Located in the city of Newport News, Virginia, the Newport News Shipyard is the nation’s largest shipyard. Today a division of Huntington Ingalls, the company has built more than 800 ships for naval and commercial clients since its founding, including the aircraft carriers and submarines that it designs, builds, and refuels. During the time it provided military ships for World War II and in the post-war years, the yard used many materials that contained asbestos. This exposed thousands of workers to the risk of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Newport News Shipyard History
Newport News Shipbuilding was founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company in 1886 by industrialist Collis P. Huntington. Originally built to repair ships servicing the transportation hub he had funded to complete the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, by 1897 the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company yard had delivered three warships to the U.S. Navy, and between 1907 and 1923, the yard had built six battleships that used steam turbine propulsion. The yard quickly became so important that the federal government built a planned community to house its workers; this was later purchased by the Huntington family, which facilitated the sale of the homes to shipyard employees.[1]
During the years encompassing World War I, Newport News Shipbuilding delivered 25 destroyers to the Navy, and after the war ended, it began building aircraft carriers, including the USS Ranger, Yorktown, and Enterprise. It also refurbished and built ocean liners and the largest merchant ship that had ever been built in the United States at the time.[1]
World War II
In the years leading up to World War II, the Navy ordered a battleship, seven aircraft carriers, and four cruisers from Newport News Shipping, and once the war started, the yard became part of the government’s Emergency Shipbuilding Program, which constructed the so-called Liberty Ships that were based on the Ocean class ships that had been designed to provide replacement ships for British merchant vessels being lost to the Germans faster than the British shipyards could replace them.[2] The Newport News Shipyard’s wartime production contracts ranked 23rd among U.S. companies, and the shipyard’s employment rose to a high of 31,000 in 1943.[1]
Post-War Years
When the war ended, the shipyard performed ship conversions and repair work until the Korean War, when the Navy placed an order for the yard’s first supercarrier, the Forrestal. The Newport News Shipyard also built the United States, the largest and fastest passenger ship ever built in the nation. It also fabricated turbines for Washington state’s Grand Coulee Dam, and by the late 1950s, the yard was also building supertankers, and in 1958, it launched the Sansinena, the largest tanker built in the country. Newport News Shipyard also became involved in atomic propulsion, and in 1959, it launched the Shark, the first submarine it had built in five decades and its first nuclear-powered submarine. In 1960, it launched the Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered carrier.[1]
In 1968, the yard was purchased by Houston-based Tenneco, and in 1974, Newport News Shipyard was chosen as the lead yard in designing the Navy’s Los Angeles class of attack submarines. By the end of 1982, the Navy awarded Newport News a $3.1 billion contract for the fifth and sixth Nimitz-class carriers. This was reported to have been the biggest contract ever awarded to a shipbuilder. In 1994, they were awarded another $3 billion contract to build the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan. That same year, Tenneco approved a $68 million project to upgrade the yard’s fabrication facilities and a $29 million project to extend its dry dock. In 2001, the yard was purchased by Northrop Grumman and renamed it Northrop Grumman Newport News. It was later renamed again as Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding but is now known as Newport News Shipbuilding.[1]
Asbestos at the Newport News Shipyard
As was true of most shipyards in the United States and around the world, the Newport News Shipyard made extensive use of asbestos in its shipbuilding process. Asbestos-containing materials were common, and this was especially true for vessels built for the U.S. military, which depended on the material for its strength, resistance to heat and flame, soundproofing capabilities, and durability. As an example, the construction of each Liberty Ship that the yard built during World War II specified the use of tons of asbestos materials.[3]
In addition to being useful, asbestos was also inexpensive and easily accessible, which made its use all the more attractive. During World War II’s shipbuilding boom, 25 million tons of asbestos were handled by 4.5 million workers, putting them at risk for asbestos-related diseases.[3]
How Were Newport News Shipyard Workers Harmed by Asbestos?
