Cleveland Class (CL) Light Cruisers — Asbestos in WWII Cruisers

The Cleveland class light cruisers — 27 hulls (CL-55 through CL-154, non-consecutive) built between 1940 and 1946 at New York Shipbuilding (Camden, NJ), Newport News Shipbuilding, Bethlehem Steel, and Cramp Shipbuilding — were the most numerous cruiser class in US Navy history and a cornerstone of the WWII surface force. Cleveland class cruisers used four General Electric steam turbines producing 100,000 shaft horsepower with four Babcock & Wilcox boilers operating at 565 PSI / 850°F. Their engineering plant — four firerooms and four engine rooms — required the same comprehensive asbestos insulation as all other WWII-era steam-powered Navy combatants, applied at a scale commensurate with a 600-foot cruiser hull.

Steam Plant and Asbestos in Cleveland Engineering Spaces

The Cleveland class four-boiler, four-turbine plant required asbestos insulation throughout the engineering plant in the same pattern as other WWII steam-powered designs:

• Four B&W boilers in four firerooms with asbestos block, sectional covering, and cement on boiler casings, steam drums, superheater sections, and uptakes
• Four GE steam turbine sets in four engine rooms with asbestos block insulation on turbine casings and high-temperature exhaust connections
• Main steam piping at 565 PSI from firerooms to engine rooms — asbestos block lagging and lagging cloth throughout the engineering spaces
• Auxiliary steam systems serving the cruiser’s hotel load for 1,200-man crews using asbestos-insulated pipe in laundry, galley, and domestic systems throughout the hull
• Interior construction in crew berthing, divisional spaces, and officer quarters throughout the cruiser hull using asbestos floor tile, overhead lagging, and bulkhead insulation

Conversion to Guided Missile Cruisers

Several Cleveland class hulls were converted to guided missile cruisers (CLG) in the late 1950s and early 1960s under the Galveston, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock conversion programs. These CLG conversions involved significant shipyard work in which the original steam propulsion plant was retained while the aft hull was rebuilt to accommodate Talos or Terrier guided missile systems. The original asbestos-insulated propulsion plant remained in place through these conversions, and the shipyard conversion work involved insulation trades stripping and replacing asbestos insulation during the rebuild.

Class-Wide Service Record

Cleveland class cruisers served through World War II in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters and remained in commission through the Korean War era. Many hulls were placed in reserve after Korea, with some reactivated for the CLG conversion programs in the late 1950s. Cleveland class veterans who served during any period of active commission accumulated asbestos exposure from the original WWII-era engineering plant construction.

VA Claims for Cleveland Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy cruisers. Veterans who served aboard Cleveland class light cruisers or their CLG conversions and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits. DD-214 records identifying a CL or CLG hull number as a duty station document the qualifying assignment.

Source notes: equipment-manifest entries (where shown) are sourced from public-record BUSHIPS (Bureau of Ships) documentation, NARA archives, and the public asbestos litigation record. Manufacturer attributions link to documented asbestos-product histories on AsbestosIndex.com where available. Nothing on this page constitutes medical or legal advice.