Kingsbury Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the United States’ primary manufacturer of tilting-pad hydrodynamic thrust bearings for marine propulsion applications, holding the fundamental patents on the tilting-pad thrust bearing design that became the standard for naval propulsion systems. Kingsbury supplied the United States Navy with main propulsion thrust bearings — the bearings that absorb the propeller thrust load from the propeller shaft and transmit it to the ship’s hull — for installation in destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and auxiliary vessels throughout the mid-20th century. The Kingsbury thrust bearing is a critical propulsion component, receiving the full forward and astern propeller thrust load from the rotating propulsion shaft. Kingsbury thrust bearing assemblies were housed in bearing housing structures with oil-filled bearing chambers, with the bearing housing covers and oil seal retainer flanges sealed with asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials at the housing joint interfaces. Machinist’s Mates performing bearing housing inspections requiring cover removal, oil seal replacement requiring retainer flange separation, and bearing overhaul operations encountered and disturbed asbestos-containing gasket materials at the Kingsbury bearing housing joint faces during propulsion shaft bearing maintenance.

Thrust Bearing Housing Gasket Asbestos

Kingsbury thrust bearing housings incorporated asbestos gaskets at cover and flange joints:

  • Bearing housing cover gaskets — Kingsbury thrust bearing housings incorporated access covers providing internal access for bearing inspection and lubrication system servicing, with the housing cover joints sealed by asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials. Machinist’s Mates removing Kingsbury bearing housing covers for periodic bearing inspection and lubrication system maintenance encountered and replaced the asbestos compressed gasket at the housing cover joint face during each cover removal operation
  • Oil seal retainer flange gaskets — Kingsbury thrust bearing housings used oil seal retainer flanges at the shaft entry points into the bearing housing, sealed with asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials at the retainer flange faces. Machinist’s Mates replacing shaft entry oil seals in Kingsbury bearing housings required retainer flange removal, disturbing the asbestos-containing retainer flange gasket material during the seal replacement process
  • Bearing housing drain and vent connection gaskets — bearing housing drain, vent, and inspection port connections incorporated asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials at the connection flange faces. Machinist’s Mates servicing bearing housing drain and vent connections encountered asbestos gasket materials at the small connection flanges during bearing housing service operations

Propulsion Shaft Bearing Oil System Asbestos

Kingsbury bearing lubrication systems incorporated asbestos in associated piping:

  • Bearing lubrication oil piping flange gaskets — the lube oil piping supplying and draining the Kingsbury thrust bearing lubrication oil system incorporated asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials at flanged pipe connections in the bearing lube oil system. Machinist’s Mates maintaining the Kingsbury bearing lube oil system — separating flanged joints for piping maintenance or lube oil system component replacement — encountered asbestos gasket materials at lube oil system piping flange connections

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Kingsbury Products

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from Navy propulsion system maintenance. Machinist’s Mates who performed propulsion shaft thrust bearing maintenance on Kingsbury bearing installations in naval vessel engineering spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.