Between the 1930s and mid-70s, the Navy used asbestos extensively in shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair, despite the well-documented risks associated with asbestos exposure in humans. Over 300 asbestos-containing materials have been used on Navy ships, thereby posing undue occupational hazards to the thousands and thousands of people who have worked on or around Navy ships.
Asbestos Exposure Cancer Risks on Navy Ships
While asbestos is prized for its durability, flame- and heat- resistance, as well as its soundproofing, and insulating qualities, exposure to this material can lead to serious diseases including asbestos cancer. Asbestos has been used in virtually every shipping operation, from flooring and siding, to use in engine and boiler rooms, to gaskets, electrical work, and plumbing. Because the material was so treasured by the Navy, asbestos was used on all Navy ships in 1939. In fact, its use was mandated.
That very same year, the Surgeon General publicized the risks of asbestos exposure on Navy ships, linking this material to asbestosis and mesothelioma cancer. Since this time, science has proven that asbestos can cause deadly diseases, including mesothelioma and lung cancer. While these risks have long been known, the Navy continued to use asbestos on Navy ships, imposing serious risks on those who worked on and around destroyer ships, aircraft carriers, submarines, assault ships, frigates, cruisers, amphibious assault ships, and more.
Those who have served or worked on Navy ships have likely been exposed to asbestos. Navy workers, therefore, are at high risk for health complications. For those in the Navy, asbestos exposure can lead to serious disease years down the line. Those who develop these diseases may have the legal right to seek compensation for their losses and suffering with the help of an experienced attorney. A lawyer looks at each individual case and works to establish compensation for exposure to asbestos as well as the treatment options that it often requires.
Asbestos Exposure in Materials on Navy Ships
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fiber, six types of which have been used extensively in navy ships and other commercial applications since the early 20th century. This material can be found in hundreds of products throughout the world. For example, the military is known to have used over 300 asbestos-containing materials in the building of ships during the 1900s. The following are the six types of asbestos used extensively by industry:
- Chrysotile: Also known as white or green asbestos, chrysotile is the kind used in 95% of all commercial applications of asbestos. However, it appears to be the least toxic.
- Tremolite: White and chalky, tremolite has been an active constituent of industrial and commercial talc.
- Anthophyllite: Anthophyllite is highly prized for its resistance to heat and chemicals.
- Crocidolite: Crocodolite (aka blue asbestos or reibeckite) is believed to be the most toxic.
- Amosite: Known as brown asbestos, this asbestos is often used in heat insulation.
- Actinolite: One of the least commonly used, this type has poor resistance to chemicals.
Asbestos exposure while serving in the Navy is the primary cause of thousands of cases of mesothelioma cancer, lung cancer, and asbestosis among Navy veterans. Few personnel were aware of the risk of asbestos poisoning during their Navy service, but alarming numbers of veterans are now being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases that were contracted during WWII, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and peacetime service.
Dangerous Navy Jobs
Because most ships built before 1980 have asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), the Navy personnel who served onboard or who worked in ports or during the shipbuilding process were at a greater-than-normal risk of being exposed to high levels of asbestos. Navy jobs that were particularly dangerous with regard to asbestos include:
- boiler room work
- machinery repair
- machinists’ mates
- shipyard work
- construction work
- submarine work
- insulation installers
Asbestos Exposure in the Air
Asbestos exposure was also common among individuals serving in the Navy in capacities that did not involve installing or repairing ACMs. Asbestos is prone to crumbling and breaking, especially when it is being manipulated and when it is deteriorating with age or from the weather. Anyone in the area when asbestos is crumbling is at risk of breathing in the airborne asbestos fibers.
Merely spending time in an environment that has asbestos fibers in the air can be the cause of diseases, such as mesothelioma cancer, asbestosis, and lung cancer. Service time in shipyards, below deck, or in housing with ACMs was especially likely to result in asbestos-related illnesses, most of which don’t manifest until years, even decades, after the initial exposure.
