Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), located in Bremerton, Washington on Puget Sound, has served as the United States Navy’s principal Pacific Fleet ship repair, overhaul, and inactivation installation since 1891. The shipyard handled major Pacific Fleet aircraft carrier overhauls — including Kitty Hawk, Midway, Enterprise, and Nimitz class carriers — nuclear submarine overhaul and refueling operations, and surface combatant maintenance and repair throughout the Cold War era. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employed tens of thousands of civilian shipyard workers and Navy personnel across the mid-20th century, with the shipyard workforce peaking during WWII Pacific operations and maintaining large-scale operations through the Cold War carrier overhaul programs. PSNS ship repair and overhaul operations involved extensive use of asbestos-containing materials — asbestos pipe covering in piping system repair and replacement, asbestos block insulation in boiler overhaul, and asbestos-containing gasket materials in machinery and valve overhaul — throughout the Pacific Fleet repair program. The Bremerton workforce and Navy personnel at PSNS accumulated asbestos exposure from the insulation and repair materials used throughout the Pacific Fleet ship maintenance program.

Aircraft Carrier Overhaul and Asbestos

PSNS carrier overhaul operations involved asbestos throughout:

  • Carrier boiler insulation overhaul — aircraft carriers overhauled at PSNS required boiler insulation removal and replacement as part of major overhaul scope. Boilermaker and insulator trades performing boiler teardown removed asbestos block insulation from carrier boiler casings in confined ship boiler room spaces, generating airborne asbestos fiber during the insulation disturbance. Insulator trades reapplied asbestos block insulation on overhauled boilers as standard repair practice through the mid-1970s
  • Carrier piping system replacement — major carrier overhauls at PSNS included extensive piping system repair and replacement, with pipefitters and insulators installing replacement piping with asbestos pipe covering throughout ship engineering spaces, machinery spaces, and crew areas. The confined shipboard spaces required cutting and fitting asbestos insulation sections in place during pipe replacement operations
  • USS Kitty Hawk and USS Enterprise overhaul — USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) and USS Enterprise (CVN-65) both underwent major overhaul periods at PSNS, with overhaul workers performing asbestos-involving repair work throughout the ship systems during each overhaul period

Nuclear Submarine Overhaul Asbestos

PSNS nuclear submarine work exposed workers to asbestos:

  • Nuclear plant steam system insulation — nuclear submarines overhauled and refueled at PSNS required removal and replacement of asbestos-containing thermal insulation on nuclear plant steam generator systems, primary coolant pump systems, and steam turbine casings. Insulator and pipefitter trades performing nuclear plant insulation work in confined submarine machinery spaces worked with asbestos pipe covering and asbestos block insulation throughout the nuclear plant overhaul scope
  • Diesel backup system components — nuclear submarines retained diesel backup systems with asbestos-containing gasket materials in diesel engine and exhaust system connections. Shipyard workers performing diesel system maintenance replaced asbestos gasket materials in the backup diesel systems

Shipyard Support and Storage Vessel Inactivation

PSNS handled fleet inactivation using asbestos-containing vessels:

  • Reserve fleet inactivation work — PSNS inactivated numerous reserve fleet vessels including WWII-era ships with asbestos insulation throughout the engineering plant and interior construction. Workers performing reserve fleet inactivation work on older vessels encountered asbestos pipe insulation, asbestos-containing building materials, and equipment asbestos in the decommissioning process

VA Claims for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval shipyards. Navy personnel and civilian employees who worked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits or civil legal remedies.