Leahy Class (DLG/CG-16) Cruisers — Asbestos in Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers

The Leahy class (CG-16 class, originally designated DLG-16 class) guided missile cruisers — USS Leahy (CG-16) through USS England (CG-22), plus two additional hull pairs — were nine ships commissioned between 1962 and 1964 at Bath Iron Works, Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging, and other yards. The Leahy class introduced a “double-end” missile armament arrangement with Terrier surface-to-air missile systems at both bow and stern, and served as carrier battle group escort cruisers throughout the Cold War. Built at the height of asbestos use in early 1960s naval construction, Leahy class ships contained extensive asbestos insulation throughout their steam plant engineering spaces.

High-Pressure Steam Plant and Asbestos

Leahy class cruisers used a high-pressure steam plant driving two shafts, with fire rooms and engine rooms concentrated in the ship’s engineering spaces:

• Fire rooms — the Leahy class fire rooms contained high-pressure boilers with asbestos insulation on boiler casings, superheater headers, steam drum insulation, and associated high-temperature steam piping from the boiler steam drums to the main steam system. Boiler Technicians (BTs) and Machinist’s Mates (MMs) assigned to fire room watches and boiler maintenance accumulated asbestos exposure from the boiler room environment throughout their engineering tours
• Main steam piping — high-pressure superheated steam piping from the fire rooms to the engine rooms used asbestos pipe covering and asbestos blanket insulation on expansion joints and irregular fittings throughout the main steam system. Steam fitting maintenance required removing and replacing asbestos insulation from pipe sections and valve bodies
• Engine rooms — main propulsion turbine casings and associated reduction gear equipment had asbestos insulation on turbine casing surfaces and in the turbine exhaust steam transition areas

Guided Missile Cruiser Operations

As carrier battle group escort cruisers, Leahy class ships conducted extended deployments throughout the Cold War, with engineering ratings serving continuous watch rotations in the ship’s fire rooms and engine rooms during deployments:

• Extended deployment steam plant operations — combat deployments and fleet exercises required continuous steam plant operation at high power levels, with engineering watch sections in the fire rooms and engine rooms throughout deployments. Continuous watch rotation in asbestos-insulated engineering spaces produced cumulative asbestos exposure across a deployment
• Underway replenishment — Leahy class cruisers routinely conducted underway replenishment operations requiring sustained high-speed steaming to reach and maintain station with carrier battle groups, demanding continuous fire room and engine room operation

Interior Structural Asbestos

Beyond the engineering spaces, Leahy class cruisers built in the early 1960s used asbestos-containing construction materials throughout their interior spaces:

• Asbestos deck tile in crew habitability spaces, passageways, and compartments throughout the ship
• Asbestos overhead materials in crew berthing, mess decks, and working spaces
• Asbestos insulation on steam heating serving crew habitability spaces — steam-heated radiators and fan coil units throughout the crew living spaces used asbestos-insulated steam supply piping

VA Claims for Leahy Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy surface combatants. Engineering ratings — Boiler Technicians, Machinist’s Mates, Electrician’s Mates, Hull Technicians — who served in engineering billets aboard Leahy class guided missile cruisers 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.