Asbestos on Navy Vessels
Due to the exposure to asbestos, Navy workers are at high risk for life-threatening diseases. If you have served in the Navy aboard any of the following types of vessels, or if you helped to build or repair them, you should give some thought to your level of asbestos exposure in your Navy years:
- aircraft carrier
- battleship
- cruiser
- destroyer
- frigate
- submarine
- patrol
- amphibious
- mine warfare
- coastal defense
Learn about Navy Asbestos Exposure
Find out more about asbestos exposure in the Navy and jobs that are already known for producing mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos diseases among veterans. Contact Mesothelioma Treatment Centers today.
List of Navy ships with asbestos exposure:
Fletcher
Haskell
Haven
LST 542
SS President Harding
SS President Wilson
USCG Ingham
USCG Violet
USCG Winnebago
USCGC Androscoggin
USCGC Fir
USCGC Mendota
USCGC Northwind
USNS Private Elden H. Johnson
USS Abbot
USS Abraham Lincoln
USS Acme
USS Admiral Eberle
USS Admiralty Islands
USS Ajax
USS Alabama
USS Alameda County
USS Alamo
USS Albacore SS 218
USS Albany
USS Albemarle
USS Albert W. Grant
USS Alstede
USS Altair
USS Amber Jack SS 219
USS America
USS Ammen
USS Amphion
USS Andromeda
USS Angerholm
USS Angler SS 240
USS Antietam CV 36 K
USS Antietam CV 36
USS Apogon SS 308
USS Arcadia
USS Archer-fish SS 331
USS Arcturus
USS ARD-22
USS ARD-28
USS Arenac
USS Argonaut SS 475
USS Arizona BB 39
USS Arkansas BB 33
USS Arnold J. Isbell
USS Ashtabula
USS Aspro SS 309
USS Atule SS 403
USS Aucilla
USS Ault
USS Bache
USS Badoeng Strait CVE 116
USS Bainbridge
USS Bairoko CVE 115
USS Balao SS 285
USS Baltimore
USS Bang SS 385
USS Barataria
USS Barb SS 220
USS Barbel SS 316
USS Barbero SS 317
USS Barbican
USS Barracuda SS 163
USS Bashaw
USS Bataan
USS Baussell
USS Beale
USS Beatty
USS Becuna
USS Begor
USS Belleau wood CVL 24
USS Benham
USS Benjamin Franklin
USS Bennington CV 20
USS Bergall SS 320
USS Berkeley
USS Besugo SS 321
USS Bethany
USS Beverly W. Reid
USS Biddle
USS Billfish SS 286
USS Black
USS Blackfin SS 322
USS Blandy
USS Blenny SS 324
USS Block Island
USS Blower SS 325
USS Blue
USS Blueback SS 326
USS Bluegill SS 223
USS Boarfish SS 327
USS Bonefish SS 223
USS Bon Homme Richard CVa
USS Bonita SS 165
USS Boston
USS Bowers
USS Bowfin SS 287
USS Boxer CV
USS Boyd
USS Bream SS 243
USS Briareus
USS Brill SS 330
USS Brinkley Bass
USS Brooke
USS Brown
USS Brownson
USS Buckley
USS Bugara SS 331
USS Bullhead SS 332
USS Bulwark
USS Bumper SS 333
USS Bunker CV
USS Bunker Hill
USS Burrfish SS 312
USS Burton Island
USS Bushnell
USS Butler
USS Cabezon SS 337
USS Cabot CVL 28
USS Cadmus
USS California BB 44
USS Calvert
USS Cape Esperance
USS Capps
USS Capricornus
USS Carbonero SS 337
USS Carl Vinson
USS Cascade
USS Catfish
