developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

U.S. Navy Ship Rates at High Risk of Asbestos Exposure

Because of how heavily asbestos was used on U.S. Navy vessels, asbestos exposure wasn’t limited to certain rates (or occupations) in the U.S. Navy, though some rates put sailors at an even greater risk than others.

Rates on U.S. Navy ships with the highest risk of asbestos exposure include:

• Machinist’s Mate (MM): MMs operated and maintained the equipment used for ship propulsion and auxiliary. Machinery such as generators, pumps, oil purifiers, elevators, refrigeration plants, air conditioning systems, and desalination plants may have contained asbestos.
• Boiler Technician (BT): BTs maintain and repair all mechanisms related to the steam propulsion systems. They also test inventories and supplies of water and fuel and examine whether the engines are powered from electricity, gas, or nuclear energy. Unfortunately, boilers frequently used asbestos-containing parts.
• Engineman: Enginemen operate, service, and repair internal combustion engines used to power U.S. Navy ships. Asbestos was frequently used to maintain the engine and the area surrounding it.
• Gas Turbine System Technician (GS): GSs operate and maintain gas turbine engines, main propulsion machinery, and control systems. This includes gears, shafting, controllable pitch propellers, auxiliary equipment, and electronic circuitry.
• Electrician’s Mate (EM): EMs must operate and fix all of the electrical equipment onboard a Navy ship. Because asbestos does not conduct electricity, it was often used to insulate electrical wiring and to maintain other equipment.

Asbestos U.S. Navy Ships List

From aircraft carriers to submarines, U.S. Navy service members faced the risk of asbestos exposure on most ships. The following lists of U.S. Navy ships are known to have utilized asbestos-containing products on board. 

If you served on one of the ships below and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, we may be able to help you:

• Secure veterans benefits through a VA claim
• Pursue mesothelioma compensation through legal claims against the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing ship parts you were exposed to

Call (800) 647-3434 now to learn what options may be available to you. It costs nothing to speak with our team.

At Sokolove Law, we can help families pursue compensation in all 50 states — and there are no hourly fees or upfront costs to work with our team.

U.S. Shipyards: Hot Zones by State

Shipbuilders, maintenance workers, and those who decommissioned ships were also at risk of exposure. Their jobs demanded that they construct, repair, and renovate ships that heavily relied on asbestos. As a result, these shipyard workers were more likely to inhale or ingest the fibers.

In addition to the ships U.S. Navy veterans worked on, every part of the shipyard facilities used products containing asbestos as well, including the:

• Cafeterias
• Dockyard buildings
• Housing buildings for workers and their families
• Offices
• Machine shops
• Washrooms

There was no safe place where shipyard workers could escape asbestos exposure during their service, putting them at a very high risk of developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.

Below, you can see the number of shipyards per state.

Unfortunately, the health risks of asbestos exposure extended to the families of shipyard workers as well. Asbestos fibers easily cling to cloth and other materials.

As a result, asbestos fibers could have been brought home with workers on their clothes, shoes, and hair, potentially exposing their loved ones to asbestos secondhand.

List of U.S. Shipyards with Asbestos

Below you can find a list of shipyards that are known sites of asbestos exposure.  

• Alabama Dry Dock
• Albina Shipyard
• Barbours Cut Docks
• Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
• Bremerton Naval Shipyard
• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Caddell Dry Dock
• California Navy Shipyard
• Charleston Naval Shipyard
• Consolidated Steel Shipyards
• Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
• Defoe Shipyard
• Duwamish Shipyard
• Galveston Docks
• General Dynamics NASSCO
• GMD Shipyard
• Groton Naval Base
• Houston Shipyards
• Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
• Ingalls Shipbuilding
• Kane Shipbuilding
• Kaiser Shipyard
• Lockheed Shipyard
• Long Beach Naval Shipyard
• Moore Dry Dock
• Naval Station Everett
• Naval Weapons Station
• New York Shipbuilding Corporation
• Newport News Naval Shipyard
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard
• Orange Shipbuilding
• Pearl Harbor Shipyard
• Pensacola Naval Air Station
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
• San Diego Naval Shipyard
• San Francisco Drydock
• Seward Ship's Drydock
• Sun Shipbuilding
• Tacoma Drydock
• Todd Shipyards
• Washington Navy Yard
• Willamette Iron and Steel Works

Don’t see your shipyard listed above? The list above is not exhaustive. You may still have been exposed to asbestos during your naval career, and we can help you determine when and where that exposure may have occurred.

If you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your illness. Learn more about your legal options today in a free case review.

Compensation for U.S. Navy Veterans with Mesothelioma

As a U.S. Navy veteran with mesothelioma, the compensation you may be able to receive for your illness can come from many different sources, and an experienced asbestos lawyer can help you determine which options are available in your case.

There are several ways you may be able to receive mesothelioma compensation, including:

VA Claims

As a veteran of the U.S. military, you’re entitled to certain veterans benefits in exchange for your service. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans with mesothelioma are eligible to receive over $3,700+ a month through a VA mesothelioma claim.

To apply, your legal team can submit a claim for VA benefits on your behalf, even if you’ve been denied in the past.

Asbestos Trust Funds

Many companies that manufactured asbestos-containing products declared bankruptcy as a way to avoid paying victims of asbestos exposure what they were owed. In response, courts ordered these companies to set aside money in asbestos trust funds for current and future asbestos victims.

You may be eligible for funds from multiple trusts, which an asbestos lawyer can help you determine. The median payout from asbestos trust funds is between $300,000 and $400,000.

Mesothelioma U.S. Navy Settlements

Rather than taking a case to court, many companies that made asbestos-containing products will opt to negotiate a mesothelioma lawsuit settlement with your attorney instead.

Over 99% of our mesothelioma cases result in settlements without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.

Trial Verdicts

Should your mesothelioma claim not result in a settlement, we’re prepared to fight on your behalf in court before a judge and jury, who will render a trial verdict at the end of the trial. Because there’s no guarantee of compensation in any trial, most of our cases settle.

By working with our VA-accredited mesothelioma lawyers, you can get experienced help with every step of the legal process. We'll pursue compensation from all of the avenues available to you.

Mesothelioma Attorneys for U.S. Navy Veterans & Family

As a national mesothelioma law firm, Sokolove Law has decades of experience helping victims of asbestos exposure in all 50 states receive the compensation they deserve — particularly for veterans of the U.S. military.

In fact, 42% of all Sokolove Law mesothelioma cases are U.S. veterans.

At Sokolove Law, we’re proud of those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and equally proud to be of service to our country’s veterans. Get a free case review or call (800) 647-3434 now to see if we may be able to help with your case.