New York Ship Allegedly Exposed Thousands of Workers to Asbestos Over Six Decades

If you worked at New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey, between 1899 and 1967, you were reportedly exposed to catastrophic levels of asbestos fibers. The Delaware River yard constructed some of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced warships — USS Kitty Hawk, USS Independence, USS Des Moines, and others — where workers allegedly inhaled fiber levels far exceeding modern regulatory limits. Many are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer decades after that exposure ended. Under federal maritime law, Navy veterans have two independent compensation pathways: VA disability benefits under 38 CFR § 3.309 presumptive criteria, and a civil lawsuit against the manufacturers who supplied the asbestos-containing materials. These are not mutually exclusive — you can and should pursue both simultaneously. If you have been diagnosed, you have three years under federal maritime law to file a civil lawsuit. That clock starts at diagnosis, not at the yard’s 1967 closure.

What Was New York Shipbuilding Corporation?

A Major Naval Contractor on the Delaware River

New York Shipbuilding Corporation — known throughout the industry as “New York Ship” — operated on the Camden, New Jersey waterfront from 1899 until its closure in 1967. Despite its name, the yard was located entirely in New Jersey, directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. At peak production during World War II and the Cold War, the facility employed tens of thousands of workers and was among the most technically advanced naval shipyards in the country.

Vessels Built and Overhauled at the Camden Yard

New York Ship built under direct Navy contract, including:

  • Aircraft carriers: USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), USS Independence (CV-62)
  • Heavy cruisers: USS Des Moines (CA-134)
  • Light cruisers: USS Savannah (CL-42)
  • Destroyers and destroyer escorts
  • Amphibious assault ships

Beyond new construction, the yard conducted extensive overhaul, conversion, and repair programs. Workers who built, maintained, and repaired these vessels are alleged to have faced some of the heaviest documented occupational asbestos exposures in American industrial history.

Asbestos-Containing Materials Used at New York Ship

Asbestos-containing materials were reportedly integral to virtually every major system aboard vessels constructed and overhauled at Camden. U.S. Navy specifications through the mid-twentieth century mandated asbestos insulation for heat resistance, fire suppression, and durability. Manufacturers supplied the yard directly, and their products were used aboard ships where workers handled them daily in confined, poorly ventilated spaces.

Products Allegedly Present at New York Ship

  • Pipe covering and block insulation from Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois (Kaylo brand), installed on steam lines, boiler feed lines, and auxiliary piping
  • Thermobestos and Aircell insulation products used in auxiliary systems and machinery spaces
  • Boiler insulation and packing from Babcock & Wilcox and Combustion Engineering, with insulation supplied by Johns-Manville and Armstrong Cork
  • Gaskets and valve packing from Crane Co. and Garlock Sealing Technologies
  • Refractory brick and asbestos cement for firebox and boiler construction by Combustion Engineering and Babcock & Wilcox
  • Spray-applied fireproofing including Monokote and Zonolite, attributed to W.R. Grace
  • Transite board and asbestos cement panels (Gold Bond brand) for interior bulkheads and deck structures
  • Floor tiles and deck coatings (Pabco and Georgia-Pacific asbestos tiles) in various ship spaces
  • Superex and Cranite insulation wrapping on high-temperature piping systems
  • Unibestos products in specialized shipboard applications

Manufacturers Allegedly Supplying the Yard

  • Johns-Manville — pipe insulation, block insulation, boiler packing, gaskets
  • Owens-Illinois — Kaylo brand rigid block insulation and pipe covering
  • Armstrong Cork — pipe insulation, boiler materials, asbestos cement products
  • Owens Corning — fiberglass composite insulation containing asbestos
  • W.R. Grace — Monokote spray fireproofing, Zonolite loose-fill insulation
  • Combustion Engineering — boiler systems with integrated asbestos refractory
  • Babcock & Wilcox — boiler manufacturing with asbestos-lined fireboxes and insulation
  • Crane Co. — valves, gaskets, and packing materials
  • Georgia-Pacific — asbestos floor tiles and deck coverings
  • Celotex — thermal insulation and building materials
  • Eagle-Picher — specialty insulation products

Which Trades Faced the Highest Exposure at New York Ship?

Every Trade Encountered Asbestos — Certain Trades Faced Extreme Risk

Almost every skilled trade at New York Ship reportedly encountered asbestos at some point, but direct handling of raw asbestos products placed certain occupations at markedly higher risk. The following trades are documented in mesothelioma and asbestos litigation as having particularly high fiber inhalation histories.

Pipe laggers and heat & frost insulators rank among the most heavily exposed workers in maritime asbestos litigation. These workers cut, fit, and applied raw asbestos pipe covering and block insulation — primarily from Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois Kaylo — directly to ship systems, reportedly releasing dense fiber clouds in enclosed hull compartments. Laggers are frequently diagnosed with mesothelioma and asbestosis and are consistently among the earliest to file Navy asbestos exposure lawsuits.

Boilermakers handled asbestos refractory and packing supplied by Combustion Engineering and Babcock & Wilcox, typically in enclosed machinery spaces. Heat from operating systems dislodged fibers continuously; handling friable materials during both new construction and overhaul compounded exposure.

