Asbestos

[connaye]

Asbestos was last used in U.S. Navy ships ??? ( When )

At what point was the material required to be removed from U.S. Naval inventory?

[RustyBattleship]

Asbestos was last used in U.S. Navy ships ??? ( When )

At what point was the material required to be removed from U.S. Naval inventory?

Ytlas would be the best one to answer this. I know that around 1976 or so all shipyard personnel had to undergo tests for asbestosis by orders of the Naval Base head physician. Even office secretaries had to be tested in case a field worker came in with asbestos particles on his work clothes and some drifted around from the ventilation fans.

The chapter on HAZMAT in my book tells about this problem. Unfortunately, with all the weekly newsletters I have at hand, I could not pin down a specific date when testing was ordered.

[Ytlas]

Asbestos was last used in U.S. Navy ships ??? ( When )

At what point was the material required to be removed from U.S. Naval inventory?

Beats the heck out of me....

We were using fibrous adhesive which was liquid asbestos in late 1979. It was ok when wet, but dried the fibers got into the air.

For the other stuff, 1976 sounds like a good time for insulating materials like amosite, crocidilite and chrysotile asbestos.

I don't know about the boiler bricks that were used to line inside the boilers and some of the gasket materials the pipefitters used contained asbestos and they used that stuff into the mid 1980's.

As for private industries, I personally believed they used that stuff until
they ran out of it. When we were pulling insulation off the main steam lines of the USS Belleau Woods in 1980, the outside layer of insulation was a different color than the inside layer because............ the inside layer was asbestos.

[Rumrunner]

When we were pulling insulation off the main steam lines of the USS Belleau Woods in 1980, the outside layer of insulation was a different color than the inside layer because............ the inside layer was asbestos.

When I was last onboard the USS Shenandoah in the JRRF in September there were pipes in the engine room and in the Foundry that were wrapped in asbestos, but then over-wrapped by modern insulation. WWII-era ships in modern service like the USNS Vanguard, USNS Range Sentinel and USS/USCGC Escape were similarly treated. It was everywhere if you knew what you were looking at.

The stuff really does a fine job at insulating very hot things. Its a shame that the dangers went unknown, then unacknowledged for so long and now so many are suffering the after effects. My Grandfather worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during and after WWII, and he most certainly was effected by it in his later years.

[connaye]

USNS Range Sentinel - wacky design

USNS Range Sentinel at first looks a little wacky, but it obvilously served a critcal need tracking missles even with asbestos.

[connaye]

Looks better as APA

More traditional imagine of her as an APA in WWII, ( Big Slow Target for Battleships )

[Rumrunner]

...and this is her now











I dont have too many other pics of her engine room aside from the two here, but you can see the painted canvas wrapping over pipes and fittings that contained asbestos lining. We were looking for WWII-era steam engine parts on the RS, but all of her gear was far too large for our boat so we spent our time elsewhere onboard. Besides, there were big slabs of paint falling from the upper decks which kept one on their toes.

Her engine room was a pretty impressive sight though, the space ran from the keel to the stack vertically. I really was shocked there was no compartmentalization in there for damage control, but I guess if ya need to do major engine work or replacement, ya gotta go up.