General Cable Corporation, one of the largest wire and cable manufacturers in the United States, supplied the US Navy with electrical wire and cable for shipboard power distribution systems, motor control circuits, and communications wiring applications throughout the WWII and early Cold War era. General Cable’s product line included asbestos-insulated cable designed for use in high-temperature marine and industrial applications, with the asbestos insulation providing thermal resistance for electrical cable installed in the heat of Navy engineering spaces. Navy Electrician’s Mates and Interior Communications Electricians working with General Cable asbestos-insulated products during ship construction, overhaul, and rewiring operations accumulated asbestos exposure from fiber released during cable cutting and termination operations.

Asbestos in General Cable Naval Products

General Cable’s electrical cable incorporated asbestos insulation for naval applications:

  • High-temperature electrical cable — General Cable’s shipboard electrical cable for high-temperature engineering space applications used asbestos fiber insulation to provide the thermal resistance required by Navy specifications for cable in machinery spaces. Cutting and stripping these cables during installation or repair released asbestos fiber from the cable insulation at the cut ends
  • Asbestos-braided cable jacket — the protective outer jacket on General Cable’s naval cable products of the WWII and early Cold War era used asbestos fiber in the braided jacket construction, with abrasion and cutting of these cables during routing and installation releasing asbestos fiber from the outer jacket material
  • Marine-rated control cable — the motor control and instrumentation cable supplied by General Cable for Navy ship auxiliary machinery control circuits used asbestos-containing insulation consistent with Navy specifications for marine-rated electrical cable in the period

Shipboard Electrical Work and Asbestos Exposure

Electrician’s Mates working with asbestos-insulated cable accumulated exposure:

  • Engineering space cable runs — Navy Electrician’s Mates pulling General Cable and other asbestos-insulated cable through engineering space cable ways during shipboard rewiring worked in confined spaces where asbestos fiber from cable insulation accumulated at points of abrasion in the cable routing
  • Shipyard overhaul electrical work — during shipyard overhauls, electricians cutting and replacing runs of asbestos-insulated General Cable products encountered asbestos fiber from deteriorated insulation on older cable as well as from newly cut replacement cable ends during the cable replacement operations

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to General Cable 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. Electrician’s Mates and Interior Communications Electricians who worked with asbestos-insulated electrical wire and cable aboard Navy ships and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.