USS Constellation (CVA-64) — Equipment Manifest & Asbestos Exposure Record

USS Constellation (CVA-64) — popularly known as “Connie” — was a Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier that served the U.S. Navy from her commissioning on 27 October 1961 through decommissioning on 7 August 2003. The second carrier to bear the name, she was built at New York Naval Shipyard (Brooklyn) and served during the Cold War, Vietnam War, the Iranian hostage crisis, the Gulf War, and operations following 9/11 — 42 years of continuous service.

The 55-entry equipment manifest below is sourced from the 1957 BUSHIPS Equipment Specifications and Manufacturers documentation specific to the Constellation — created during her construction phase to identify the machinery and manufacturers selected for her engineering plant. This is primary-source asbestos-exposure evidence at the highest tier.

Equipment Manifest

Asbestos Exposure Aboard Constellation

Constellation’s engineering plant — General Electric main turbines, Foster-Wheeler main boilers and condensers with air ejectors, Worthington high/medium/low pressure air compressors, Babcock & Wilcox refractory systems — was built to mid-1950s BUSHIPS specifications that called for extensive asbestos-containing insulation:

• Pipe lagging and thermal insulation on main steam, feed-water, fuel-oil, JP-5 aviation fuel, and condensate piping throughout four machinery spaces
• Boiler block insulation, refractory brick, and burner-front insulation on the eight Foster-Wheeler main boilers
• Asbestos gaskets and braided packing in valves, flanges, pumps, condensers, turbine glands, and air-system manifolds
• Insulation jackets on main propulsion turbines, reduction gears, ship-service turbine generators, and forced-draft blowers
• Vinyl asbestos floor tile and Marinite paneling throughout berthing, mess, ready rooms, hangar bay, and office spaces

Constellation’s air-wing operations (Worthington H.P./M.P./L.P. compressor systems) meant her crew also worked around aviation-service air systems that used asbestos-gasketed manifolds and high-pressure connections.

VA Benefits for Constellation Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease as conditions presumed to be service-connected for Navy veterans with documented asbestos exposure. Constellation’s BUSHIPS-sourced equipment manifest is direct documentary evidence of the asbestos-containing materials her crew worked around for 42 years.

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Equipment manifest derived from 1957 BUSHIPS Equipment Specifications and Manufacturers documentation specific to USS Constellation (CVA-64). Manufacturer attribution links to documented asbestos-product histories on AsbestosIndex.com where available.