Sonarmen (SO rating) operated hull-mounted and towed sonar systems, operated underwater sound equipment, and coordinated anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations from the Combat Information Center (CIC) aboard Navy destroyers, destroyer escorts, and other ASW-capable surface combatants. While the SO rating’s primary work did not take place in engineering or boiler spaces, Sonarmen lived and worked aboard ships built with asbestos-containing materials in their berthing, working, and operations spaces.

Ship Construction and Asbestos Exposure

SO-rated sailors served primarily aboard destroyers, destroyer escorts, and frigates — vessel classes whose interior construction incorporated asbestos in the same locations as all contemporaneous Navy surface combatants:

  • Berthing compartments where Sonarmen slept and kept their personal gear were constructed using asbestos floor tile, asbestos overhead lagging, and bulkhead insulation standard in Navy destroyer construction through the 1970s
  • Combat Information Center (CIC) spaces — below-deck enclosed compartments adjacent to the ship’s machinery stack — incorporated asbestos pipe lagging on overhead steam lines and asbestos insulation on the bulkheads separating CIC from engineering spaces
  • Sonar equipment compartments housing the ship’s underwater sound equipment were enclosed spaces below the waterline with asbestos-containing construction materials in walls, overhead, and decking
  • Passageways and working spaces throughout the ship used asbestos-containing materials in deck tile and overhead construction

Damage Control Exposure

Sonarmen, like all Navy enlisted personnel, were assigned damage control stations and participated in required damage control drills. Damage control work — particularly hot work near steam systems — brought SO-rated sailors into contact with the asbestos insulation on steam pipes and machinery compartment surfaces that formed part of the ship’s normal construction.

AS V MK V and Other Sonar Gear

The ship-mounted sonar equipment operated by SO-rated sailors included associated electronics equipment with asbestos-containing insulation boards in electrical panels and switchgear consistent with the construction era of the vessels. Electronic equipment maintenance could release fiber from asbestos-containing insulating boards used in panel construction.

VA Claims for SO-Rated Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels for all ratings who served. SO-rated veterans who served aboard ASW surface combatants before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits. DD-214 records identifying SO (Sonarman) as a rating establish the occupational context for VA purposes.