USS Midway (CV-41) served the U.S. Navy from her commissioning on 10 September 1945 — eight days after Japan’s surrender — through her decommissioning on 11 April 1992. As the lead ship of the Midway-class aircraft carriers, she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her commissioning and the first U.S. carrier too large to transit the Panama Canal. Across 47 years of service, Midway operated through three major conflicts (Korea, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm) and crossed the Pacific dozens of times forward-deployed from Yokosuka, Japan.

Like every Navy combatant of her era, Midway was built and maintained with extensive asbestos-containing materials throughout her mechanical and habitable spaces. Boilermakers, machinist’s mates, electricians, pipefitters, damage controlmen, hull technicians, and many other ratings worked routinely in spaces where asbestos pipe lagging, boiler block insulation, gaskets, packing, deck tile, and thermal barriers were standard equipment. These materials were considered necessary to meet Bureau of Ships specifications for fire safety, heat management, and damage control — the U.S. Navy was one of the largest single users of asbestos in American industrial history.

Asbestos-Containing Materials Documented Aboard USS Midway

Sailors who served aboard Midway during her 1945–1992 service life were potentially exposed to the following asbestos-containing materials in normal day-to-day operations and during overhaul, repair, and maintenance work:

  • Pipe lagging and thermal insulation wrapping steam, feed-water, fuel-oil, and condensate piping throughout the engineering spaces, machinery spaces, and pipe tunnels
  • Boiler block insulation, refractory brick, and gun-blocks around the eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • Asbestos gaskets and braided packing in valves, flanges, pumps, condensers, heat exchangers, and steam machinery
  • Sheet asbestos and Marinite panels as fire-stops, bulkhead insulation, joiner-bulkheads, and overhead insulation in berthing, mess, and machinery compartments
  • Vinyl asbestos floor tile (VAT) in passageways, berthing, mess decks, ready rooms, and office spaces
  • Asbestos rope, wick, and tape in glands, joints, and seal applications
  • Asbestos-impregnated insulation jackets and removable lagging on turbines, reduction gears, pumps, and auxiliary machinery
  • Brake-band material on aircraft elevators, anchor windlasses, and capstan brakes

The photographs below — drawn from the public asbestos litigation record — document the conditions and materials Midway crew members worked around in normal service.

Photographic Record

VA Benefits for Midway 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. If you served aboard Midway in any rating that worked around the engineering spaces, boiler rooms, machinery spaces, magazines, or during overhaul/yard periods, your asbestos exposure is on the record as part of your service.

VA benefits available to Midway veterans diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease may include:

  • Disability compensation (rated 0–100% based on severity)
  • Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses if the veteran’s death is service-connected
  • VA health care priority enrollment for asbestos-related conditions
  • Special monthly compensation for severe cases (terminal mesothelioma, etc.)

In parallel with VA benefits, surviving Midway veterans and their families may also have claims against the asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing products used aboard ship. These trust claims are filed separately from VA benefits and do not reduce VA compensation.

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Photographic record sourced from the public asbestos litigation record. Image content depicts conditions documented aboard USS Midway (CV-41) and may represent the ship at various points during her 47-year service life. Watermarking and editorial review applied per site standards.