USS Cavalier
USS Charles Cecil
USS Charles F. Adams
USS Charles R. Ware
USS Charles S. Sperry
USS Chemung
USS Chicago
USS Chilton
USS Chipola
USS Cimarron
USS Claude V. Ricketts
USS Cleveland
USS Cliffrose
USS Cod
USS Colonial
USS Colorado BB 45
USS Columbus
USS Commencement Bay
USS Cone
USS Constant
USS Constellation CV
USS Coral Sea CV
USS Corregidor CVE 58
USS Cowpens CLV 25
USS Cowell
USS Croaker
USS Currituck
USS Cushing
USS Cutlass
USS Dace
USS Darby
USS Dayton
USS Decatur
USS DeHaven
USS Delta
USS Des Moines
USS Diphda
USS Dixie
USS Donner
USS Dortch
USS Douglas Blackwood
USS Douglas H. Fox
USS Duncan
USS Duxbury Bay
USS Eaton
USS Edisto
USS Edson
USS Elliot
USS Ellison
USS Endurance
USS Energy
USS English
USS Enterprise CVN
USS Epping Forest
USS Erben
USS Ernest G. Small
USS Essex CV 9
USS Ethan Allen
USS Eugene A. Greene
USS Everglades
USS Eversole
USS F. D. Roosevelt
USS Fanshaw Bay
USS Farragut
USS Fayette
USS Firm
USS Fiske
USS Fitch
USS Flasher
USS Floyd Parks
USS Forrestal CV
USS Fort Mandan
USS Fort Snelling
USS Foss
USS Francis Marion
USS Frank E. Evans
USS Frank Knox
USS Franklin CV 13
USS Fraser
USS Fred T. Berry
USS Frontier
USS Frost
USS Fulton
USS Galveston
USS Gearing
USS General JC Breckinridge
USS George A. Johnson
USS George Clymer
USS George K. Mackenzie
USS George Lukenbach
USS George Washington
USS Greenlet
USS Greenling
USS Greenwood
USS Guadalupe
USS Guardfish
USS Guitarro
USS Gurke
USS Gustafson
USS Hailey
USS Hake SS 0001
USS Hale
USS Halibut
USS Halsey
USS Halsey Powell
USS Hambleton
USS Hammerhead SS 0002
USS Hancock CV 19
USS Hank
USS Harder SS 0004
USS Hardhead SS 0004
USS Harry E. Hubbard
USS Harry F. Bauer
USS Hartley
USS Harwood
USS Hawkbill SS 0005
USS Hector
USS Heerman
USS Helena
USS Henderson
USS Henley
USS Henry W. Tucker
USS Herbert Thomas
USS Hermitage
USS Herring SS 0006
USS Higbee
USS Hoe SS 0007
USS Holland
USS Hollis
USS Hooper Island
USS Horne
USS Hornet CV 12
USS Hornet CV8
USS Howard Gilmore
USS Hummingbird
USS Hunt
USS Hunting
USS Huse
USS Icefish SS 0008
USS Idaho
USS Idaho BB 42
USS Independence
USS Independence C1
USS Independence CLV 22
USS Indiana
USS Ingraham
USS Intrepid CV 11
USS Iowa
USS Iowa BB 61
USS Isherwood
USS J. Douglas Blackwood
USS J. Franklin Bell
USS Jack SS 0010
USS Jallao SS 0010
USS James C. Owens
USS James Madison
USS John Craig
USS John F. Kennedy
USS John Marshall
USS John S. McCain
USS John W. Thomason
USS John W. Weeks
USS Jonas Ingram
USS Joseph P. Kennedy
USS Joseph Tausig
USS Jouett
USS Julius Furer
USS Juneau
USS Jupiter
USS Kalinin Bay
USS Kearsarge CV 33
USS Kearsage CV
USS Kennedy
USS Kenneth D. Bailey
USS Kenneth M. Willett
USS Kenneth Whiting
USS Kermit Roosevelt
USS Kete S 0011
USS Kilauea
USS Kimberly
USS Kingfish SS 0012
USS Kittiwake
USS Kitty Hawk
