Midway Class (CV-41) Carriers — Asbestos in WWII-Era Attack Carriers

The Midway class carriers — USS Midway (CV-41), USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42), and USS Coral Sea (CV-43) — were laid down during WWII and commissioned between 1945 and 1947 at Newport News Shipbuilding and New York Shipbuilding. At commissioning, the Midway class ships were the largest aircraft carriers in the world, and they served as attack carriers through the Cold War era with extensive modernization — Midway through 1992, FDR until 1977, and Coral Sea until 1990. Built with 1944-era WWII construction standards, Midway class ships had massive engineering plants thoroughly insulated with asbestos throughout their fire rooms and engine rooms.

Twelve-Boiler Steam Engineering Plant

Midway class carriers had the largest steam engineering plants of any conventionally-powered (non-nuclear) US carrier:

• Twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers — the Midway class carried twelve high-pressure boilers in four fire rooms (three boilers per fire room), generating steam for the four main propulsion turbine sets. The fire room environment with three asbestos-insulated boilers per compartment was among the most heavily asbestos-insulated engineering spaces in the surface Navy — Boiler Technicians assigned to Midway class fire rooms stood in heavily asbestos-insulated environments throughout every fire room watch rotation
• Main steam piping — the extensive main steam distribution system carrying high-pressure superheated steam from four fire rooms to four engine rooms in a Midway class carrier involved substantial piping runs, with asbestos pipe covering on every foot of main steam pipe throughout the engineering spaces
• Engine room turbine sets — four main propulsion turbine sets drove the four propeller shafts through reduction gearing, with turbine casings insulated with asbestos in the WWII-era construction

Multiple Modernization Cycles

All three Midway class carriers underwent multiple SCB modernization programs — angled deck conversions, enclosed bow additions, new electronics, and revised aviation support systems — through the 1950s and 1960s:

• The SCB-110, SCB-110A, and SCB-101.66 modernizations added new construction from the 1950s and 1960s, layering modernization-era asbestos-containing materials atop the original 1945-era WWII construction throughout the ship’s interior and engineering spaces
• Midway’s extended service through 1992 (and her Yokosuka homeport from 1973) meant that engineering ratings serving aboard her from the 1970s through early 1980s were in original 1945-era fire rooms with accumulated asbestos from both WWII construction and subsequent modernization periods

Vietnam War Service

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt conducted Vietnam War deployments, and USS Coral Sea conducted multiple Vietnam combat cruises — with engineering ratings aboard these ships during Vietnam War service standing continuous watch rotations in asbestos-insulated fire rooms during sustained combat air wing operations.

VA Claims for Midway Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy carriers. Engineering ratings who served in fireroom and engine room billets aboard Midway class carriers 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.