USS Coral Sea (CV-43) — Asbestos Aboard the Midway Class Carrier

USS Coral Sea (CV-43) — a Midway class large aircraft carrier — was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding in July 1944, launched in April 1946, and commissioned in October 1947. The ship was powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers driving four sets of Westinghouse geared turbines producing 212,000 shaft horsepower — one of the most powerful steam propulsion plants in the surface fleet. USS Coral Sea served throughout the Cold War from the Pacific Fleet, conducting sustained combat deployments to Vietnam from Yankee Station during the Vietnam War era and continuing Cold War Pacific deployments through the late Cold War period. The ship participated in Operation Frequent Wind (the 1975 evacuation of Saigon) and various Cold War exercises and deterrence deployments through decommissioning in 1990 after 43 years of commissioned service. The twelve-boiler Midway class steam propulsion plant throughout the ship was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with WWII-era and early Cold War naval construction, creating one of the most sustained and concentrated asbestos exposure environments in the surface fleet for the Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates who maintained the twelve-boiler plant through the ship’s decades of combat and Cold War service.

Midway Class Twelve-Boiler Plant Asbestos

Coral Sea’s twelve-boiler plant incorporated extensive asbestos insulation:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers in Coral Sea’s boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces, asbestos pipe covering on boiler steam drum connections and superheater outlets, and asbestos cement and rope at boiler header connections. Boiler Tenders maintaining the twelve boilers during Vietnam War combat deployments, Operation Frequent Wind, and Cold War Pacific operations worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation in Coral Sea’s boiler rooms — with twelve boilers providing more exposure surface area than any other vessel class
• Westinghouse main turbine insulation — Coral Sea’s Westinghouse geared steam turbines and associated main steam piping were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on high-pressure steam admission and crossover piping. Machinist’s Mates tending and maintaining the turbines worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces throughout their propulsion plant watch standing
• Main steam system insulation — the main steam distribution system connecting Coral Sea’s twelve boilers to the four turbine sets required an extensive high-pressure steam piping arrangement with asbestos block and pipe covering insulation along the full main steam run throughout the engineering spaces, representing a proportionally larger asbestos-insulated surface area than any smaller ship class

Vietnam War Service and Asbestos

Coral Sea’s Vietnam deployments placed sustained demands on the twelve-boiler plant:

• Vietnam combat operations steam plant maintenance — USS Coral Sea’s sustained Vietnam War combat deployments from Yankee Station required continuous high-tempo carrier air operations maintaining the twelve-boiler steam plant at high operational tempo to support repeated flight operations. The demanding Vietnam combat operational schedule intensified the frequency of boiler and turbine maintenance operations in which engineering ratings disturbed asbestos insulation on the twelve-boiler steam plant during the Vietnam deployment period
• Operation Frequent Wind engineering demands — USS Coral Sea’s participation in the April 1975 evacuation of Saigon — receiving South Vietnamese military aircraft and helicopters during the final days of the Vietnam War — required sustained flight operations with the twelve-boiler steam plant supporting the carrier’s aviation operations throughout the evacuation period

VA Claims for USS Coral Sea 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 Coral Sea (CV-43) 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.