[breadcrumb]
What is a Boatswain’s Mate?
A boatswain is an officer who assists the first lieutenant and the supervision of the crew. A boatswain’s mate helps the boatswain. A boatswain’s mate is responsible for training, directing and supervising others in maintaining a ship. The boatswain’s mate Navy rating is one of the two oldest in this military branch, dating all the way back to 1794. Navy recruits can enlist in this area without having a specific career path.
Regular job duties include completing and supervising the following duties aboard ships:
- Tying knots
- Performing seamanship tasks
- Maintaining the deck
- Painting boat seamanship
- Acting as petty officer-in-charge of small boats
- Maintaining the external structure of the ship
- Rigging
- Maintaining boat equipment
- Maintaining boats
- Completing search and rescue operations
- Repairing equipment to prepare for underway operations
- Providing armed security for their vessel or coastal installation
- Operating and maintaining equipment used on a ship, including equipment to load and unload cargo, ammunition and fuel
Some boatswain’s mates serve as a damage control, emergency or security alert team. Some act as the ship’s helmsman. Many stand watch, look out for enemy vessels and relay information to the crew. The actual duties a boatswain’s mate performs depends on the capacity and mission of the vessel to which he is assigned. The Navy may assigns these workers to the area where it needs them most.
How Can a Boatswain’s Mate Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Boatswain’s mates work for the Navy or Coast Guard, the two branches of the military that have the highest rate of reported mesothelioma cases. Boatswain’s mates usually spend more than half of their careers maintaining the ship and directing ship activities. These activities sometimes included dangerous activities that placed them in immediate contact with asbestos, such as sanding paint with asbestos in it or grinding floor tiles that contained asbestos.
Asbestos was contained in more than 300 products that were part of the shipbuilding process. When workers aboard these ships had to maintain them, they often released asbestos fibers and dust into the air which they and others onboard breathed in. Although the Navy stopped making ships with asbestos in the 1980s’s, many older ships still contain these dangerous, cancer-causing products.
Boatswain’s mates who worked with paint, electrical components, floor tiles or other materials that contained asbestos could have easily been exposed to asbestos while completing these duties. Additionally, some of the cargo that the boat carried may have contained asbestos.
Furthermore, asbestos was found in engine rooms, boiler rooms, navigation rooms, sleeping quarters and cafeterias, so there was nowhere onboard to escape it.
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Boatswain’s Mates
Boatswain’s mates are more heavily employed in coastal states after joining the Navy or U.S. Coast Guard.
Similar Occupations as Boatswain’s Mates
Similar occupations as boatswain’s mates and other dangerous jobs in the Navy include:
- Boiler technicians
- Damage controlmen
- Electrician’s mates
- Fire control technicians
- Gunner’s mates
- Hull maintenance technicians
- Machinery repairmen
- Machinist’s mates
- Metalsmiths
- Pipefitters
- Radiomen
- Seabees
- Welders
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Boatswain’s Mates and Mesothelioma
While there are a limited number of asbestos cases brought specifically by boatswain’s mates, many Navy veterans with various placements have filed personal injury lawsuits and claims for VA benefits due to their exposure to asbestos stemming from their Navy jobs. For example, a Navy electrician’s mate was awarded $16.925 million in 2009 by a Los Angeles jury that found the man’s mesothelioma was caused by his service in this role. He served aboard the USS Rogers as a machinist’s mate where he worked in engine and boiler rooms where he worked with high-temperature components like valves, steam lines, pumps and turbines that contained asbestos. He then was assigned to the USS Salisbury where he served as an electrician’s mate where he worked near asbestos-containing components in the ship’s engine and boiler room. Crane Co. was the sole remaining defendant at the time of the verdict.
A Los Angeles jury imposed a verdict of nearly $12.1 million against John Crane, Inc. and Lone Star Industries when it found them responsible for product defects and failure to warn that caused a retired U.S. Navy machinist’s mate to develop malignant pleural mesothelioma. The man worked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk from 1962 to 1966. The verdict included $506,000 in economic damages for lost wages, $10 million for pain and suffering and $1.5 million for the Navy member’s spouse for loss of consortium.
Studies Related to Boatswain’s Mates and Asbestos
While studies involving boatswain’s mates and asbestos are limited, there have been a number of important studies completed regarding Navy service and asbestos risk. For example, a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Radiation Biology analyzed 114,000 veterans who were exposed to asbestos when completing nuclear weapons testing between 1945 and 1962. Researchers found that radiation exposure was not a significant risk factor for these individuals to develop mesothelioma, but that rates of mesothelioma were highest for those enlisted in the Navy who had close contact with products that contained asbestos, including boiler technicians, water tenders and machinist’s mates.
In the “Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970)” study published in the Inhalation Technology journal, researchers concluded that the Navy was one of the most knowledgeable organizations on Earth about the health and safety hazards of asbestos and that it tried to implement procedures that would minimize adverse effects on members of the Navy and civilians.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Boatswain’s Mates
Navy ships often contained more than 300 products that had asbestos in them. Because boatswain’s mates may have worked in all aspects of maintaining the ship, they could have been exposed to the following asbestos-containing products:
- Adhesives
- Boilers
- Cables
- Caulk
- Gaskets
- Grinders
- Insulation
- Packing
- Paneling
- Piping
- Pumps
- Thermal materials
- Tubing
- Turbines
- Valves
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Boatswain’s Mates
The same manufacturers that supplied insulation and other asbestos-containing materials for commercial and residential use often sold these products to the military as well. Specific types of ships that boatswain’s mates may have served on that were known to contain asbestos include the following:
- Aircraft carriers
- Amphibious ships
- Auxiliary ships
- Battleships
- Cruisers
- Cutters
- Destroyers
- Escort carriers
- Frigates
- Minesweepers
- Patrol boats
- Submarines
