USS Midway (CV-41) — Asbestos Aboard the 'Grand Old Lady'

USS Midway (CV-41) — affectionately known throughout the fleet as the “Grand Old Lady” — was the lead ship of the Midway class of carriers, commissioned in September 1945 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. Midway served for 47 years — longer than any other US carrier in history — and was the last surviving WWII-era aircraft carrier in active service when she decommissioned in 1992. Midway was homeported at NAS Alameda, California, and later served as the forward-deployed carrier at Yokosuka, Japan, conducting operations in every major post-WWII conflict era including the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm, 1991). Now permanently berthed as a museum ship in San Diego. Midway’s extensive service created sustained asbestos exposure for successive generations of crew members.

Midway-Class Steam Plant Asbestos

Midway’s 1945 construction used asbestos throughout an extensive steam plant:

• Twelve-boiler plant — Midway’s twelve boilers were the largest boiler plant of any conventional carrier, providing the steam power for the larger, heavier Midway-class hull. All twelve boilers used asbestos lagging on exterior surfaces, asbestos refractory brick in combustion chambers, and asbestos sealing materials throughout six firerooms. The sheer volume of boiler plant asbestos aboard Midway exceeded that of any Essex-class carrier
• Main steam piping — the extensive main steam distribution piping from six firerooms to four enginerooms and to all auxiliary steam loads used asbestos magnesia pipe covering throughout the steam distribution system. The additional boiler capacity required proportionally more steam piping — and more asbestos pipe covering — than Essex-class carriers
• Multiple overhaul periods — Midway underwent several major overhauls and modifications across her 47-year service life, including the Fiscal Year 1966-1970 modernization at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Each overhaul involved removal and reinstallation of asbestos pipe covering throughout the engineering spaces, with overhaul workers accumulating high asbestos exposure during the insulation removal phases

Extended Service Asbestos Exposure

Midway’s 47-year service created an exceptional breadth of crew asbestos exposure:

• Successive generations of BT, MM, and EM ratings served aboard Midway across her service from 1945 to 1992, with each generation working in the ship’s asbestos-containing engineering plant. The sheer duration of Midway’s service means that the number of Navy personnel with Midway asbestos exposure is substantially larger than for any other single carrier

VA Claims for USS Midway Veterans

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