The Fleet That Won the War Was Packed With Asbestos
To move troops, fuel, and cargo across two oceans, the United States built merchant ships faster than any nation in history — roughly 2,700 Liberty ships and some 500 Victory ships, launched on emergency wartime schedules between 1941 and 1945. Speed of construction meant standardized, heavily insulated steam plants, and asbestos was the insulation of choice: cheap, fireproof, and available in quantity. These ships were built to burn — steam boilers, turbines or reciprocating engines, and long runs of high-pressure pipe — and all of it was lagged in asbestos.
The Crews Paid a Heavy Price — During and After the War
The merchant mariners who crewed these ships suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any American service in World War II. Those who survived the U-boats and the convoys often spent the rest of their careers at sea, aboard the same Liberty and Victory hulls and their postwar successors — all built to the same asbestos standard. For many WWII mariners, the wartime exposure was only the beginning of decades of shipboard asbestos contact.
Why the Exposure Was So Complete
A Liberty or Victory ship was a small, sealed steel world. There was no separating the “asbestos area” from the living area — the insulated steam plant ran through the heart of the ship, and its dust reached the berthing and mess spaces where the crew lived around the clock. Wartime and postwar repairs, done at sea by the crew, disturbed that insulation constantly. A mariner did not need a specialized job to be exposed; simply living and working aboard was enough.
Postwar Service and the Reserve Fleet
Many Liberty and Victory ships continued in commercial service for decades after the war, and hundreds were laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet and reactivated for Korea, Vietnam, and later sealift needs. Mariners who reactivated, maintained, or scrapped these aging hulls encountered asbestos insulation that had only grown more friable with age.
Veteran Status for WWII Mariners
Because of their wartime service, WWII merchant mariners were granted veteran status in 1988. A qualifying WWII mariner — or a surviving family member — may be able to obtain a discharge record and file for VA benefits directly with the VA, separately from any civil claim. If you or a loved one served aboard a Liberty ship, Victory ship, or other WWII-era merchant vessel and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, an experienced asbestos attorney can review the service and exposure history and the civil claim that may be available.