US Navy floating drydocks — including Large Auxiliary Floating Drydocks (AFDB), Small Auxiliary Floating Drydocks (AFDL), Intermediate Auxiliary Floating Drydocks (AFDM), and Auxiliary Repair Drydocks (ARD) — provided forward-area and base ship repair and maintenance capability throughout WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War. Floating drydocks allowed ship repair, hull maintenance, and propeller and rudder work to be performed in forward areas where permanent graving docks were unavailable. The floating drydocks themselves were built with WWII-era and Cold War construction using asbestos-containing materials throughout their structure, and the ships drydocked in these facilities had asbestos-containing insulation and construction throughout their hulls, machinery spaces, and superstructure that repair ratings worked on during drydocking evolutions.

Floating Drydock Construction and Asbestos

Floating drydocks incorporated asbestos in their own construction:

  • Floating drydock machinery spaces — the pump rooms, electric plant spaces, and machinery compartments aboard floating drydocks used military construction with asbestos pipe insulation on pump and valve systems, asbestos-containing gasket materials in pipe flange connections, and asbestos-containing thermal insulation on machinery in the drydock’s own engineering spaces. Ship Repair ratings and Machinery Repairman ratings maintaining the drydock’s ballast pump systems and electric plant worked in proximity to these asbestos-containing materials in the drydock machinery spaces
  • Drydock superstructure and working spaces — the workshop buildings, repair shops, and working spaces on the pontoon deck of floating drydocks used military construction with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling products, and asbestos-containing construction materials in the drydock superstructure

Ship Repair Operations and Asbestos Exposure

Repair work on drydocked ships created significant asbestos exposure:

  • Hull and underwater body repair — ships drydocked in floating drydocks for hull maintenance, propeller replacement, and underwater body repair exposed repair ratings to asbestos-containing materials in the ships’ bilge spaces, bilge keel areas, and engineering compartment areas accessed during drydocking work
  • Machinery overhaul in drydocked ships — repair ratings performing boiler and steam plant overhaul on drydocked ships worked in the asbestos-insulated engineering spaces of the drydocked vessels, encountering the full range of asbestos-containing insulation materials present in the steam plant of WWII-era and Cold War Navy ships

VA Claims for Floating Drydock 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. Repair ratings and engineering personnel who served aboard US Navy floating drydocks and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.

Product & Manufacturer Reference

The asbestos-containing products documented on U.S. Navy vessels and at shipyards are catalogued by manufacturer on AsbestosIndex. These records cross-reference which companies supplied which materials and to which facilities.

Pipe Covering & Block Insulation Thermal insulation applied to steam lines, valves, and equipment in engine rooms and fire rooms Marine Products Insulation, gaskets, and packing products specified for naval and commercial marine applications Boilers & Steam Equipment Boiler manufacturers and insulation products — central to the fire room exposure pathway Gaskets & Packing Sheet and ring gaskets used throughout piping flanges, valve bonnets, and pump housings Electrical Products Wire insulation, switchgear arc chutes, and panel liners used throughout electrical spaces Full Product Index Search all 200+ manufacturers and 1,500+ documented asbestos products on AsbestosIndex™

Navy Ratings Most Exposed to Asbestos Aboard Navy Floating Drydocks

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the public asbestos litigation record document that the following Navy ratings worked routinely in spaces where ACM was installed, maintained, ripped out, and replaced:

VA Disability Claims for Asbestos-Related Disease

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs evaluates asbestos claims individually. A veteran generally needs medical evidence of a current asbestos-related disease, service evidence supporting in-service asbestos exposure, and a medical opinion connecting the two. Ship assignments, Navy ratings, and equipment records can help document the exposure history but do not create automatic service connection.

Approved claims may provide monthly disability compensation and related benefits. Survivors may separately qualify for Dependency & Indemnity Compensation when the applicable requirements are met. Civil lawsuits and asbestos-trust claims use different standards; claimants should obtain individualized advice about how the processes interact.

How to file a VA disability claim: VA claims are filed directly with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — not with a law firm. Start at VA.gov › Hazardous Materials Exposure, call 1‑800‑827‑1000, or get free help filing from a Veterans Service Organization: DAV, VFW, or American Legion.

VA Claims Guide on This Site › Compare: VA vs. Civil Lawsuit

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.