Pipefitters routinely dismantled insulated joints during ship repairs, reportedly releasing friable fibers from Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois products. Overhaul removal work is documented in industrial hygiene literature as generating some of the highest fiber concentrations of any shipyard operation.

Electricians ran conduit and wiring through insulated spaces, cutting through Transite board and disturbing existing asbestos-containing materials in the course of routine work — trades that rarely identified themselves as having asbestos exposure until diagnosis decades later.

Welders and burners worked adjacent to insulated pipe systems. Heat from welding reportedly dislodged asbestos fibers from nearby insulation without any direct handling — a mechanism frequently overlooked in initial VA claims.

Painters sanded and prepared surfaces coated with asbestos-containing primers and deck enamels, generating respirable fiber clouds during surface preparation.

Machinists and shipwrights worked in areas where heavy insulation systems were actively installed, reportedly breathing contaminated air throughout their shifts without respiratory protection.

Laborers and helpers — often the youngest men on the site — reportedly swept and cleared debris loaded with asbestos dust from Monokote spray fireproofing, Zonolite loose-fill, and broken Transite board without any protective equipment.

When Was Exposure Risk Highest at New York Ship?

New Construction and Overhaul Created Different but Equally Dangerous Conditions

New York Ship’s exposure history divides into two phases with distinct fiber concentrations and exposure dynamics. Workers from both phases are filing claims today.

New Construction: Installing Raw Asbestos Throughout the Hull

During new construction, laggers and boilermakers installed raw asbestos pipe covering and block insulation — from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, and Armstrong Cork — from keel to superstructure. Boilermakers applied refractory materials in enclosed hull sections with minimal air movement. Workers handled friable asbestos products directly, without respiratory protection, throughout entire shifts.

Overhaul and Drydock: Removing Aged, Brittle Insulation

Overhaul and drydock operations are documented in industrial hygiene literature and asbestos litigation records as producing the most acutely dangerous fiber concentrations in shipyard history. Workers stripped decades-old insulation — from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, and Armstrong Cork — that had become highly friable with age. Removing insulation from Combustion Engineering and Babcock & Wilcox boiler casings reportedly released fiber concentrations far exceeding those during original installation. Workers in adjacent trades were allegedly exposed through shared ventilation systems and contaminated work zones regardless of whether they touched the materials directly.

Why New York Ship Workers Had No Regulatory Protection

The Yard Closed Before Federal Asbestos Standards Existed

New York Ship closed in 1967, before either major federal regulatory framework was in place:

  • OSHA asbestos standards were not issued until 1972
  • EPA NESHAP asbestos regulations under 40 C.F.R. Part 61 were not issued until 1973

Camden yard workers spent intensive years of construction and overhaul without enforceable exposure limits, required engineering controls, or mandatory respiratory protection. Manufacturers including Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Armstrong Cork, and Combustion Engineering continued shipping unwarned asbestos products to the yard despite internal documentation — revealed in subsequent litigation — indicating corporate awareness of severe health consequences.

How Exposure Is Documented in Current Claims

Since New York Ship closed before OSHA existed, attorneys and occupational health researchers rely on public litigation records and historical epidemiological studies — including Philadelphia and Delaware Valley shipyard worker cohort research — to establish exposure scope. Trust fund claim records, union employment histories, and sworn co-worker testimony document product presence and handling aboard specific vessels. These sources, not OSHA inspection records, form the evidentiary foundation for claims against Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Combustion Engineering, Babcock & Wilcox, W.R. Grace, and the other manufacturers who allegedly supplied the yard.

Diagnosis Arrives Decades After Exposure Ends

Workers and family members allegedly exposed at New York Ship continue to receive diagnoses today. Asbestos-related diseases carry latency periods of 20 to 50 years from first fiber inhalation to clinical presentation. Cases originating from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s — when Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois Kaylo, and Combustion Engineering products dominated the yard’s supply chain — are still being filed in federal maritime courts.

Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the pleural or peritoneal lining caused exclusively by asbestos fiber inhalation. Plaintiffs documenting exposure to Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, and W.R. Grace products at New York Ship have filed mesothelioma claims in federal maritime courts and against active asbestos bankruptcy trusts. The VA presumes service connection for mesothelioma under 38 CFR § 3.309(d), allowing Navy veterans to file for benefits without proving individual causation — a critical distinction that accelerates VA claims processing.

Asbestosis is progressive pulmonary fibrosis caused by chronic asbestos inhalation. Former New York Ship workers — particularly laggers, pipefitters, and boilermakers — are diagnosed with asbestosis decades after their last day at the yard. Asbestosis plaintiffs in federal maritime courts have recovered damages from Johns-Manville, Owens-Illinois, Combustion Engineering, and other manufacturers.

Lung cancer linked to occupational asbestos exposure qualifies Navy veterans for presumptive VA benefits where documented exposure is established under 38 CFR § 3.309(d)(3). Former New York Ship workers and Navy veterans with lung cancer diagnoses may pursue VA disability claims and maritime civil lawsuits simultaneously — receiving compensation through both channels without one affecting eligibility for the other.

VA Benefits for Navy Veterans Diagnosed with Mesothelioma or

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