The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is the center of Navy activity in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area, and is today the largest naval base in the world. It is also the Navy’s oldest shipyard, predating the U.S. Navy Department by 31 years. Despite its many accolades and achievements, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard is also known for having exposed thousands of shipyard workers and Naval service members to asbestos, the carcinogenic mineral responsible for sickening countless people with malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other diseases.
Asbestos at The Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Like almost every naval shipyard operating between the 1930s and 1980s, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard used liberal amounts of asbestos in ship construction, repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. During World War II, the yard built almost 30 major vessels for the Navy and was also responsible for repairs to 6,850 U.S. and Allied ships. It also built 20 tank landing ships and 50 medium landing craft. The ship continued using asbestos during the Korean War, when it completed work on more than 1,250 naval vessels and built two wooden minesweepers, and continued exposing its workers to the toxic mineral when it overhauled the first modern submarine, the USS Skate.[1]
Asbestos was popular because it was strong, durable, heat- and flame-resistant, and cost-effective: All of these characteristics made it the preferred material for insulating boilers, engine rooms, and piping throughout ships and submarines built and repaired at the yard, as well as in various high-friction mechanical components. Asbestos was even incorporated into the buildings and work sheds that stored parts and supported the shipyard’s operations and administration, but the most common places where asbestos could be found on ships included:
- Bulkhead and Deck Insulation: Blankets, panels, and sprayed-on insulation
- Wall and Ceiling Panels:
- Floating Floors and Floor Tiles
- Cement, Adhesives, and Fillers
- Pipe and Cable Penetration Packing
- Seals, Gaskets, and Fasteners
- HVAC Systems
- Boiler and Steam Pipe Insulation
- Exhaust Duct Insulation
- Electrical Components
- Fire Blankets and Paintings
The History of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard
The Gosport Shipyard was established along the western shore of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk County, Virginia by Andrew Sprowle in 1767, under British rule. It flourished as a key naval and merchant facility, but at the onset of the American Revolution, with Sprowle remaining loyal to the Crown, the British confiscated his properties, including the shipyard. In 1776, Sprowle, along with other Royalists, was exiled to Gwynn’s Island where he died in 1776, and in 1779, while under the control of the newly formed Commonwealth of Virginia, the shipyard was burned by British forces.[2]
In 1794, the U.S. Congress passed the “Act to Provide a Naval Armament,” which allowed the federal government to lease the Gosport Shipyard from Virginia. The shipyard’s first major naval construction project began in 1799 with the laying of the keel for the USS *Chesapeake*, one of the first six frigates authorized by Congress. In 1801, the federal government purchased the shipyard for $12,000, acquiring 16 acres of land, which today forms the northeastern section of the current facility.[2]
In 1827, construction began on Dry Dock One, one of the nation’s first two dry docks. It remains in use today and is recognized as a historic landmark in Portsmouth, Virginia. Around 1837, Officer’s Quarters A, B, and C were built, and in 1845, additional land on the eastern side of the Elizabeth River was purchased to expand the facility. In 1855, the shipyard and surrounding communities faced a devastating yellow fever epidemic that claimed nearly a quarter of the local population.[2]
When Virginia seceded and joined the Confederacy in the Civil War, Union commander Charles Stewart McCauley ordered the shipyard destroyed, but the Confederacy, led by William Mahone, captured it, allowing the Confederacy to acquire vast quantities of military supplies, including 1,195 heavy guns which were later deployed across the South. In early 1862, Confederate forces repurposed the burned-out USS Merrimack to construct the ironclad warship CSS Virginia, which played a pivotal role in the Battle of Hampton Roads. When the Confederates evacuated in May 1862, they set fire to the shipyard once again.[2]
Following the Union’s recapture of Norfolk and Portsmouth, the shipyard was renamed the Norfolk Navy Yard to distinguish it from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. From the Reconstruction Era through 1917, the yard served as both a repair and construction facility, as well as a home port for ships stationed in Hampton Roads before the establishment of Naval Station Norfolk.[2]
The facility saw significant expansion during World War I, growing to support 11,000 workers and their families. Its size and capacity more than doubled during World War II, employing 43,000 personnel, commissioning 250 new ships, and repairing 6,850 vessels between 1940 and 1945. During this time, it was officially renamed Norfolk Naval Shipyard. After World War II, the shipyard transitioned from shipbuilding to a primary focus on repair and overhaul. Work on the Iowa-class battleship Kentucky was suspended in 1950, and the last ships built at the yard—wooden minesweepers Bold and Bulwark—were christened in 1953 during the Korean War. By the 1960s and 1970s, Dry Docks 1 and 2 had been modified to accommodate both conventional and nuclear submarines. In the early 1970s, a barrier known as “Rickover’s Fence” was installed to separate sensitive and non-sensitive areas within the facility.[2]
Today, the base covers 1,275 acres including ship berthing, maintenance, and repair facilities, with five operable dry docks and four major piers. It employs roughly 11,000 civilians and 5,000-6,000 military personnel, as well as 1,500 to 3,000 contractors. The yard’s mission is to improve the U.S. Navy’s fleet abilities through repairing, overhauling, and modernizing ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines.[2]
How Was Asbestos Used at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard?
