Essex Class Aircraft Carrier (CV-9) — Asbestos in the Most Produced Fleet Carrier Class

The Essex class aircraft carriers — 24 ships commissioned between 1943 and 1950, hull numbers CV-9 through CV-47 — were the most produced fleet carrier class in history and provided the core striking power of the United States Navy from the late stages of World War II through the Cold War era. Essex class carriers were powered by eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers generating steam for four sets of Westinghouse or General Electric geared turbines producing 150,000 shaft horsepower — an eight-boiler propulsion plant of exceptional power and complexity. The class saw frontline combat service in the Pacific from 1943 through the end of World War II, participating in every major carrier engagement from the Gilbert Islands through the Japanese surrender, and continued as the backbone of the Cold War carrier force through extensive SCB-27 and SCB-125 modernization programs that produced the angled flight deck, enclosed hurricane bow, and jet aircraft capability configurations used into the 1970s and 1980s. The eight-boiler steam propulsion plant throughout the Essex class was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with WWII-era and postwar naval construction, with successive generations of Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates maintaining the asbestos-insulated steam plant through the class’s combat and Cold War service lives spanning the 1940s through the 1990s.

Essex Class Eight-Boiler Steam Plant Asbestos

The Essex class steam plant incorporated extensive asbestos throughout:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers in each Essex class carrier’s four boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces, asbestos pipe covering on boiler steam drum connections and superheater outlets, and asbestos cement, rope, and tape at boiler header and handhole plate connections. Boiler Tenders maintaining the boilers during WWII Pacific combat, Korean War operations, and Cold War deployments worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation in the carrier’s boiler rooms — with eight boilers creating an extensive asbestos-insulated surface area in the engineering plant
• Westinghouse and GE main turbine insulation — the main propulsion turbines in Essex class engine rooms were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on the high-pressure and low-pressure steam piping connecting the boilers to the turbines and exhausting to the condensers. Machinist’s Mates tending and maintaining the turbines in Essex class engine rooms worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout their propulsion plant watch standing on every deployment
• Main steam distribution system — the main steam distribution system connecting eight boilers to four turbine sets in each Essex class carrier required an extensive main steam piping arrangement insulated with asbestos block and pipe covering throughout the engineering spaces, with the steam manifolds, cross-connects, and auxiliary steam connections providing additional asbestos-insulated surface area throughout the carrier engineering plant

SCB Modernization Programs and Asbestos

Essex class SCB modernizations occurred during the heaviest asbestos construction period:

• SCB-27A and SCB-27C modernizations — the SCB-27A and SCB-27C flight deck modernizations performed at naval shipyards in the early 1950s involved substantial reconstruction of Essex class carriers’ flight decks, aviation systems, and island structures to enable jet aircraft operations. Shipyard workers performing these extensive modernizations installed asbestos-containing materials throughout the rebuilt and new construction areas consistent with early 1950s shipyard construction practice, adding to the asbestos content of the modernized carriers
• SCB-125 angled deck conversion — the SCB-125 angled deck conversions giving Essex class carriers the distinctive offset angled flight deck configuration involved further substantial shipyard reconstruction with asbestos-containing materials installed in the angled deck structure and associated systems modifications

VA Claims for Essex Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy aircraft carriers. Boiler Tenders, Machinist’s Mates, and crew members who served aboard Essex class aircraft carriers — CV-9 through CV-47 — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.

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.