Buffalo Forge Company, through its Buffalo Pumps Division, was a major manufacturer of centrifugal pumps, fans, and blowers used extensively aboard United States Navy ships. Buffalo pumps — circulating water pumps, fuel oil service pumps, bilge pumps, and general service pumps — were installed in the engineering plants of destroyers, cruisers, and other Navy vessels. Buffalo Forge also manufactured centrifugal fans and blowers used for ventilation and forced-draft air supply to boiler rooms. Buffalo pumps sold to the Navy conformed to Navy procurement specifications and incorporated asbestos-containing gaskets and packing in their construction. Publicly filed asbestos litigation records document Buffalo Forge with its corporate division structure specifically identified, testimony that Buffalo Forge sold pumps with asbestos to the Navy, Navy conformity specification documentation, and specific inventory records naming Buffalo pumps alongside other pump manufacturers on Navy ships.

Documented Asbestos in Buffalo Forge Navy Equipment

Buffalo Forge Sold Pumps With Asbestos to the Navy

Buffalo Pumps Division — Corporate Identification

Pump Inventory — Named Count Aboard Ship

Denial Documentation — Context and Significance

Who Was Exposed to Buffalo Forge Pump Asbestos

  • Machinist’s Mates (MM) — the primary rating responsible for pump maintenance; replaced Buffalo pump gaskets and packing aboard ship
  • Machinery Repairmen (MR) — performed Buffalo pump overhaul and repair
  • Boiler Technicians (BT) — worked adjacent to Buffalo forced-draft fan equipment in the fireroom
  • Shipyard workers who installed Buffalo pumps and fans at naval and private shipyards

VA Claims and Legal Options — Buffalo Forge / Buffalo Pumps

Navy veterans who maintained or repaired Buffalo Forge pumps aboard Navy ships, and shipyard workers who installed or overhauled Buffalo pump equipment, who subsequently developed mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease may qualify for:

  • VA service connection under VA asbestos-claim guidance for veterans with engineering ratings documenting pump maintenance duties
  • Civil claims against Buffalo Forge Company successors based on failure to warn about asbestos in pump and fan equipment

Key documents:

  • DD-214 or service records — documenting MM, MR, or BT rating and ship assignments
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

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Exposure documentation derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records including testimony that Buffalo Forge sold pumps with asbestos to the Navy, Buffalo Pumps Division corporate identification, Navy conformity specification documentation, purpose-of-asbestos documentation in Buffalo pump construction, and specific shipboard pump inventory records naming Buffalo Forge alongside Worthington pumps. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.