For Post Service Officers, post leadership, and members’ families.
Many VFW and American Legion members served aboard Navy or Coast Guard ships in the decades when asbestos lined nearly every engineering space — and asbestos disease can take 20 to 40 years to appear. navyshipexposure.com is a free, non-commercial reference that documents, ship by ship, each vessel’s service history and — from public BUSHIPS, NARA, and DANFS records — where asbestos-containing materials were used aboard. There is no sign-up, no paywall, and nothing to buy.
How a Post Service Officer can use it
When a member has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease, the hard part is often recalling — decades later — where they served and what they worked around. Look up the member’s ship on the site and you’ll find a plain-language record of where asbestos was used aboard that class of vessel and which shipboard jobs put sailors closest to it — a legitimate starting point for a veteran trying to piece together their own history.
What this is — and isn’t
This is strictly a records reference, for veterans and families looking for answers. We do not handle or help process VA disability claims — the VA-accredited Veterans Service Organizations (DAV, VFW, the American Legion) do that for free, and our own Veterans Guide lays out both tracks. Separately, many mesothelioma law firms can advise whether a civil claim against the manufacturers of the asbestos products is available. Our part is just the records.
What’s on the site
- A page for essentially every U.S. Navy ship, plus Coast Guard cutters and the Liberty/Victory ships with Navy Armed Guard crews
- Class overview pages (destroyers, submarines, escort carriers, battleships, and more) that link to every ship in the class
- Each ship’s service history and the documented shipboard asbestos-exposure record for its era
- A plain-language Veterans Guide to both tracks — VA benefits (via free VA-accredited VSOs) and a civil claim against the asbestos manufacturers
Look up a ship
Scan the code, or visit navyshipexposure.com and search by ship name or hull number.
Post it, print it, share it
You’re welcome to print this page for your post’s bulletin board, mention the reference in your post newsletter, or pass it to members and families researching a ship. We’re glad to send a short blurb in whatever format your post prefers.
If a member was diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease after asbestos exposure aboard a Navy or Coast Guard ship, they and their family have two separate options worth looking into: an accredited VSO can help with VA disability benefits, and a mesothelioma law firm can advise whether a civil claim against the manufacturers of the asbestos products is available. Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 237-6461
In full transparency about who we are: RightsWatch Media is an independent publisher, not a law firm — our navy asbestos-exposure pages are sponsored by a mesothelioma law firm, which is how we’re able to offer them free. This is a records reference, not legal or medical advice, and there is nothing your post or its members need to sign up for.