USS Intrepid (CV-11) — Asbestos Aboard the Fighting I

USS Intrepid (CV-11) — the Fighting I — was commissioned in August 1943 at Newport News Shipbuilding and served in the Pacific as a frontline Essex-class fleet carrier through the closing years of World War II, sustaining multiple kamikaze hits. After wartime service, Intrepid underwent the SCB-27A and SCB-125 modernizations that gave it the angled flight deck and enclosed hurricane bow configuration for jet aircraft operations. During the 1960s, Intrepid served as an anti-submarine warfare carrier (CVS-11) conducting ASW patrol missions in the Atlantic. Intrepid also served as a NASA recovery ship, retrieving astronauts from Mercury and Gemini space capsules. The ship was decommissioned in 1974 and is now preserved as the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. USS Intrepid was powered by eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers generating steam for four sets of Westinghouse geared turbines producing 150,000 shaft horsepower. The steam propulsion plant throughout the ship was insulated with asbestos-containing materials consistent with Essex-class construction, with Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates maintaining the asbestos-insulated steam plant through the ship’s combat, Cold War, and recovery mission service.

Essex Class Steam Plant Asbestos

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

• Babcock & Wilcox boiler casing insulation — the eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers in Intrepid’s boiler rooms were insulated with asbestos block insulation on boiler casing exterior surfaces. Boiler Tenders maintaining the boilers during Pacific combat operations, Cold War Atlantic deployments, and NASA recovery missions worked in continuous proximity to the asbestos boiler casing insulation throughout each engineering watch rotation
• Westinghouse main turbine insulation — Intrepid’s Westinghouse geared steam turbines were insulated with asbestos block on turbine casings and asbestos lagging on high-pressure steam piping. Machinist’s Mates tending and maintaining the turbines worked in the asbestos-insulated turbine spaces
• SCB modernization and asbestos — Intrepid’s 1952–1954 SCB-27A modernization and 1956–1957 SCB-125 angled deck conversion at the New York Naval Shipyard involved substantial reconstruction of flight deck and aviation systems. Shipyard workers performing the modernization work installed asbestos-containing materials in the rebuilt and new construction areas consistent with mid-1950s shipyard construction practices

ASW Carrier Service and Asbestos

Intrepid’s CVS anti-submarine warfare carrier service continued asbestos exposure:

• ASW patrol operations steam plant — during Intrepid’s 1962–1974 service as CVS-11 conducting ASW patrol missions in the Atlantic, the engineering crew maintained the asbestos-insulated boiler and turbine plant throughout the ASW operations. Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates serving during the ASW carrier period maintained the asbestos-insulated steam plant throughout the Atlantic patrol deployments

VA Claims for USS Intrepid 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 Intrepid (CV-11) 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.