Asbestos Exposure on Navy Ships

The sailors who served aboard the USS America (CV-66) were among the most decorated in the Navy, completing three tours in Vietnam, launching the first combat use of the Harpoon missile off the coast of Libya, and flying more than 3,000 sorties during Operation Desert Storm. What those veterans did not know at the time was that the ship beneath their feet was saturated with asbestos from her keel to her flight deck. The overhauls, fires, and routine maintenance required to keep CV-66 operational released carcinogenic fibers into the air they breathed. 

At The Williams Law Firm, P.C., we fight for veterans who served aboard the USS America. Our founding attorney, Joseph P. Williams, uses actual U.S. Naval archive records, which contain a complete inventory of the equipment and materials installed on each vessel, to identify the specific manufacturers responsible for your exposure. If you are a Navy veteran with mesothelioma, we have never lost a mesothelioma case, and we are here to fight for you.

A Carrier Built for Combat, Constructed with Asbestos

The USS America’s keel was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company on January 9, 1961, originally planned as a nuclear Enterprise-class vessel, but rising costs forced a redesign to a conventionally powered Kitty Hawk-class carrier. That decision had consequences that would outlast her 31-year service life. Her steam propulsion system was driven by eight boilers generating 280,000 shaft horsepower across four propeller shafts, and every pipe run, turbine casing, and steam line aboard CV-66 required the kind of high-temperature insulation that naval engineers of that era achieved with one material: asbestos.

By the time she was commissioned at Norfolk Naval Shipyard on January 23, 1965, under the command of Captain Lawrence Heyworth Jr., the USS America already contained asbestos in virtually every space below her flight deck. What made her exposure history different from that of a standard Navy vessel was the particular punishment her systems endured over three decades of continuous deployment, multiple wartime tours, and significant overhaul periods that brought shipyard workers and crew into direct contact with deteriorating asbestos installations.

Where Asbestos Was Found Aboard CV-66

The USS America’s steam propulsion plant was the single largest source of asbestos exposure aboard the ship. Her eight boilers and associated turbines were insulated with asbestos block and blanket throughout, and the high-pressure steam lines running from the engineering spaces up through the hull to the three flight deck catapults were lagged with asbestos insulation along their entire length. Every valve, pump, and fitting in the system was packed with asbestos-containing gaskets and packing material that required routine replacement, releasing fibers during each maintenance cycle.

The following areas and components aboard CV-66 carried the heaviest concentrations of asbestos-containing materials:

• Boiler and engine rooms: asbestos insulation lined the pipes, boilers, turbines, and all steam lines. Maintenance and repair work in these spaces released fibers that remained airborne for hours in the poorly ventilated below-deck environment.
• Steam catapult systems: the high-temperature tracks and brake assemblies used to launch aircraft contained asbestos insulation and asbestos brake pads that degraded with every launch cycle.
• Steam trunk lines: the lines carrying steam from engineering spaces to the flight deck catapults were separately insulated with asbestos, as demonstrated by a fire in one of these lines in September 1981.
• Living quarters and mess halls: ceiling tiles, floor tiles, wall panels, and adhesives throughout the berthing compartments and mess decks contained asbestos, exposing sailors around the clock.
• Gaskets, valves, and packing: throughout every system aboard the ship, these components required frequent replacement and generated clouds of asbestos dust during removal.

The fact that the USS America was never enrolled in the Navy’s Carrier Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) is significant. Most of her sister carriers received systematic overhauls that, among other things, replaced aged asbestos installations. CV-66 completed her full 30-year career without that program, meaning her original asbestos materials continued to age and deteriorate aboard the ship throughout her service.

High-Risk Periods Unique to the USS America

Several events in the USS America’s service history created periods of unusually high asbestos exposure specific to CV-66.

Overhaul Periods at Norfolk Naval Shipyard

The nine-month overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard that followed her first Vietnam deployment in January 1969 brought shipyard workers and crew into close contact with asbestos insulation that had been subjected to the extreme heat and vibration of 112 days of sustained combat operations. The two-month overhaul at Norfolk in late 1971, following her second Vietnam deployment, produced similar conditions. Crew members who remained aboard during these overhaul periods, and shipyard workers who performed the maintenance work, were among the most heavily exposed individuals associated with the ship.

Fires in Asbestos-Insulated Spaces

On November 19, 1972, during her third Vietnam deployment, a fire broke out in the number two catapult spaces at 14:10. Smoke filled the 03 level, and damage control parties worked in an enclosed, smoke-filled environment to extinguish the blaze. Fires in asbestos-insulated catapult spaces release fibers directly into the air, and the crew who responded to that emergency and the sailors who performed the subsequent cleanup and repair work faced concentrated exposure. The ship remained on the line afterward without the services of one catapult, and the damaged system was repaired at Subic Bay in December 1972. In September 1981, a second fire broke out in a steam trunk line at 17:45, again releasing insulation from one of the ship’s most heavily lagged systems.

Who Was at Risk Aboard CV-66

The crew members who faced the greatest risk were those who worked directly with the ship’s propulsion and catapult systems, such as boiler technicians, Navy seamen, pipefitters, hull maintenance technicians, and electrician’s mates. However, no one aboard CV-66 was truly insulated from exposure. With more than 5,000 personnel living and working aboard a ship that contained asbestos in its sleeping quarters, mess decks, and passageways, every sailor breathed the same air in the same enclosed below-deck spaces.

Family members of USS America veterans also face risk from secondhand exposure. Asbestos fibers carried home in uniforms and personal gear during the ship’s frequent Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments could contaminate household environments without anyone’s knowledge. The 20-to-50-year latency period for mesothelioma means that veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma who completed their service aboard CV-66 in the 1970s and 1980s may be receiving diagnoses today.

Your Legal Rights as a USS America Veteran

If you served aboard the USS America and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you have the right to pursue compensation from the private manufacturers that produced and sold the asbestos-containing products installed aboard CV-66. These claims are filed against the manufacturers, not against the U.S. Navy or the federal government. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans with mesothelioma qualify for a 100 percent disability rating, and as of 2026, married veterans with that rating receive $4,158.17 per month in tax-free disability compensation.

Your attorney can also pursue claims against asbestos trust funds established by bankrupt manufacturers, with more than $30 billion currently held in these trusts. The USS America carried asbestos products from a wide range of manufacturers throughout her 31 years of service, and many CV-66 veterans qualify for payments from multiple funds. If a veteran has already passed away from mesothelioma, surviving family members may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim on their behalf.

The Williams Law Firm, P.C. Fights for USS America Veterans

The men who served aboard the USS America flew combat missions over Vietnam, answered a fire in the catapult spaces at Yankee Station, and launched strikes on Iraqi Republican Guard positions during Desert Storm. They deserve an attorney who will bring that same level of commitment to their case. Attorney Joseph P. Williams has dedicated more than 30 years to fighting for veterans and workers whose lives were upended by asbestos exposure, and he will personally take on your case.

Attorney Williams will meet with you in your home to review your service record and cross-reference it with the USS America’s equipment logs from the Naval archives, identifying every product and every manufacturer tied to your specific time aboard the ship. We have never lost a mesothelioma case, and we treat every veteran’s claim as our personal cause. To get started, reach out to our team through our contact form.