Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNS), located on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, has provided ship repair and overhaul services for Pacific Fleet surface ships and submarines since before WWII — serving as the critical repair facility during and after the December 7, 1941 attack that destroyed and damaged much of the Pacific Fleet. PHNS repaired and returned to service the damaged battleships and vessels of the Pearl Harbor attack, conducted wartime repair of combat-damaged Pacific Fleet ships, and continued providing repair and intermediate-level maintenance for Pacific Fleet vessels throughout the Cold War. Military and civilian workers at PHNS accumulated asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing ships in the shipyard and from the shipyard’s own WWII-era infrastructure.

Ship Repair and Asbestos Exposure

PHNS ship repair work on Pacific Fleet ships generated significant asbestos exposure for shipyard workers:

  • Combat damage repair (WWII) — PHNS repair of Pearl Harbor attack-damaged battleships and other vessels involved work in the damaged ships’ engineering spaces, which contained extensive asbestos insulation in the standard WWII-era naval construction. Repair workers entering fire rooms and engine rooms of battle-damaged ships worked in the full asbestos-insulated environment of these spaces
  • Postwar and Cold War surface ship overhaul — PHNS intermediate maintenance and limited repair of Pacific Fleet destroyers, frigates, and auxiliary vessels involved engineering space maintenance work with asbestos-containing materials in the ships’ steam systems and structural insulation
  • Submarine maintenance — PHNS provided submarine intermediate maintenance, with shipyard workers performing maintenance in submarine engineering spaces that contained asbestos insulation in the secondary steam systems of Los Angeles class and earlier submarines

WWII-Era Shipyard Infrastructure

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard’s building complex includes WWII-era and earlier construction:

  • Pre-WWII and WWII-era shop buildings — PHNS shops and support buildings dating to the WWII period and earlier used asbestos-containing construction materials in building mechanical systems and industrial building construction
  • Historic attack site infrastructure — the original pre-attack PHNS building infrastructure represented pre-1941 military construction with materials from that era

Military Personnel at PHNS

Ship Repair Facility (SRF) military personnel assigned to PHNS billets worked in the shipyard environment alongside civilian shipyard trades:

  • Navy enlisted ratings in engineering and maintenance billets at PHNS performed shipboard maintenance and overhaul work in the ships’ engineering spaces during maintenance periods
  • Temporary additional duty (TAD) assignments brought ship’s force personnel to PHNS during their ship’s maintenance availability, with ship’s company working in their own ship’s engineering spaces alongside shipyard workers performing insulation and system maintenance

VA Claims for PHNS Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from shipyard work in Navy service. Military personnel assigned to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard billets who worked in or near shipboard asbestos-containing materials and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.