Navy Damage Controlmen (DC) — the enlisted rating responsible for ship survivability, firefighting system maintenance, hull integrity, and damage control training — worked throughout naval vessels maintaining firefighting system piping, operating and maintaining dewatering pumps and portable firefighting equipment, repairing hull damage, and training ship crews in firefighting and flooding control procedures. DC ratings worked in all compartments of naval vessels as part of their pipe repair, firefighting system maintenance, and damage control inspection duties. The interior spaces of WWII-era and Cold War naval vessels were constructed with asbestos-containing pipe insulation on steam, hot water, and fuel piping throughout the ship; asbestos-containing bulkhead and overhead construction materials; and asbestos-containing firefighting equipment. Damage Controlmen accessing these spaces throughout the vessel accumulated asbestos exposure from the disturbed asbestos insulation encountered during pipe repair, damage assessment, and hull repair operations.

Pipe Repair and Firefighting System Maintenance

DC duties created direct asbestos exposure:

  • Pipe system repair operations — Damage Controlmen performing emergency pipe repairs and scheduled pipe system maintenance throughout naval vessel engineering spaces, accommodation spaces, and technical spaces worked with and disturbed asbestos pipe insulation covering steam, fuel, and hot water piping throughout the ship. Cutting, fitting, and replacing asbestos-covered pipe insulation during pipe repair operations released asbestos fiber into the confined spaces where DC ratings worked
  • Firefighting system piping maintenance — the firefighting system piping — including the fire main, foam system, and CO2 system piping — used asbestos-containing pipe insulation and asbestos gasket materials in pipe flange connections throughout naval vessels. Damage Controlmen maintaining these systems worked with asbestos-covered pipe runs throughout the ship’s firefighting distribution network
  • Asbestos firefighting protective equipment — firefighting protective equipment aboard WWII-era and early Cold War naval vessels included asbestos-containing firefighting suits, asbestos gloves, and asbestos hoods used by firefighting parties. DC ratings training crews in firefighting procedures and maintaining this equipment accumulated asbestos exposure from the asbestos protective gear in the damage control locker inventories

Hull Inspection and Repair Operations

DC hull repair work created asbestos exposure:

  • Void and cofferdam inspections — Damage Controlmen inspecting voids, cofferdams, and structural compartments throughout naval vessel hulls encountered asbestos-containing construction materials in the structural spaces, accumulating asbestos exposure during hull integrity inspections and confined space entry operations in spaces lined with asbestos-containing materials

VA Claims for Damage Controlmen

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels. Damage Controlmen who served aboard naval vessels with asbestos pipe insulation and asbestos firefighting equipment and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.