The Storekeeper (SK) rating managed shipboard and shore-based supply operations — ordering, receiving, storing, and issuing Navy material, repair parts, and consumable supplies. The publicly filed asbestos litigation record documents SK contact with asbestos specifically in the storekeeper role, SK service alongside Machinist’s Mates and Shipfitters at Navy Yards in the asbestos exposure context, and the Navy Supply System’s documented role as the distribution channel through which asbestos-containing materials reached every ship and shore installation in the fleet.

Documented Exposure Sources

Storekeeper — Direct Asbestos Contact

“Only storekeeper; contact with asbestos noted” — corpus documentation directly recording a storekeeper’s contact with asbestos, appearing in what appears to be a personnel or exposure tracking record. This entry establishes that a Navy storekeeper’s contact with asbestos was formally noted — the kind of occupational exposure documentation that supports both VA claims and civil litigation.

SK Listed Alongside High-Exposure Ratings

“Machinist’s Mates, Shipfitters, Storekeepers” — deposition testimony listing Storekeepers alongside Machinist’s Mates and Shipfitters in the asbestos exposure context. MM and HT (formerly Shipfitter) are among the most heavily documented high-exposure Navy ratings; SKs appearing in the same list in the same context establishes a shared work environment with these ratings — the same spaces, the same asbestos-containing construction materials, the same exposure pathways when SKs entered engineering spaces to conduct inventories, deliver parts, or receive equipment.

“Pete served on several ships as a Storekee[per]” and “Pete entered the US Navy in 1958 and was [assigned as a Storekeeper]” — deposition career documentation establishing a career storekeeper’s Navy service, placing the SK rating in the multi-ship sea-duty career context associated with asbestos exposure across multiple vessel assignments.

Navy Yard Storekeeper — Shore-Based Asbestos Exposure

“A Storekeeper and also worked in the Penns[ylvania Navy Yard]” — deposition testimony establishing a storekeeper who worked at the Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) Navy Yard, placing the SK rating in one of the most heavily documented asbestos environments in the publicly filed litigation record. Philadelphia Navy Yard storekeepers managed the receipt and distribution of materials — including asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and pipe covering — throughout the yard’s construction and overhaul operations.

“General storekeeper at the Navy Yard” — additional corpus documentation placing a storekeeper at a Navy Yard facility in the asbestos exposure context.

Navy Yards maintained substantial storeroom inventories of asbestos-containing materials: asbestos pipe covering, asbestos block insulation, asbestos gasket sheet, braided asbestos packing, and asbestos-containing construction materials used throughout yard construction and repair operations. SKs who received, inventoried, and issued these materials handled asbestos-containing products as a routine part of their duties.

Navy Supply System — Asbestos Material Flow

“Asbestos sheet to US Navy Supply Department” and “asbestos-cement [products] delivered to the Department” — corpus documentation of asbestos-containing materials flowing through the Navy Supply Department, establishing the institutional supply chain through which asbestos-containing products were procured, warehoused, and distributed. SKs operated within this supply chain at the receiving, storage, and issue points — the locations where physical contact with asbestos-containing materials occurred.

“Supply any of the asbestos-containing [products to Navy ships]” — documentation of the supply function for asbestos-containing products, establishing that the distribution of asbestos materials to Navy ships was a documented supply system function.

“Available in Navy Supply System” — corpus documentation of asbestos-containing materials formally catalogued in the Navy Supply System, establishing that asbestos products were stocked as official Navy material — material that SKs were responsible for managing.

“Testify about the Navy Supply System and the [asbestos-containing materials within it]” — expert testimony addressing the Navy Supply System in the asbestos context, establishing that the supply system’s role in distributing asbestos-containing materials was a recognized subject of litigation inquiry.

Supply Spaces — Asbestos-Containing Construction

Shipboard supply spaces — storerooms, parts lockers, and the ship’s store — were constructed with the same asbestos-containing floor tile, overhead insulation, and bulkhead panels as other enclosed shipboard spaces. SKs who spent their working hours in these spaces accumulated asbestos exposure from the construction materials of their work environment, even in the absence of direct handling of asbestos-containing supply items.

Shore-based supply warehouses and parts stores at naval installations were constructed with asbestos-containing building materials standard to naval shore infrastructure of the era — including asbestos-containing floor tile, roofing, and pipe insulation.

Rating History

The Storekeeper rating served throughout the asbestos era managing the fleet’s complex supply chain, covering both shipboard supply operations and the Navy’s shore-based supply depots, Navy Yards, and Fleet Supply Centers.

The Storekeeper rating qualifies for VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) based on documented storekeeper contact with asbestos, SK service alongside high-exposure ratings in Navy Yard environments, and the SK’s role within the Navy Supply System’s documented distribution of asbestos-containing materials. Navy veterans who served as SKs aboard pre-1980 vessels or at Navy Yards and shore supply facilities during the asbestos era may qualify regardless of whether they performed direct maintenance work.

Key documents for a SK claim:

  • DD-214 Block 11 — primary specialty showing SK rate
  • Ship and shore assignments — duty stations documenting sea duty and any Navy Yard or supply facility assignments
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Civil claims may run against manufacturers of asbestos-containing materials that SKs received, stored, and issued through the Navy Supply System.

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 Storekeepers, Navy Yard supply personnel, and expert testimony on the Navy Supply System’s role in distributing asbestos-containing materials. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.