USS Klondike
USS Knapp
USS Knox
USS Kraken SS 0013
USS Krishna
USS Kula Gulf
USS Kwajalein
USS Laffey
USS Lagarto SS 0014
USS Lake Champlain CV 39
USS Lakewood Victory
USS Lamar
USS Langley CV 1
USS Langley CVL 27
USS Latimer
USS LCI L
USS Leahy
USS Leartes
USS Lee Fox
USS Lexington CV2
USS Leyte CV 32
USS Lincoln County
USS Liscome Bay
USS Little Rock
USS Lizardfish SS 0015
USS Loeser
USS Loggerhead SS 0016
USS Long Beach
USS Los Angeles
USS LST-611
USS LST-790
USS Lukenbach
USS Luzerne County
USS Luzon
USS Lyman K. Swenson
USS Lynde McCormick
USS Macabi SS 0017
USS Mackeral-204-0018
USS Macomb
USS Macon
USS Maddox
USS Magoffin
USS Mansfield
USS Mapiro SS 0020
USS Marias
USS Markab
USS Marlin SS 0021
USS Marquette
USS Maryland BB 46
USS Massachusetts
USS Massachusetts BB 59
USS Massey
USS McKean
USS McNair
USS Mellena
USS Midway CV
USS Mindoro
USS Mingo SS 0022
USS Mississippi
USS Mississippi BB 41
USS Missouri
USS Missouri BB 63
USS Mitscher
USS Moale
USS Monssen
USS Montague
USS Monterey
USS Montgomery County
USS Monticello
USS Moray SS 0023
USS Mount Baker
USS Mount McKinley
USS Mullinnix
USS Muskallunge SS 262
USS Murray
USS Naifeh
USS Nantahala
USS Narwhal SS 263
USS Nathan Hale
USS Nathanael Greene
USS Nautilus-ss-0024
USS Navarro
USS Neches
USS Nereus
USS Nevada
USS Nevada BB 36
USS New Jersey
USS New Jersey BB 62
USS New Mexico BB 40
USS New York BB 34
USS Newport News
USS Niobrara
USS Noa
USS Noble
USS Norfolk
USS Norris
USS North Carolina BB 55
USS Northampton
USS Northwind Staten Island
USS Notable
USS Nueces
USS Oberon
USS O’Brien
USS Observer
USS O’Hare
USS Oklahoma BB 37
USS Oklahoma City
USS Olmstead
USS Orca
USS Orion
USS Oriskany CV
USS Orleck
USS Outpost
USS Oyster
USS Ozbourn
USS Paddle SS 167
USS Palau
USS Pampanito SS 383
USS Panay
USS Pandemus
USS Parche SS 384
USS Pargo SS 264
USS Patrick Henry
USS Paul Revere A
USS Pennsylvania BB 38
USS Perch SS 176
USS Perkins
USS Permit SS 178
USS Perry
USS Peto SS 265
USS Phantom
USS Philippine Sea CV
USS Pickerel SS 177
USS Picuda SS 382
USS Piedmont
USS Pike SS 173
USS Pilotfish SS 386
USS Pinckney
USS Pine Island
USS Pinkney
USS Pintado SS 387
USS Pipefish SS 388
USS Pirahna SS 389
USS Plaice SS 390
USS Platte
USS Plunger SS 179
USS Plymouth Rock
USS Pogy SS 266
USS Point Barrow
USS Point Cruz CVE
USS Point Loma
USS Polaris
USS Pollack SS 180
USS Pomfret SS
USS Pompon SS 267-0026
USS Pompano SS 181-0025
USS Pondera
USS Porpoise SS 172-0027
USS Portland
USS Prairie
USS Preble
USS President Adams
USS Princeton CV
USS Princeton CVL
USS Procyon
USS Protector
USS Prowess
USS Puffer SS 268-0028
USS Puget Sound
USS Putnam
USS Pyro
USS Queenfish SS 393-0029
USS Quillback SS 424-0030
USS Radford
USS Randolph CV
USS Ranger CV
USS Rankin
USS Rasher SS-269-0031
USS Rathburne
USS Raton SS 270-0033
