Read the video transcript

Did you serve aboard the USS Stribling? This destroyer carried asbestos in nearly every compartment. Here is where it was, and who is responsible. The USS Stribling, hull number DD-867, was a destroyer, built by Bethlehem Steel Corporation and commissioned in 1945. She served through Mediterranean deployments, Korean War, and Middle East Force. Public naval references list this equipment aboard the USS Stribling, DD-867 — insulated and sealed with asbestos. Each shipyard overhaul and major repair meant asbestos insulation was torn out and replaced — peak-exposure work for the yard workers and the crew aboard. Exposure was worst in the engineering spaces, where the snipes worked — but asbestos lined the whole ship, so all hands were exposed. The companies that made the asbestos equipment aboard — not the Navy — are who asbestos claims are brought against. According to asbestos litigation records, the equipment aboard the USS Stribling from makers such as Foster Wheeler, General Electric, Worthington, and General Motors allegedly contained asbestos. If you served aboard the USS Stribling and were later diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have a legal claim against the companies that made the asbestos products used aboard your ship. This is educational information from an independent publisher — not a law firm — and is not legal advice.

USS Stribling (DD-867) was a Gearing-class destroyer commissioned on 29 September 1945 and serving the U.S. Navy through 1976 — a 31-year career spanning the immediate postwar period, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis quarantine, and Vietnam War-era Atlantic Fleet operations. Her four Foster Wheeler boilers, Worthington condensers, and General Electric service-generator turbines drove her through three decades of asbestos-era Navy service.

The 8-entry equipment manifest below is sourced from ship-specific BUSHIPS (Bureau of Ships) documentation identifying machinery and equipment installed aboard. Each entry is documented equipment with verified manufacturer attribution — primary-source material for asbestos-exposure case development by Navy veterans and surviving families.

Equipment Manifest

Equipment Manifest — USS Stribling (DD-867). 8 machinery/equipment entries identified through ship-specific BUSHIPS documentation. Manufacturers in bold link to documented asbestos-product history on AsbestosIndex.com.
EquipmentManufacturerQtyNotes
CondenserWorthington2Horizontal, single pass condeners, each containing 6404 tubes to provide 11,000 square feet of cooling surface
Auxiliary CondenserWorthington2Horizontal, two pass units
Air CompressorWorthington1high pressure, turbine-driven
BoilerFoster Wheeler4express type, three drum, divided furnaces single uptake, air enclosed
Distilling ApparatusGriscom-Russell2double effect, solo plant, evaporators white with filled still-ice installed in the vessel. Main plant rated 18,000 gallons per day capacity with emergency plant rated at 4,000 gallons per day
Refrigerating PlantCarrier2twin cylinder, type 75R-F, freon compressors with allied auxiliaries comprise one plant
General Electric turbinesGeneral Electric6Six stage general electric turbines of the impulse type, driving service generators through reduction gears
General Motors diesel enginesGeneral Motors2Model 2-8A94, driving two 100 KW emergency generators

Asbestos-Containing Materials Aboard Stribling

The standard asbestos-containing materials installed throughout U.S. Navy destroyers of this era are documented to have included:

  • Pipe lagging and thermal insulation on main steam, feed-water, fuel-oil, condensate, and saltwater piping throughout machinery spaces
  • Boiler block insulation, refractory brick, and gun-blocks around the main boilers
  • Asbestos gaskets and braided packing in valves, flanges, pumps, condensers, heat exchangers, and turbine glands
  • Insulation jackets and removable lagging on main propulsion turbines, reduction gears, ship-service turbine generators, and forced-draft blowers
  • Sheet asbestos and Marinite panels as fire-stops, bulkhead insulation, and overhead insulation
  • Vinyl asbestos floor tile (VAT) in passageways, berthing, mess decks, and habitable compartments
  • Asbestos rope, wick, and tape in gland-seal applications throughout the engineering plant

Sailors in Boilerman, Machinist’s Mate, Engineman, Electrician’s Mate, Hull Maintenance Technician, Damage Controlman, and other engineering ratings worked routinely in spaces where these materials were installed, maintained, ripped out, and replaced.

VA Benefits for Stribling Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease as conditions that may be service-connected for Navy veterans with documented asbestos exposure. The Stribling equipment manifest is direct documentary evidence of the asbestos-containing materials her crew worked around throughout her service life.

Parallel claims against the asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by the manufacturers of these products are also available, and do not reduce VA compensation.

Speak with an asbestos attorney with Navy veterans experience →

Equipment manifest derived from public-record BUSHIPS documentation specific to USS Stribling (DD-867). Manufacturer attribution links to documented asbestos-product histories on AsbestosIndex.com where available. Editorial review applied per site standards.