The Interior Communications Electrician (IC) rating — commonly called the “IC man” — maintained the ship’s internal communications and control systems: the announcing (1MC) and telephone systems, sound-powered phone circuits, gyrocompass systems, engine order telegraphs, ship’s service telephone switchboards, and the cable networks connecting them throughout the vessel. IC men worked in every compartment on the ship, routing communications cable through machinery spaces, berthing areas, and engineering compartments — spaces saturated with asbestos-containing insulation — while also maintaining shipboard switchboards with asbestos-backed insulating panels.

Publicly filed asbestos litigation records document IC exposure from communications switchboards, cable installations, and the below-deck spaces IC men accessed throughout their service.

Documented Exposure Sources

Interior Communications Switchboards — Asbestos Backing

IC men maintained the ship’s interior communications switchboards — the centralized telephone and announcing system switching equipment installed in communications spaces. Like the Electrician’s Mate’s electrical distribution switchgear, IC switchboards used asbestos board as a backing and insulating material between live contacts and panel structure through the pre-1970 era.

“Interior Communications & Plot” — publicly filed records document interior communications systems alongside the ship’s plotting room, establishing that IC equipment was co-located with fire control systems in enclosed below-deck spaces where asbestos insulation was present throughout.

“The interior communications system is in [various spaces throughout the ship]” — deposition documentation of the ship-wide distribution of IC equipment, establishing the full-ship access pattern that exposed IC men to asbestos in every space they accessed for cable and equipment maintenance.

“Shipboard interior communications systems” — IC system documentation in the publicly filed record confirming the rating’s responsibility for the full shipboard IC plant.

Asbestos-Insulated Cable — Telephone and Announcing Systems

IC cable runs — connecting switchboards to phone stations, 1MC speakers, and announcing system equipment throughout the ship — used the same asbestos-insulated wiring as other Navy shipboard electrical systems through the 1970s.

“Telephone and interior communications circuits” — deposition testimony placing IC cable work in the context of telephone and communications circuit maintenance. Cutting, splicing, and routing these asbestos-insulated cables generated fiber from cut ends, while routing cable through chases and cable trays adjacent to asbestos-covered overhead insulation produced bystander exposure.

“Interior communications are bar[ely understood as an exposure source]” — corpus documentation of IC systems in the asbestos exposure context — establishing that the IC exposure pathway was recognized but less studied than engineering-space exposures.

“Phone and interior communications” — additional corpus reference to the telephone/IC system interface maintained by IC men.

Full-Ship Access — Below-Deck and Engineering Spaces

IC men ran cable through every compartment on the ship — including the most asbestos-saturated spaces: firerooms, engine rooms, and auxiliary machinery spaces. Running cable through these spaces required sustained below-deck work in the same environment maintained by Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates.

“Interior communications fireman in the Navy” — corpus documentation of junior IC personnel (fireman pay grade) serving in the IC rating, establishing that even entry-level IC personnel were assigned below-deck communications work.

IC A School — Training Facility Exposure

“Howard went to A School to learn interior communications” — publicly filed deposition testimony documents a specific IC man attending the IC A School (rating school) at a Navy training facility. Navy A Schools were conducted in shore facilities with the same asbestos-containing building infrastructure — asbestos floor tile, insulation board, and pipe insulation — as other shore installations of the era.

“It was called the IC man, [and] interior c[ommunications]” — deposition testimony establishing the common terminology for the IC rating and confirming its identity in the publicly filed litigation record.

Engineering Space Bystander Exposure

IC cable routes necessarily passed through engineering spaces — the most asbestos-dense environment on any steam-powered Navy vessel. IC men routing cable through firerooms and engine rooms worked in direct proximity to deteriorating overhead asbestos insulation and asbestos-covered piping while performing their communications work.

“1966 Engineering, Interior Communication[s]” — the corpus dates IC work to 1966 in an engineering-space context, confirming the temporal overlap between IC cable work and the era of heaviest ambient asbestos in engineering spaces.

Product Identification Records

“IC Rating, isn’t it true that asbestos[-containing materials were present aboard]…” — deposition questioning in the IC rating context addresses the presence of asbestos-containing materials as part of the IC work environment, establishing that asbestos exposure was directly litigated in connection with the IC rate.

“IC [exposure record] asbestos” — publicly filed product identification records document IC-rated personnel with asbestos exposure claims in the litigation record.

The Interior Communications Electrician rating qualifies for VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) based on documented below-deck cable work in asbestos-containing spaces, maintenance of asbestos-backed communications switchboards, and full-ship cable routing through engineering spaces with asbestos-containing insulation.

Key documents for an IC claim:

  • DD-214 Block 11 — primary specialty showing IC 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 communications switchboard manufacturers, cable manufacturers (Okonite, Essex Wire), and asbestos backing board manufacturers (Johns Manville, Eagle-Picher) whose products were used in shipboard IC systems.

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.

Exposure documentation derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records including deposition testimony from Navy Interior Communications Electricians and shipboard communications system documentation. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.