Iowa Class Battleship (BB-61) — Asbestos in the Navy's Last Battleships

The Iowa class battleships — BB-61 USS Iowa, BB-62 USS New Jersey, BB-63 USS Missouri, and BB-64 USS Wisconsin — were the largest, most powerful, and last battleships commissioned by the United States Navy. Built between 1940 and 1944 and displacing 57,000 tons at full load, the Iowa class ships carried nine 16-inch/50 caliber guns in three triple turrets, twelve 5-inch/38 caliber secondary guns, and extensive anti-aircraft batteries. All four ships served in World War II, three served in Korea (Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin), and New Jersey served in Vietnam. All four were reactivated during the Reagan-era naval buildup in the 1980s with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles added to the original armament. Iowa class battleships were powered by eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers — arranged in eight separate firerooms in an alternating propulsion arrangement — generating steam for four sets of General Electric geared turbines producing 212,000 shaft horsepower on four propeller shafts. The eight-boiler steam plant, insulated throughout with asbestos block insulation on boiler casings and asbestos pipe covering on the steam distribution system, required a large engineering complement to maintain, with the Boiler Tender and Machinist’s Mate billets aboard Iowa class battleships among the most exposed to asbestos in the Navy.

Eight-Boiler Steam Plant Asbestos

Iowa class battleships operated the largest and most asbestos-intensive steam plants in the Navy:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing asbestos insulation — all eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers in the Iowa class firerooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces, asbestos cloth on boiler access doors and burner access ports, and asbestos rope packing in boiler inspection port sealing assemblies. Boiler Tenders standing watch and maintaining the battleship boilers in the eight separate firerooms accumulated continuous asbestos exposure from the asbestos-insulated boiler casings throughout every watch rotation and during all boiler maintenance operations
• General Electric main turbine insulation — the four sets of General Electric geared steam turbines in the Iowa class engine rooms were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on high-pressure steam admission piping, extraction piping, and associated steam connections. Machinist’s Mates tending the turbines and performing turbine maintenance worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout each engineering watch rotation
• High-pressure steam distribution piping insulation — the extensive high-pressure and low-pressure steam distribution systems in Iowa class battleships — supplying steam to four sets of turbines, ship’s service turbine generators, auxiliary machinery, catapult steam systems in later configurations, and steam heating — used asbestos pipe covering on all steam distribution piping throughout the battleship engineering plant

16-Inch Gun Turret Machinery and Asbestos

Iowa class main battery turret machinery incorporated asbestos:

• Turret machinery hydraulic system packing — the 16-inch main battery gun turrets used hydraulic machinery for turret training, gun elevation, and ammunition handling operations throughout the turret structure. The hydraulic pumps, cylinders, and control valves in the turret machinery incorporated asbestos-containing packing materials in valve stem and cylinder rod stuffing boxes. Gunner’s Mates maintaining the turret hydraulic machinery encountered asbestos packing materials during turret hydraulic system maintenance operations

Crew Space and Interior Construction Asbestos

Iowa class battleships incorporated asbestos in crew spaces:

• Crew berthing and living space construction — the extensive crew berthing, CPO quarters, officer staterooms, and working spaces for the large Iowa class crew (approximately 2,700 officers and men) incorporated asbestos-containing floor tile and overhead insulation in the battleship interior construction consistent with 1940s Navy construction specifications

VA Claims for Iowa Class Battleship Veterans

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