Navy Fire Controlmen (FC) — the enlisted rating responsible for maintaining gun fire control systems, fire control radar directors, weapons control computers, and associated tracking and targeting equipment — served aboard destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers, and other surface combatants where gun fire control systems were installed. FC ratings maintained the gun fire control directors mounted on ship masts and superstructures, the fire control computers in the combat information center and fire control rooms, the associated radar systems providing tracking data to the fire control computers, and the electrical and data transmission systems linking the fire control system components throughout the ship. Fire Controlmen performing maintenance on gun directors and fire control equipment worked in director mounts, fire control equipment rooms, and combat system spaces throughout the ship. The fire control equipment rooms and the ship’s interior spaces where FC ratings worked incorporated asbestos-containing materials in the space construction, and the wiring throughout the fire control system used asbestos-containing electrical cable insulation throughout the system wiring runs.

Fire Control Equipment Electrical Wiring Asbestos

FC ratings working with fire control system wiring encountered asbestos electrical insulation:

  • Fire control system wiring asbestos insulation — the electrical wiring throughout gun fire control systems in WWII-era and Cold War Navy ships — connecting directors to computers, computers to gun mounts, and radar systems to fire control processors — used asbestos-containing electrical cable insulation throughout the system wiring. Fire Controlmen performing wiring maintenance, cable replacement, and electrical connection work in fire control systems handled asbestos-insulated electrical cable, with cable cutting, stripping, and termination operations disturbing the asbestos cable insulation and releasing asbestos fiber at the termination work area during each wiring maintenance job
  • Director mount wiring access — Fire Controlmen performing maintenance inside gun director mount assemblies — working in the confined interior of radar director mounts to perform servo maintenance, synchro replacement, and radar component work — worked in the confined director interior spaces where asbestos-insulated wiring was routed throughout the director mechanism

Fire Control Equipment Housing Asbestos

Fire control computers and director equipment incorporated asbestos in component materials:

  • Mark 37 and Mark 56 fire control director maintenance — the Mark 37 gun fire control director (used on destroyers and cruisers) and Mark 56 director (successor for 3-inch/50 gun control) required periodic internal maintenance by Fire Controlmen working inside the director mount assembly. These director systems incorporated asbestos-containing insulation in internal electrical components and wiring consistent with mid-century fire control equipment construction
  • Analog fire control computer maintenance — Ford Instrument and other analog fire control computers maintained by Fire Controlmen incorporated asbestos-containing electrical insulation in the dense internal wiring assemblies of the computing mechanisms. FC ratings performing component-level maintenance on fire control computers worked in proximity to and handled the internal wiring during maintenance operations on the fire control computing equipment

Shipboard Fire Control Space Construction Asbestos

FC ratings accumulated background asbestos exposure from fire control space construction:

  • Fire control equipment room construction — the dedicated fire control equipment rooms, plotting rooms, and combat information center spaces aboard naval surface combatants where FC ratings performed equipment maintenance were constructed using Navy ship interior construction materials with asbestos-containing floor tile, overhead materials, and pipe insulation in the space construction. Fire Controlmen working daily in these fire control spaces accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing space construction throughout their assignments

VA Claims for Fire Controlmen

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy surface combatants. Fire Controlmen who maintained gun fire control systems and directors in naval vessel fire control and combat system spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.