USS Hancock (CV/CVA-19) — Asbestos Aboard the Essex-Class Attack Carrier

USS Hancock (CVA-19) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier commissioned in April 1944 at Bethlehem Steel’s Quincy, Massachusetts shipyard and extensively modernized under the SCB-125 program for angle-deck and enclosed bow configuration. Hancock served four Vietnam combat cruises (1966-67, 1968-69, 1972, and 1975) — among the highest deployment totals of any Vietnam-era carrier — and participated in the final evacuations from Vietnam in April 1975 as one of the last US Navy carriers to operate in the South China Sea during the fall of Saigon. Hancock was homeported at Naval Air Station Alameda, California through much of her Vietnam-era service. The ship’s WWII-era construction incorporated asbestos throughout her engineering spaces, steam systems, and accommodation spaces.

Engineering Plant Asbestos

Hancock’s Essex-class steam plant reflected WWII-era construction materials:

• Boiler plant insulation — Hancock’s Babcock & Wilcox boilers used asbestos lagging on boiler exterior surfaces, asbestos combustion chamber refractory brick, and asbestos sealing materials at boiler access openings. The boiler plant was maintained by BT ratings whose daily duties included proximity to and periodic maintenance of the asbestos-containing boiler lagging
• Main steam piping — the main and auxiliary steam distribution piping from boilers to propulsion turbines, ship’s service turbine generators, and auxiliary steam consumers used asbestos pipe covering insulation throughout the engineering spaces. The pipe covering insulation in the firerooms and enginerooms — where MM, BT, and other engineering ratings stood watch and performed maintenance — was asbestos-containing throughout the WWII and early Cold War construction era
• Propulsion turbine insulation — the main propulsion turbines and reduction gears used asbestos-containing casing insulation and steam chest lagging in the WWII-era engineering plant construction

Accommodation and Interior Construction

Hancock’s interior construction used asbestos-containing materials throughout:

• Berthing compartments and working spaces — crew berthing compartments accommodating Hancock’s complement of over 3,000 sailors used asbestos-containing deck tile and overhead insulation in the WWII-era construction. The mess decks, working spaces, and administrative spaces used asbestos-containing construction materials throughout
• Aviation spaces — the hangar deck, ready rooms, and aviation maintenance workshops aboard Hancock used asbestos-containing construction materials in the building structure and interior finishes consistent with WWII naval construction standards

VA Claims for USS Hancock Veterans

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