Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carrier (CV-63) — Asbestos in the Improved Supercarrier Class

The Kitty Hawk class aircraft carriers — four ships commissioned between 1961 and 1968, USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), USS Constellation (CV-64), USS America (CV-66), and USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) — were the improved successors to the Forrestal class and the last conventionally powered aircraft carriers built for the United States Navy. The class used eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers driving four sets of steam turbines producing 280,000 shaft horsepower on four shafts — the same basic propulsion arrangement as the Forrestal class but with improved hull form and aviation systems. The four ships served as the backbone of both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet carrier forces through the Cold War, Vietnam War, and post-Cold War periods, with the class accumulating combined service totaling more than 140 ship-years of carrier operations. The eight-boiler steam propulsion plant throughout the Kitty Hawk class was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with early 1960s naval construction at the Newport News Shipbuilding and New York Shipbuilding yards, creating sustained asbestos exposure for Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates through the class’s Cold War and post-Cold War service lives.

Kitty Hawk Class Eight-Boiler Steam Plant Asbestos

The Kitty Hawk class steam plant incorporated extensive asbestos throughout:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers in each Kitty Hawk class carrier’s four boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces and asbestos pipe covering on boiler steam connections and superheater outlets. Boiler Tenders maintaining the boilers during Vietnam War combat deployments, Cold War Mediterranean and Pacific operations, Gulf War deployments, and the extended post-Cold War service of the class worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation in the carrier’s boiler rooms
• Main turbine and steam distribution insulation — the main propulsion turbines and main steam piping in Kitty Hawk class engine rooms were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on high-pressure main steam piping. Machinist’s Mates tending and maintaining the turbines worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout their propulsion plant watch standing
• Early 1960s construction-era asbestos content — the Kitty Hawk class was built at Newport News Shipbuilding (CV-63, CV-66, CV-67) and New York Shipbuilding (CV-64) during 1958–1968 using shipyard construction practices and Navy specifications of the early 1960s incorporating asbestos-containing materials throughout the ship construction consistent with the peak period of Navy shipbuilding asbestos use

Extended Cold War and Post-Cold War Service

Kitty Hawk class extended service maintained original asbestos insulation decades later:

• Long service lives with original insulation — the Kitty Hawk class ships accumulated service lives ranging from 36 to 39 years — with Constellation (CV-64) decommissioning in 2003, America (CV-66) in 1996, Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in 2009, and Kennedy (CV-67) in 2007. The eight-boiler steam propulsion plants and associated asbestos insulation were retained throughout these extended service periods, with successive generations of engineering ratings maintaining the original asbestos-insulated propulsion plants through the class’s Cold War and post-Cold War service

VA Claims for Kitty Hawk Class Veterans

VA evaluates asbestos-related disability claims on a case-by-case basis. Veterans generally need evidence of in-service asbestos exposure, a current asbestos-related diagnosis, and a medical link between them. Boiler Tenders, Machinist’s Mates, and crew members who served aboard Kitty Hawk class aircraft carriers (CV-63, CV-64, CV-66, CV-67) 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.