USS Constellation (CV-64) — Asbestos Aboard the Pacific Fleet's Kitty Hawk Class Carrier

USS Constellation (CV-64) was the second Kitty Hawk class attack carrier, commissioned in October 1961 after construction at New York Naval Shipyard (Brooklyn Navy Yard). Constellation served as a Pacific Fleet carrier for 42 years — homeported at NAS Alameda and later NS North Island (San Diego) — conducting four Vietnam War combat deployments from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin and extended Cold War Pacific deployments until her decommissioning in 2003. Built in 1957-1961 at the height of asbestos use in naval construction, Constellation’s engineering spaces were thoroughly insulated with asbestos throughout her decades of service.

Eight-Boiler Steam Plant and Engineering Spaces

USS Constellation’s engineering plant was one of the largest in the conventionally-powered carrier fleet:

• Eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers — Constellation’s eight-boiler main propulsion plant generated steam for propulsion and ship services, with the boilers in four fire rooms surrounded by asbestos insulation on their casings, steam drums, superheater headers, and associated high-temperature steam piping. The fire room environment in a Kitty Hawk class carrier was the most heavily asbestos-insulated environment aboard — BTs assigned to fire room watches stood in heavily asbestos-insulated spaces throughout each fire room watch
• Main steam piping — the carrier’s main steam distribution system carried high-pressure superheated steam through extensive piping runs from four fire rooms to four engine rooms, with asbestos pipe covering on all main steam piping throughout the engineering spaces
• Four propulsion turbine sets — the four main propulsion turbines had asbestos insulation on their external casing surfaces in the engine rooms

Vietnam War Combat Deployments

USS Constellation conducted four Vietnam combat deployments:

• Engineering ratings aboard Constellation during Vietnam combat deployments stood continuous engineering watch rotations in fire rooms and engine rooms during sustained air wing launch-and-recovery operations at Yankee Station — with combat operational tempo requiring sustained high-power engineering plant operation throughout each combat cruise
• Each of Constellation’s four combat cruises generated extended periods of continuous watch-standing in asbestos-insulated engineering spaces for the engineering department crew members

Brooklyn Navy Yard Fire During Construction

USS Constellation sustained a serious fire during construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in December 1960 — before commissioning — that killed workers and required extensive reconstruction. The fire-damaged sections of the ship required reconstruction using the construction standards of the early 1960s, adding an additional layer of early-1960s asbestos-containing construction materials to the sections rebuilt after the fire.

VA Claims for USS Constellation 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 USS Constellation during her Vietnam War or Cold War 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.