Spruance Class Destroyer (DD-963) — Asbestos in Gas Turbine and Interior Construction

The Spruance class destroyers — 31 vessels commissioned between 1975 and 1983 (DD-963 through DD-997) — represented a major transition in US Navy surface combatant propulsion, replacing the high-pressure steam turbine plants of previous destroyers with gas turbine propulsion using four General Electric LM2500 marine gas turbines in a COGAG (Combined Gas Turbine And Gas Turbine) arrangement. Built entirely at Litton/Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the Spruance class ships were designed primarily as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms, equipped with the SQS-53 hull-mounted sonar, LAMPS helicopter, ASROC, and torpedo systems. Unlike steam-powered destroyers, Spruance class ships did not have boilers or high-pressure steam systems. However, the ships were commissioned beginning in 1975 during the transition period when Navy construction specifications still included asbestos-containing materials in interior construction — including asbestos-containing tiles and insulating materials in crew spaces and technical spaces — before asbestos was phased out of naval construction in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Additionally, the LM2500 gas turbine exhaust systems used high-temperature insulating materials in exhaust piping and uptake systems.

Gas Turbine Exhaust Systems and High-Temperature Insulation

Spruance class gas turbine exhaust systems used high-temperature insulation:

• LM2500 gas turbine exhaust piping insulation — the four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines in Spruance class destroyers produced high-temperature exhaust gases that required insulated exhaust piping and uptake systems to manage heat in the engineering spaces and to route exhaust gases to the ship’s funnels. The exhaust system insulation used high-temperature insulating materials in the gas turbine exhaust piping and heat shield systems, with engineering ratings working in proximity to the exhaust system insulation during gas turbine maintenance operations
• Gas turbine module maintenance — engineering ratings maintaining the LM2500 gas turbine modules in Spruance class destroyers worked in the engineering spaces during gas turbine preventive maintenance, module change-out operations, and inlet and exhaust system maintenance

Interior Construction and Asbestos

Spruance class interior construction incorporated asbestos-containing materials:

• Early commission crew and technical spaces — Spruance class destroyers commissioned in the 1975–1979 period incorporated asbestos-containing floor tile and some asbestos-containing construction materials in crew berthing, technical spaces, and working spaces consistent with Navy construction specifications that had not yet been fully transitioned away from asbestos-containing materials. Crew members serving in early-commission Spruance class destroyers accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing interior construction materials

VA Claims for Spruance Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy destroyers. Engineering ratings and crew members who served aboard Spruance class destroyers during their early commissioned service 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.