USS Essex (CV-9) was the lead ship of the Essex class of fleet aircraft carriers — the most numerous and successful carrier class in US Navy history — commissioned in December 1942 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Essex served throughout the WWII Pacific campaign from late 1943, participated in Korean War operations, and served as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS-9) through 1969. The ship’s career spanned over 25 years of active Navy service from the height of WWII through the Vietnam era. As the lead ship of the class, Essex established the construction standards replicated across 24 sister ships — including the extensive use of asbestos insulation that characterized Essex-class engineering plants throughout the wartime and early Cold War periods.

WWII-Era Engineering Plant Asbestos

Essex’s 1942 construction used asbestos insulation consistent with wartime naval construction standards:

  • Boiler plant — Essex’s eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers used asbestos lagging on exterior boiler surfaces, asbestos refractory brick in furnace combustion chambers, and asbestos rope and packing materials at boiler access doors, manholes, and valve packing throughout the fireroom machinery. BT ratings maintaining the boiler plant had the highest asbestos exposure concentration aboard the ship due to the boiler lagging condition and maintenance requirements
  • Main steam distribution — the main steam system piping from Essex’s four firerooms to the two enginerooms and to all auxiliary steam loads used asbestos magnesia pipe covering throughout the high-temperature steam piping runs. The pipe covering insulation — block asbestos magnesia sections under canvas jacket — deteriorated under shipboard operational conditions, releasing asbestos fiber into the air of the engineering spaces during normal operations and maintenance activities
  • Ship’s service turbine generators — the ship’s service electrical generators driven by steam turbines used asbestos-containing materials in turbine casing and steam admission valve insulation

Essex-Class Construction Standard

Essex established the asbestos insulation standard replicated across the Essex class:

  • The construction practices developed for USS Essex and its first-batch sister ships were replicated across the 24 Essex-class carriers — meaning the asbestos exposure profile identified aboard Essex applied equally to her sister ships serving through the Vietnam era
  • The SCB-125 modernization of Essex (1949-1951) and other Essex-class ships added new construction-era materials to the WWII-era base ship, with the mid-1950s construction materials still incorporating asbestos in the modification specifications

VA Claims for USS Essex Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Essex-class carriers. Engineering ratings and crew members who served aboard USS Essex 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 Essex

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 Presumptive Benefits — No Filing Deadline

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease as conditions presumed to be service-connected for Navy veterans with documented asbestos exposure under 38 CFR § 3.309(d). No statute of limitations applies to VA disability compensation claims.

Available benefits may include monthly disability compensation, Dependency & Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses, priority VA healthcare enrollment, and Special Monthly Compensation for severe cases. Parallel claims against the asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by the manufacturers of these products do not reduce VA compensation.

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.