USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) — Asbestos Aboard the Midway Class Atlantic Carrier

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) — nicknamed the FDR — was laid down at New York Naval Shipyard in December 1943, launched in April 1945, and commissioned in October 1945. The ship was a Midway class large aircraft carrier powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers driving four sets of turbines producing 212,000 shaft horsepower. USS Franklin D. Roosevelt served with the Atlantic Fleet throughout its service life, conducting sustained Sixth Fleet Mediterranean deployments during the Cold War and serving as a frontline carrier through the Korean War and Vietnam eras before decommissioning in 1977 after 32 years of commissioned service. The FDR was the first US Navy vessel to carry nuclear weapons to sea in 1950. The ship underwent the SCB-101 modernization in the early 1950s, receiving an angled flight deck and enclosed hurricane bow configuration. The twelve-boiler Midway class steam propulsion plant was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with WWII-era and postwar naval construction, creating sustained asbestos exposure for Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates through the FDR’s three decades of Cold War Mediterranean and Atlantic service.

Midway Class Twelve-Boiler Plant Asbestos

FDR’s twelve-boiler plant incorporated extensive asbestos insulation:

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers in FDR’s boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces and asbestos pipe covering on boiler steam connections. Boiler Tenders maintaining the twelve boilers during Cold War Mediterranean deployments worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation. The twelve-boiler count created proportionally more asbestos-insulated boiler surface area than any other US carrier class except Midway and Coral Sea
• Main turbine and steam system insulation — FDR’s turbines and the extensive main steam piping system connecting twelve boilers to four turbine sets were insulated with asbestos block and pipe covering throughout the engineering spaces. Machinist’s Mates tending the turbines and maintaining the main steam system worked in the asbestos-insulated propulsion spaces throughout their watch standing

SCB-101 Modernization and Asbestos

FDR’s modernization occurred during the peak asbestos construction period:

• SCB-101 angled deck modernization — the SCB-101 modernization performed on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early 1950s — providing the angled flight deck and enclosed hurricane bow configuration consistent with other modernized carriers — involved substantial reconstruction at a naval shipyard using construction materials of the early 1950s that incorporated asbestos-containing products in the rebuilt ship structures. Shipyard workers performing the SCB-101 modernization installed asbestos-containing materials in the new construction areas
• Nuclear weapons carrier history — USS FDR’s role as the first US Navy vessel to carry nuclear weapons to sea in 1950 placed the ship in the Sixth Fleet Mediterranean as a nuclear-capable carrier through the early Cold War, with the engineering crew maintaining the twelve-boiler plant throughout the nuclear deterrence deployments

VA Claims for USS Franklin D. Roosevelt 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) 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.