Boatswain’s Mates (BM) served as the Navy’s seamanship specialists, responsible for deck seamanship operations, rigging, line handling, anchoring, mooring, small boat operations, and topside maintenance aboard Navy vessels. BMs worked primarily on the weather decks and in the ship’s deck division spaces, but lived in crew berthing and moved throughout the ship’s interior — spaces built with asbestos-containing materials throughout pre-1975 Navy vessel construction. While BMs did not typically have engineering space duties, their sustained presence in the asbestos-containing interior of Navy ships created significant cumulative exposure for this common rating.

Shipboard Interior Exposure

Boatswain’s Mates lived and worked in the full interior of pre-1975 Navy vessels where asbestos was present in all interior construction:

  • Crew berthing compartments — BMs slept in berthing spaces built with asbestos floor tile, overhead lagging, and bulkhead insulation throughout pre-1975 ship interiors. Extended shipboard service accumulated sustained daily exposure in berthing spaces where aging asbestos-containing materials were present overhead and underfoot
  • Mess decks and galley passageways — BMs ate in mess decks built with asbestos floor tile and overhead lagging in the same interior construction pattern as all other shipboard spaces
  • Bosun’s Locker and deck storage spaces — the bosun’s locker and topside equipment storage spaces aboard ship were built within the asbestos-containing hull structure, using the same interior construction materials
  • Underway replenishment deck operations — BMs performing line handling and rigging work during underway replenishment alongside fuel and ammunition ships were on the weather deck, but shipboard service in port and at anchor returned them to the asbestos-containing interior throughout each tour

Asbestos Rope and Line

Some older Navy rope and line inventories in the immediate postwar period included asbestos rope for high-temperature applications — heat-resistant lashing for hot equipment, cargo lashing near engine exhausts, and similar applications where asbestos rope was the standard fire-resistant line material. BMs maintaining these line inventories and handling asbestos rope in deck storage had direct contact with asbestos-containing line.

Large Ship and Carrier BM Exposure

BMs aboard carriers and large amphibious vessels — where deck divisions were large and berthing spaces extensive — accumulated asbestos exposure from the large-scale asbestos-containing interior construction of carrier hull interiors throughout their shipboard tours. Carrier deck divisions typically included 50-100 BMs living in berthing compartments built with asbestos floor tile and overhead lagging throughout the carrier hull.

VA Claims for BM Rating Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure for Navy veterans who served aboard vessels built before the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down. Boatswain’s Mates who served aboard pre-1975 vessels and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits based on the asbestos-containing interior construction of the vessels where they served.