Anchor/Darling Valve Company, headquartered in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was a leading manufacturer of industrial gate valves, globe valves, and check valves supplying the US Navy for high-pressure steam and feedwater service throughout World War II and the Cold War. Anchor/Darling’s heavy-duty valve designs were specified for the demanding high-pressure, high-temperature service conditions in Navy steam plants — main steam service, superheated steam isolation, and high-pressure feedwater applications — making their valves present throughout the most asbestos-intensive spaces in Navy engineering plants.

Asbestos in Anchor/Darling Valve Components

Anchor/Darling steam service valves used asbestos packing and gaskets as standard sealing components:

  • Valve stem packing — braided asbestos packing in Anchor/Darling gate and globe valve stuffing boxes, providing stem sealing in high-pressure steam service. The deep stuffing box on Anchor/Darling high-pressure designs required a specific packing quantity, replaced by Machinist’s Mates and BTs during valve packing maintenance when valves leaked at the stem
  • Valve bonnet gaskets — asbestos sheet or spiral wound gaskets sealing the Anchor/Darling valve bonnet to the body at the bonnet flange, disturbed during bonnet removal for internal seat maintenance and overhaul
  • Body-to-flange gaskets at the valve inlet and outlet flanges — asbestos gaskets at all flanged connections to steam piping throughout the engineering plant

High-Pressure Main Steam Applications

Anchor/Darling valves were selected for main steam isolation service — the highest-pressure and highest-temperature valve service in the engineering plant. Main steam stop valves, main steam bypass valves, and superheater outlet isolation valves used Anchor/Darling heavy-duty designs with asbestos packing on valve stems operating in 1,200 PSI / 950°F steam service. Packing replacement on these valves required hot work in the fireroom with a steam plant at or near operating conditions.

Anchor/Darling valves were distributed across the fleet through Navy supply contracts and shipyard procurement, appearing in destroyer, cruiser, and carrier steam plants across multiple vessel classes. The company’s focus on heavy-duty high-pressure valve designs made their products particularly common at the most demanding valve service points in the engineering plant.

VA Claims

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from valve maintenance in Navy steam plants. Engineering ratings who performed valve packing replacement on Anchor/Darling and other asbestos-packed steam service valves and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.