Mess Management Specialists — MSs, formerly designated Commissarymen (CS) and Ship’s Cooks (SC) in earlier rating nomenclature — prepared meals, managed food service operations, and operated galleys aboard Navy ships and at naval installation food service facilities. MS billets aboard surface ships placed these personnel in the ship’s galley throughout every working day, operating steam-heated cooking equipment connected to the ship’s auxiliary steam system — a direct and prolonged daily exposure pathway to asbestos-insulated steam equipment in vessels built with asbestos construction.

Galley Steam Equipment and Asbestos

The shipboard galley relied on steam-powered cooking and food service equipment connected to the ship’s auxiliary steam system:

  • Steam-jacketed kettles — large cooking kettles heated by steam jackets connected to the ship’s auxiliary steam system were the primary cooking vessels for large-quantity meal preparation. Steam supply piping to the kettles used asbestos pipe covering in ships built before the mid-1970s phase-down. MSs working at the kettles throughout each meal preparation period were in immediate proximity to asbestos-insulated steam fittings at the kettle steam supply connections
  • Steam ovens — steam ovens and combination steam-convection ovens used steam heating with asbestos-insulated steam supply piping in galley equipment of the era. Steam oven door seals used asbestos rope gaskets in older equipment to provide the thermal seal at the oven door perimeter
  • Steam-heated serving lines — steam-heated food serving tables and warming pans maintained food temperature using steam-heated cavities connected to the auxiliary steam system, with asbestos-insulated steam supply piping at serving line equipment connections
  • Steam dishwashing equipment — commercial dishwashing equipment used steam sanitizing cycles and steam-heated wash water, with asbestos-insulated steam supply connections at the dishwasher steam inlet

Continuous Daily Galley Exposure

Unlike engineering ratings who rotated through watch sections and had off-watch time away from engineering spaces, MSs assigned to galley billets worked continuous duty hours in the galley — daily exposure to the galley’s steam equipment environment throughout the workday on every underway day:

  • MS working hours during underway operations covered meal preparation for all three daily meals plus cleaning and preparation for subsequent meals, resulting in galley-environment exposure for 10-12 hours per day during underway periods
  • The proximity of MSs to steam-heated cooking equipment placed them immediately adjacent to asbestos-insulated steam connections throughout their working hours

MSs assigned to shore duty at naval station galleys and mess halls worked in building facilities with asbestos-containing construction materials — steam-heated serving lines and cooking equipment in shore-based galleys with asbestos-insulated steam piping in the building steam distribution systems.

VA Claims for MS Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels. Mess Management Specialists and their predecessor ratings (Commissaryman, Ship’s Cook) who served in galley billets aboard surface ships built before the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.