Gearing Class Destroyer (DD-710) — Asbestos in the WWII Fleet Destroyer

The Gearing class destroyers — 98 ships commissioned between 1945 and 1951, hull numbers DD-710 through DD-871 — were the final evolution of the WWII US fleet destroyer, representing the largest class of American destroyers built and forming the core of the Navy’s Cold War destroyer force for three decades. Gearing class destroyers were powered by four Babcock & Wilcox or Foster Wheeler high-pressure boilers generating steam for two sets of General Electric or Westinghouse geared turbines producing 60,000 shaft horsepower on two shafts. The class underwent extensive modernization through the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM I and FRAM II) programs in the 1960s, which updated the ships’ anti-submarine warfare systems while retaining the original steam propulsion plants and extending the destroyers’ service lives into the 1970s. Gearing class destroyers served as surface combatants, radar pickets, destroyer escorts, and anti-submarine warfare vessels throughout the Cold War, with many transferred to allied navies under the Military Assistance Program after US Navy service. The four-boiler steam propulsion plant throughout the Gearing class was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with WWII-era naval vessel construction, with Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates maintaining the asbestos-insulated steam plant throughout the class’s WWII and Cold War service.

Gearing Class Four-Boiler Steam Plant Asbestos

The Gearing class steam plant incorporated extensive asbestos insulation:

• Babcock & Wilcox and Foster Wheeler boiler casing insulation — the four high-pressure boilers in Gearing class 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 rope and cement at boiler header connections. Boiler Tenders maintaining the boilers during WWII combat operations, Korean War deployments, and Cold War patrols worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation in the Gearing class boiler rooms
• GE and Westinghouse turbine insulation — the main propulsion turbines in Gearing class engine rooms were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on the high-pressure steam admission lines and crossover piping. Machinist’s Mates tending and maintaining the turbines in Gearing class engine rooms worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout their propulsion plant watch standing
• High-pressure steam piping insulation — the main steam distribution systems connecting the four boilers to the turbines in Gearing class engineering spaces were insulated with asbestos block insulation and asbestos pipe covering along the full steam main run, with the steam manifolds and steam throttle connections incorporating heavy asbestos insulation at the high-temperature steam system components

FRAM Modernization and Asbestos

Gearing class FRAM modernizations occurred in asbestos-era shipyards:

• FRAM I and FRAM II shipyard work — the FRAM I and FRAM II modernizations performed on Gearing class destroyers at naval shipyards in the early 1960s involved substantial anti-submarine warfare system installation and superstructure modification work. The shipyard workers performing FRAM modernization work installed new equipment and systems using mid-1960s construction specifications and encountered the existing asbestos insulation in the Gearing class engineering plant and interior construction during the shipyard modification period
• Post-FRAM service with legacy asbestos — Gearing class destroyers that completed FRAM modernization continued service into the 1970s with the original WWII-era asbestos-insulated steam propulsion plant retained through the FRAM modernization, with the legacy asbestos insulation remaining in place throughout the post-FRAM service period

VA Claims for Gearing Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy destroyers. Boiler Tenders, Machinist’s Mates, and crew members who served aboard Gearing class destroyers 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.