The Fire Controlman (FC) rating — and its variant, Fire Control Technician (FT) — operated and maintained the ship’s fire control systems: the computers, directors, radars, switchboards, and circuit networks that aimed and fired the ship’s weapons. Fire Controlmen worked throughout the ship’s fire control spaces, plot rooms, and director platforms, servicing fire control switchboards with asbestos-containing backing panels and running through cable networks insulated with asbestos-containing materials.

Publicly filed asbestos litigation records document FC and FT exposure from fire control switchboard insulation, fire control cable circuits, and the fire control equipment spaces present on every combat vessel through the 1970s.

Documented Exposure Sources

Fire Control Switchboards — Asbestos Insulation

The most specifically documented FC asbestos exposure pathway in the publicly filed record is fire control switchboards:

Fire Control Cable Circuits

Fire control systems required dedicated cable runs throughout the ship — from plot rooms to directors to gun mounts — carrying targeting data, range inputs, and fire commands. These cable networks used the same asbestos-insulated cable as other Navy electrical systems through the 1970s.

Fire Control Equipment Spaces — Plot Rooms and Director Platforms

Fire control plot rooms — below-deck compartments where fire control computers and switchboards were installed — were enclosed spaces with limited ventilation. The deteriorating asbestos insulation on fire control switchboard backing panels in these confined spaces produced chronic ambient fiber exposure for FCs standing watch and performing maintenance.

Fire Control Radar Equipment

Rating History — FC, FT, and Variant Designators

The publicly filed corpus documents the Fire Controlman rating and its variants across multiple eras:

Ships and Shore Assignments

Fire Controlmen served aboard all weapons-capable surface ships — battleships, cruisers, destroyers, destroyer escorts, guided missile ships, and amphibious vessels. The Iowa-class battleships carried the most complex fire control systems of any Navy surface ship, with extensive switchboard and circuit networks serving main battery, secondary battery, and antiaircraft fire control.

Shore-duty FCs at naval weapons stations, naval gun factories, and Fleet Weapons training commands maintained fire control equipment in shore facility environments with the same asbestos-containing switchboard and cable infrastructure.

The Fire Controlman rating qualifies for VA service connection under VA asbestos-claim guidance based on documented hands-on maintenance of asbestos-backed fire control switchboards, work with asbestos-insulated fire control cable circuits, and watch-standing in enclosed plot rooms with deteriorating asbestos insulation.

Key documents for an FC claim:

  • DD-214 Block 11 — primary specialty showing FC or FT rate
  • Ship assignments — duty stations from DD-214 or NARA muster rolls
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Civil claims may run against fire control switchboard manufacturers (General Electric, Westinghouse, Sperry), cable manufacturers (Okonite, Essex Wire), and asbestos backing board manufacturers (Johns Manville, Eagle-Picher).

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Documented asbestos exposure information derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.