Navy Interior Communications Electricians (IC) — the enlisted rating responsible for maintaining the ship’s internal communications network, gyrocompass and stabilization systems, engine order telegraph and announcing systems, and associated electrical and electronic equipment — performed maintenance throughout the interior of naval vessels, working in every space where IC equipment was installed. IC ratings maintained gyrocompasses in gyro rooms, ship’s service telephones and announcing systems in crew spaces and engineering spaces, engine order telegraphs on the bridge and in engine rooms, and battle lookout reporting systems throughout the ship. The wiring and electrical components throughout WWII-era and Cold War Navy ships used asbestos-containing electrical cable insulation on the wiring throughout the ship’s interior, and IC Electricians working with and around the ship’s interior wiring throughout the vessel accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing electrical insulation on wiring throughout the spaces where they worked. IC ratings working in confined spaces such as void compartments, cable trunk spaces, and equipment rooms to perform wiring maintenance and equipment installation worked in enclosed spaces where asbestos-insulated electrical cable was the standard wiring throughout.

Shipboard Electrical Wiring and Cable Insulation Asbestos

IC ratings working throughout the ship encountered asbestos electrical cable insulation:

  • Asbestos-insulated electrical cable throughout ship interior — WWII-era and Cold War Navy ships used electrical cable with asbestos-containing insulation as the standard shipboard wiring throughout the vessel — in crew spaces, engineering spaces, combat system spaces, and throughout cable trunk routing. IC Electricians maintaining and repairing shipboard wiring, pulling new cable through cable trunks, and splicing and terminating electrical cables in ship’s spaces handled asbestos-insulated electrical cable throughout their maintenance work. Cutting, stripping, and terminating asbestos-insulated cable disturbed the asbestos cable insulation and released asbestos fiber at the termination work area during each wiring maintenance job
  • Cable trunk and conduit routing access — IC ratings routing wiring through ship’s cable trunks and conduit systems worked in confined cable routing spaces where asbestos-insulated electrical cable was bundled throughout the cable runs. The friction and disturbance of moving new cables through tight cable trunk bundles of existing asbestos-insulated cable released asbestos fiber from the disturbed insulation surfaces throughout the cable routing operation

Gyrocompass System Maintenance Asbestos

IC ratings maintaining gyrocompass systems encountered asbestos-containing equipment materials:

  • Gyrocompass equipment housing insulation — gyrocompass systems installed in Navy ship gyro rooms used precision electro-mechanical instruments with housing and component materials that incorporated asbestos-containing insulation in some internal electrical components in mid-century manufacture. IC Electricians performing gyrocompass maintenance and calibration operations in ship’s gyro rooms worked with gyrocompass equipment incorporating asbestos-containing internal component materials
  • Gyro room construction and thermal insulation — gyro rooms aboard naval vessels housing precision gyrocompass and navigation systems incorporated insulation on gyro room bulkheads and overhead to provide thermal stability for the sensitive gyroscopic instruments, with some gyro room thermal insulation incorporating asbestos-containing materials in the room construction

Fire Control and Announcing System Maintenance

IC ratings maintaining fire control and announcing systems worked in asbestos-containing spaces:

  • Ship’s control and CIC space wiring — IC Electricians maintaining ship’s control systems and announcing systems in bridge, pilothouse, and combat information center spaces worked throughout the asbestos-containing construction of these ship interior spaces, accumulating background asbestos exposure from the ship’s interior construction materials in the control spaces

VA Claims for Interior Communications Electricians

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels. Interior Communications Electricians who worked with asbestos-insulated electrical cable and maintained shipboard communications and navigation equipment in naval vessel spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.