Workers who built and overhauled U.S. Navy ships were among the most heavily exposed to asbestos of any workforce in American history. Shipbuilding trades — insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, welders — applied asbestos insulation throughout ship engineering spaces from the 1930s through approximately 1980. Select a shipyard below for detailed exposure information and claim guidance.
U.S. government-operated yards that built, repaired, and overhauled the fleet.
Brooklyn, NY
1930s–1966
Philadelphia, PA
1930s–1980s
Pearl Harbor (Oahu), HI
1930s–1980
Portsmouth, VA
1930s–1980s
Kittery, ME
1930s–1980s
Bremerton, WA
1930s–1980s
Long Beach, CA
1940s–1980s
San Francisco, CA
1940s–1970s
Boston, MA
1930s–1974
Vallejo, CA
1930s–1990s
Newport News, VA
1930s–1980s
Bath, ME
1930s–1980s
Pascagoula, MS
1940s–1980s
Privately operated yards that built and repaired Navy vessels under government contract.
Groton, CT
1940s–1980s
Avondale / Westwego, LA
1940s–1980s
Mobile, AL
1940s–1980s
Seattle, WA
1940s–1980s
Sparrows Point, MD
1940s–1970s
The people who built Navy ships faced the same asbestos hazards as the sailors who served on them — and often greater ones. Shipyard insulators applied raw asbestos pipe lagging by hand, boilermakers installed asbestos block insulation inside boiler casings, and pipefitters cut asbestos gaskets from sheet stock for every pipe connection. All of this work was done without protective equipment.
The asbestos disease burden from shipbuilding has produced some of the largest mesothelioma clusters ever documented, concentrated in cities with major naval shipyard activity: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Norfolk, and New Orleans.
Yes. Civilian shipyard workers — insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, welders, and other trades — applied and disturbed asbestos insulation in the same spaces as Navy sailors during construction and overhaul. In many cases, civilian workers had higher exposures than the sailors because they worked with raw asbestos materials for longer periods. Civilian shipyard workers are eligible for asbestos trust fund claims, and military veterans who were aboard ships during overhaul are eligible for both trust fund claims and VA disability.
The shipyards with the most documented asbestos-related disease cases include the Brooklyn Navy Yard (NY), Boston Naval Shipyard (MA), Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (PA), Avondale Shipyards (LA), Newport News Shipbuilding (VA), and Electric Boat in Groton (CT). However, all 18 shipyards listed here have documented asbestos exposure histories, and claims from workers at any of these facilities are well-established in asbestos litigation.