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

USS Constellation (CV-64) — a Kitty Hawk class large aircraft carrier — was laid down at Brooklyn Navy Yard in September 1957, launched in October 1960, and commissioned in October 1961. The ship was powered by eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers driving four sets of Westinghouse geared turbines producing 280,000 shaft horsepower. USS Constellation was homeported on the West Coast throughout its service life — initially at Naval Air Station Alameda, later at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego — conducting sustained Western Pacific deployments from the Pacific Fleet. The ship conducted five Vietnam War combat deployments to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin between 1964 and 1973, and continued Cold War Pacific and Indian Ocean deployments through the 1980s and early 1990s. During the 1991 Gulf War, Constellation operated in the Gulf of Oman providing strike aircraft to the initial stages of Operation Desert Storm. The ship was decommissioned in 2003 after 41 years of commissioned service. The eight-boiler Kitty Hawk class steam propulsion plant throughout the ship was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with early 1960s naval construction, with Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates maintaining the asbestos-insulated steam plant through the ship’s Vietnam combat and Cold War Pacific service.

Kitty Hawk Class Eight-Boiler Plant Asbestos

Constellation’s eight-boiler plant incorporated extensive asbestos insulation:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers in Constellation’s boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces and asbestos pipe covering on boiler steam drum connections and superheater outlets. Boiler Tenders maintaining the boilers during five Vietnam combat deployments and sustained Cold War Pacific operations worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation in the ship’s boiler rooms
• Westinghouse main turbine insulation — Constellation’s Westinghouse geared steam turbines and the associated high-pressure main steam piping were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on main steam piping throughout the engineering spaces. Machinist’s Mates maintaining the turbines in Constellation’s engine rooms worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout their propulsion plant watch standing
• Brooklyn Navy Yard construction asbestos — USS Constellation was constructed at Brooklyn Navy Yard during 1957–1961, a period of intensive asbestos use in shipyard construction. Shipyard workers building Constellation at Brooklyn Navy Yard installed asbestos-containing insulation, packing, and construction materials throughout the ship consistent with Brooklyn Navy Yard construction practices and Navy construction specifications of the late 1950s to early 1960s

Vietnam War Service Engineering Operations

Constellation’s five Vietnam combat deployments placed sustained demands on the steam plant:

• Yankee Station combat operations — USS Constellation’s five combat deployments to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War required sustained high-tempo carrier air operations, maintaining the eight-boiler steam plant at high operational tempo to support continuous round-the-clock flight operations. The Vietnam combat operational schedule maximized the hours engineering ratings spent maintaining the asbestos-insulated eight-boiler propulsion plant during each combat deployment period
• Indian Ocean and Gulf War operations — Constellation’s Gulf of Oman deployments during the 1991 Gulf War — supporting Operation Desert Storm with carrier air wing strike operations — continued the ship’s operational tempo into the post-Cold War period with the original asbestos-insulated eight-boiler plant maintained by the engineering crew throughout the Gulf War deployment

VA Claims for USS Constellation Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy aircraft carriers. Boiler Tenders, Machinist’s Mates, and crew members who served aboard USS Constellation (CV-64) 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.