Babcock & Wilcox, based in Barberton, Ohio (and later headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina), was the dominant manufacturer of naval steam boilers for the US Navy throughout World War II and the Cold War, producing the watertube boilers installed in the majority of steam-powered Navy combatants and auxiliaries built during this era. B&W boilers were installed in Fletcher, Gearing, Forrest Sherman, Adams, Leahy, and Belknap class destroyers and cruisers; Essex, Midway, Forrestal, and Kitty Hawk class carriers; Iowa class battleships; and numerous auxiliary vessel classes. The B&W boiler casings, steam drums, superheater sections, and uptakes operated at temperatures of 850°F to 950°F — requiring the heaviest asbestos insulation loads in Navy engineering plants.

Asbestos on B&W Boiler Casings and Components

B&W boilers required comprehensive asbestos insulation on every external surface exposed to high-temperature operating conditions:

  • Boiler casing insulation — the outer surface of B&W boiler casings required several inches of asbestos block insulation to reduce heat loss and protect personnel from the high-temperature boiler exterior, maintained by naval insulation contractors throughout the vessel’s service life
  • Steam drum and mud drum insulation — asbestos sectional covering on the steam drum and mud drum of the B&W watertube boiler design, covering the large-diameter pressure vessels at the top and bottom of the boiler
  • Superheater section insulation — the superheater section of B&W boilers, operating at the highest temperature in the steam plant, required asbestos block insulation throughout the superheater tube bundle and casing
  • Uptake and breeching insulation — the hot gas path from the boiler furnace through the uptakes and breeching to the ship’s stack required asbestos insulation on the uptake and breeching structures in the boiler room
  • Access door and inspection port gaskets — asbestos rope and sheet gaskets at B&W boiler access doors and inspection ports throughout the boiler casing

Boiler Tender Exposure

The Boiler Tender (BT) rating — the primary rate responsible for operating and maintaining Navy boilers — worked in the immediate proximity of B&W boiler casings during all steaming operations. Standing fireroom watches, BTs monitored boiler operations within feet of the asbestos-insulated boiler casings throughout their watch periods. Boiler maintenance operations — burner cleaning, waterside inspection, and internal boiler work during cold-iron periods — brought BTs into direct contact with the asbestos insulation on B&W boiler equipment.

B&W as the Dominant Navy Boiler Manufacturer

The near-ubiquity of B&W boilers in US Navy steam-powered vessels — combined with the heavy asbestos insulation loads required on every B&W naval boiler — makes Babcock & Wilcox the manufacturer most directly associated with the primary asbestos exposure environment in Navy engineering spaces. The B&W boiler room was the heaviest asbestos exposure location in the ship, and Boiler Tenders who served in Navy firerooms across multiple vessel classes accumulated their most significant asbestos exposure from their time in B&W boiler rooms.

Asbestos Litigation Record

Babcock & Wilcox is one of the most extensively named defendants in asbestos litigation, appearing in cases filed by Navy veterans and industrial workers across the country. The litigation record documents B&W’s Navy boiler supply contracts, asbestos insulation specifications, and the exposure pathways for engineering ratings working in B&W boiler rooms across the fleet.

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Babcock & Wilcox Products

VA evaluates asbestos-related disability claims on a case-by-case basis. Veterans generally need evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, a current asbestos-related diagnosis, and a medical link between them. Boiler Tenders and other engineering ratings who worked in B&W boiler rooms aboard Navy vessels and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.