Though the asbestos companies and the nation’s shipbuilding corporations had been warned of the dangers of asbestos, they continued using the product because it was profitable. Shipyard workers worked in tight confines with no protection against the asbestos fibers that were released into the air by their work; they inhaled those fibers, and in many cases, these particles became embedded in workers’ lungs and caused cell death and mutations that led to significant and deadly diseases, including malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis.[3]
Asbestos was used by insulators, boiler mechanics, carpenters, machinists, painters, and joiners who used raw fiber to reinforce insulating mud, asbestos textile products, boiler blocks, paint, and other asbestos-containing specialty products, including spray insulation and patching compounds. Those workers and anybody who worked around them were at risk.[3]
Many studies have found that shipyard workers are among those most impacted by asbestos-related diseases. The trades most commonly affected include:
- General shipyard laborers
- Painters
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Boilermakers
- Insulation installers
- Pipefitters
- Mechanics
- Electricians
Newport News Shipyard Asbestos Lawsuits
In the mid-1970s, the dangers of asbestos were made public, and at the same time, thousands of those who had been exposed to asbestos in the Newport News Shipyards began being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. Upon learning that the companies had concealed the material’s dangers and failed to warn or protect them or their loved ones, those who were affected began seeking compensation. Many of those who filed personal injury lawsuits agreed to settlements with the companies, while others won significant jury awards. Some of those include:
- A jury awarded $5.5 million to the widow of a Newport News Shipyard worker who died from mesothelioma at the age of 65. Sandra K. Oney’s husband Vaughn had worked as a machinist in the yard from 1963 to 1973, constructing and repairing aircraft carriers. The jury ordered John Crane, Inc.to pay the award, bringing the widow’s total compensation to $9.25 million; she had previously settled with Garlock Sealing Technologies. Both companies had provided asbestos-containing materials to the yard.[4]
- A mesothelioma victim who had worked as a shipper and repair supervisor at the Newport News Shipyard during the 1960s and 1970s was awarded $25 million following a lawsuit he filed against Exxon. Bert Minton worked on 17 different Exxon oil tankers during his years at the shipyard, and his suit asserted that the company had known about the risks of working with asbestos and had taken steps to protect its refinery workers as early as the 1930s but had failed to warn other workers not in its employ. The jury awarded Mr. Minton $12 million in compensatory damages, $12.5 million in punitive damages, and $430,961 in medical expenses, plus interest.[5]
- The family of a woman who died of malignant mesothelioma following secondary asbestos exposure successfully convinced the Virginia Supreme Court that Newport News Shipyard had a duty of care to the family members of their employees. The woman’s father had worked for the company from 1942 to 1977 and had carried home on the skin, hair, and clothing. The family’s car had been contaminated with asbestos, and beginning in 1954, the woman had helped launder her father’s clothing, shaking off and breathing in asbestos dust in the process.[6]
Were You Exposed to Asbestos at Newport News Shipyards?
If you or someone you love was diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease after having been exposed at the Newport News Shipyard, you may be able to take legal action seeking compensation for the damages you’ve suffered.
An asbestos lawyer can help you understand exactly what your options are, including the process of filing a lawsuit against the asbestos companies that negligently exposed you to asbestos. You also may be eligible to file a claim with one of the many asbestos trust funds set up by companies whose asbestos liabilities drove them into bankruptcy.
Be sure that you reach out for information as soon as you can to avoid missing the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.
References
- Encyclopedia.com. (N.D.). Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.
Retrieved from: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/newport-news-shipbuilding-and-dry-dock-co - Maritime Administration. (N.D.). The Emergency Shipbuilding Program.
Retrieved from: https://www.maritime.dot.gov/multimedia/emergency-shipbuilding-program - White Lung Association. (N.D.). U.S. Shipyards: A History of Massive Asbestos Exposure and Disease.
Retrieved from: https://www.whitelung.org/GAConference/WS_H_0~2.PDF - Law 360. (April 13, 2007.). Widow Gets $9M Over Asbestos Poisoning.
Retrieved from: https://www.law360.com/articles/22598/widow-gets-9m-over-asbestos-poisoning - Newport News jury hands down $25 million verdict against Exxon in asbestos case
Retrieved from: https://www.dailypress.com/2011/03/17/newport-news-jury-hands-down-25-million-verdict-against-exxon-in-asbestos-case/ - EHS Daily Advisor. (Oct 19, 2018.). Asbestos Case in Virginia Defines ‘Duty of Care’
Retrieved from: https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/10/asbestos-case-in-virginia-defines-duty-of-care/
Terri Heimann Oppenheimer
WriterTerri Oppenheimer has been writing about mesothelioma and asbestos topics for over ten years. She has a degree in English from the College of William and Mary. Terri’s experience as the head writer of our Mesothelioma.net news blog gives her a wealth of knowledge which she brings to all Mesothelioma.net articles she authors.
Dave Foster
Page EditorDave has been a mesothelioma Patient Advocate for over 10 years. He consistently attends all major national and international mesothelioma meetings. In doing so, he is able to stay on top of the latest treatments, clinical trials, and research results. He also personally meets with mesothelioma patients and their families and connects them with the best medical specialists and legal representatives available.