The Navy’s shipbuilding operations at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard heavily relied on asbestos due to its durability and exceptional heat and fire resistance. The material had long been valued in civilian applications and was so highly valued by the military that the Navy mandated its use in the construction of all vessels, as well as in many buildings that housed, sheltered, and fed personnel.
Asbestos was commonly found in insulation for walls, ceiling and floor tiles, and roofing shingles, and was essential for the operation and insulation of boilers, incinerators, and piping. Unfortunately, during installation, maintenance, and removal of this equipment, asbestos fibers were released into the air as microscopic particles, which were easily inhaled by sailors and civilian workers alike, putting them at risk of developing malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases.
Asbestos was incorporated in hundreds of parts and components in the ships that the Norfolk Naval Yard constructed, repaired, and updated, as well as throughout the yard’s infrastructure and support areas. These included:
- Adhesives
- Automobile brake linings
- Boilers
- Ceiling material
- Concrete
- Doors
- Floor tiling
- Gaskets
- Machinery casing
- Other types of insulation
- Paints
- Pipe insulation
- Pipes
- Safety equipment and protective clothing
- Sealants
- Spray-on insulation
- Wall panels
Who Was at Risk of Asbestos Exposure at Norfolk Naval Shipyard?
While shipyard workers were the most obviously exposed personnel in the shipyard, many maintenance crews and specialists also handled the asbestos-containing materials used for ships and submarines at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. There was also risk to anyone visiting or working in administrative roles at the yard, and to the family members of shipyard workers who unknowingly brought asbestos dust home on their clothing, hair, or skin. This secondary asbestos exposure has been blamed for many cases of malignant mesothelioma in wives who laundered shipyard workers’ work clothes at the end of each workday, and even children who embraced their fathers when they returned home each evening.
The danger posed by asbestos exposure persisted long after the shipyard’s peak years of activity, as asbestos-laden ships continued to be repaired and upgraded there through the early 1990s, despite Navy efforts to protect workers at the yard from asbestos exposure. In 1975, the Navy established a policy of removing and replacing asbestos from Navy ships and replacing it with non-asbestos materials only if it was damaged or had to be removed to accomplish necessary repairs. In 1979, the policy was modified to include selectively replacing asbestos insulation in high-maintenance areas where repairs would be expected during a ship’s next operating cycle.[3]
The widespread use of asbestos at the facility left so much lingering contamination from asbestos-containing materials being dumped that it prompted EPA cleanup efforts to address the hazard,[4] and particularly in the Paradise Creek Landfill area.[5]
Those at risk included:
- Boiler Workers
- Carpenters
- Construction Workers
- Electricians
- Machinists
- Pipefitters
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Shipyard Workers
- Welders
The asbestos contamination and exposure at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard put both past and present workers and Naval personnel at risk. Many have taken legal action against the many companies that negligently sold and distributed asbestos-containing materials, despite knowing of the risks that they posed. Notable cases have included:
- Bernard W. Ripley worked as a boilermaker at Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 1969 to 1972 and from 1974 to the late 1970s. He was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and he and his wife, Deborah, filed suit against the asbestos companies responsible for the placement of asbestos in his work environment and accused them of a failure to warn.[6]
- An Arizona jury awarded $17 million to the family of former civilian U.S. Navy worker George Coulbourne, who died of malignant mesothelioma after working for 35 years at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The family filed a wrongful death suit against John Crane Co. and William Powell Co. and received $9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages. The Navy was found 47% liable for his death.[7]
Were You Exposed to Asbestos at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard?
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard has been in operation for over 250 years, and in the last 100 of those years, many Naval service members and civilians were unknowingly exposed to asbestos. Because asbestos-related diseases have exceptionally long latency periods, exposure from decades ago may still pose a risk. Even if you’re feeling perfectly healthy, if you spent time at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, it’s important to learn the warning signs of asbestos-related illnesses and inform your healthcare provider about your exposure history.
Help for Norfolk Naval Yard Asbestos Victims
If you served or worked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, an experienced asbestos attorney can be one of your most valuable resources. Based on the details of your work history, they’ll be able to identify the asbestos companies that supplied the shipyard with the products that caused your illness and guide you through your legal options, which include filing for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and seeking compensation for your suffering.
Navy veterans who’ve been exposed to asbestos during their time of service may apply for disability benefits from the VA. Because mesothelioma is considered a 100% disabling illness, veterans who are deemed eligible can receive specialized care at VA Medical Centers as well as non-VA facilities. They can also receive disability compensation and other forms of support.
Both military and civilian asbestos victims may qualify for compensation through the trust funds established by asbestos companies whose personal injury liabilities drove them into bankruptcy. You may also choose to file a personal injury claim against the individual companies connected to your asbestos exposure. These legal actions often end up being resolved out of court in a settlement.
Though being told you have mesothelioma is hard to take in, it’s important to act quickly once you’ve been diagnosed. Every state has its own statute of limitations that sets restrictions on the time frame for filing a claim. By speaking with a mesothelioma lawyer, you can find out how much time you have and make an informed decision about what’s best for you and your loved ones.
References
View All References