USS Ray SS 271-0033
USS Razorback SS 394-0034
USS Reclaimer
USS Redfin SS 272-0035
USS Redfish SS 395-0036
USS Rehoboth
USS Rendova
USS Renville
USS Rexburg
USS Richey
USS Richmond Turner
USS Roark
USS Robalo SS 273-0037
USS Robert A. Owens
USS Robert E. Lee
USS Roberts
USS Rochester
USS Rock SS 274-0038
USS Rockbridge
USS Rodman
USS Rogers
USS Ronquil SS 396-0039
USS Runner SS 275-0040
USS Runner SS 476-0041
USS Rupertus
USS Rushmore
USS S-1 SS 105-0042
USS S-20 SS 125-0043
USS S-46 SS 157-0044
USS Sable ix
USS Sacramento
USS Sailfish SS 192
USS Saint Paul
USS Saipan
USS Salem
USS Salmon SS 182
USS Salt Lake City
USS Sam Rayburn
USS Samoset
USS Sampson
USS Samuel Houston
USS Samuel N. Moore
USS Sanctuary
USS Sand Lance SS 381
USS San Jacinto CLV
USS Sarasota
USS Saratoga CV
USS Saratoga CV3
USS Sargo SS 188
USS Saury SS 189
USS Sawfish SS 276
USS Scabbardfish SS 397
USS Scamp SS 277
USS Scorpion SS 278
USS Scranton
USS Sculpin SS 191
USS Sea Cat SS 399
USS Sea Devil SS 400
USS Sea Dog SS 401
USS Seadragon SS 194
USS Sea Fox SS 402
USS Seahorse SS 304
USS Sea Lion SS 195
USS Sea Owl SS 405
USS Sea Poacher SS 406
USS Searaven SS 196
USS Sea Robin SS 407
USS Seawolf SS 197
USS Segundo SS 398
USS Sennet SS 408
USS Severn
USS Shangri-La
USS Shannon
USS Shark
USS Shasta
USS Shea
USS Shenandoah
USS Siboney
USS Sicily Cve
USS Sierra
USS Simon Lake
USS Stikoh Bay
USS Skate
USS Skipjack
USS Slater
USS South Dakota
USS South Dakota BB 57
USS Spadefish
USS Springfield
USS Sproston
USS Steamer Bay
USS Steinaker
USS Sterett
USS Stickell
USS Stoddard
USS Stribling
USS Strong
USS Sturdy
USS Sumner
USS Surfbird
USS Swordfish
USS Tacoma
USS Talbott County
USS Talladega
USS Tallahatchie County
USS Tangier
USS Tarawa CV
USS Tawasa
USS Tecumseh
USS Tennessee BB 43
USS Terror
USS Texas
USS Texas-BB 35
USS The Sullivans
USS Theodore Chandler
USS Theodore Roosevelt
USS Thomas A. Edison
USS Thomas E. Fraser
USS Thomas Jefferson
USS Thomaston
USS Thompson
USS Thor
USS Thornton
USS Thuban
USS Ticonderoga CV
USS Tidewater
USS Timmerman
USS Tirante
USS Toledo
USS Tolovana
USS Topeka
USS Towers
USS Towhee
USS Trenton
USS Tripoli
USS Truxton
USS Tullibee
USS Turner
USS Tusk
USS Tutuila
USS Uhlmann
USS Union
USS Utah BB 31
USS Valley Forge CV
USS Vance
USS Venture
USS Vicksburg
USS Vogelgesang
USS Vulcan
USS Wadleigh
USS Wahoo
USS Waldron
USS Walke
USS Waller
USS Wantuck
USS Washington BB 56
USS Wasp CV 18
USS Wasp CV 7
USS West Virginia BB 48
USS Whitehurst
USS Whitley
USS Wickes
USS Wilkinson
USS Willard Keith
USS William Seiverling
USS Windham Bay
USS Wintle
USS Wisconsin
USS Wolverine IX 64
USS Worcester
USS Wren
USS Wyoming
USS Yancey
USS Yarnall
USS Yellowstone
USS YF
USS YO-116
USS Yorktown CV 5
USS Yorktown CV 10
USS Yosemite
USS YR-63
USS Zelima
USS Zellars
