Crane Co., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, was the predominant manufacturer of industrial valves, pipe fittings, and steam system components supplied to the US Navy throughout World War II and the Cold War. Crane’s gate valves, globe valves, check valves, and pressure-reducing valves were installed throughout Navy engineering plants on steam service lines, seawater cooling systems, feedwater systems, and auxiliary steam distribution — making Crane valve components among the most ubiquitous Navy-supplied equipment across all vessel classes.

Asbestos in Crane Valve Components

Crane steam service valves were designed to use asbestos packing as the standard stem sealing material through the 1970s:

  • Valve stem packing — braided asbestos packing compressed into the valve stuffing box around the valve stem, sealing against steam leakage on gate and globe valves throughout the steam plant. Valve stem packing was the most commonly replaced asbestos-containing component in Navy engineering plants, requiring replacement whenever valves leaked at the stem
  • Valve bonnet gaskets — asbestos sheet or spiral wound gaskets sealing the valve bonnet to the valve body, disturbed whenever valve bonnets were removed for internal maintenance or packing replacement
  • Valve body-to-flange gaskets at valve inlet and outlet connections to the piping system, using asbestos sheet or spiral wound gaskets at the flange connections throughout the steam plant
  • Pressure-reducing valve (PRV) internals — Crane PRVs used in steam pressure reduction service used asbestos-containing internal packing and seat gaskets requiring periodic replacement

Valve Packing as the Most Common Asbestos Maintenance Task

Valve stem packing replacement was a routine maintenance task performed throughout the engineering plant on an ongoing basis throughout any steaming period. Steam service valves leaked at the stem over time as packing compressed and deteriorated, requiring tightening or replacement of asbestos packing as an ongoing engineering maintenance function. Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates performed this task throughout their engineering watches:

  • Tightening valve gland nuts to compress worn asbestos packing — a routine task performed by engineering ratings during normal steaming operations when valves began weeping at the stem
  • Packing replacement — removing old asbestos packing from the stuffing box, cutting new packing rings from asbestos packing stock, and installing the new packing — a task generating asbestos fiber during the cutting and installation process
  • Overhaul valve servicing during shipyard availability periods involved systematic valve overhaul across the entire steam plant, requiring removal and replacement of all asbestos packing and gaskets

Class-Wide and Fleet-Wide Supply

Crane’s Navy supply relationship covered the entire US fleet across all vessel classes from destroyers to battleships and carriers. Crane valve equipment was installed during ship construction at all major Navy shipyards — Newport News, Bath Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel, Federal Shipbuilding, Electric Boat — making Crane valve packing exposure a fleet-wide phenomenon applicable to engineering personnel across all vessel types and classes.

Crane in the Asbestos Litigation Record

Crane Co. is one of the most extensively named defendants in asbestos litigation, appearing in cases filed by Navy veterans documenting valve packing maintenance as the primary asbestos exposure pathway in Navy engineering spaces. The litigation record extensively documents Crane’s asbestos packing specifications, Navy supply contracts, and the ubiquity of their valve equipment across the fleet.

VA Claims

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from valve maintenance in Navy engineering plants. Boiler Tenders, Machinist’s Mates, and other engineering ratings who performed valve packing replacement and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.