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How Can a Gunner’s Mate Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Gunner’s mates operate and maintain a variety of weapons. This Navy listing has been in existence since the Navy has been present, so there are many individuals throughout the last several centuries have worked in this position. Over the years, the weaponry these individuals were responsible for maintaining and operating has evolved from cannons and muskets to more sophisticated weaponry like guided missile launching systems and torpedoes. These individuals have also worked with small arms, magazines, gun mounts and ordnance equipment. Sometimes these workers would wear asbestos gloves that helped reduce the risk of burns when loading or firing ammunition. As the gloves became worn, toxic asbestos fibers would be released where the workers could breathe them in. Additionally, when these workers fired heavy artillery aboard the ship, asbestos lagging would rip away from piping on the ship and insulation containing asbestos would fall. This caused asbestos dust to form, which could circulate throughout the ship where gunner’s mates could inhale the dust.
Additionally, gunner’s mates worked with electrical and electronic circuitry and mechanical and hydraulic systems. It is in this role that gunner’s mates may have been most directly impacted by asbestos. Asbestos was commonly used around electrical equipment and to insulate machinery because it prevented fires and was resistant to electricity. However, as these materials became brittle, airborne asbestos fibers could be inhaled and eventually result in mesothelioma.
Common duties that gunner’s mates were responsible for include:
- Operating and maintaining gun mounts, rocket launchers, and guided missile launching systems
- Stowing and securing explosives
- Operating and maintaining magazine flooding and sprinkling systems
- Training others in the use of ordnance equipment
- Testing, maintaining, calibrating and repairing ordnance equipment
- Servicing and repairing hydraulic and pneumatic systems
- Repairing damaged hydraulic sealing surfaces
- Performing wire connections
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Gunner’s Mates
Approximately 4,500 people are currently classified as gunner’s mates. These workers are deployed to areas where they are needed, based on defense and security needs. Commonly, these workers are located in coastal states.
Similar Occupations as Gunner’s Mates
Similar occupations as gunner’s mates include the following:
- Boatswain’s mate
- Boilermaker
- Damage controlman
- Electrician’s mate
- Engineman
- Firefighter
- Hull maintenance technician
- Utilitiesman
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Gunner’s Mates and Mesothelioma
Gunner’s mates represent a small portion of the Navy. Nonetheless, there have been some cases involving gunner’s mates. For example, a former gunner’s mate who worked from 1955 to 1957 aboard Navy ships filed a lawsuit against Crane Co. which manufactured metal valves that included asbestos gaskets and packing. He was awarded nearly $4 million in damages.
Individuals who were exposed to asbestos during their Navy careers may have a variety of legal avenues to receive compensation for their exposure to asbestos, including VA claims, personal injury lawsuits or asbestos trust fund claims.
Studies Related to Gunner’s Mates and Asbestos
Several studies have been conducted regarding the connection between Navy professions and asbestos exposure. A Vanderbilt University study in 2018 found a significantly higher rate of mesothelioma fatalities among Navy veterans who worked in areas with a higher potential for asbestos exposure. The study identified 114,000 service personnel who worked on atomic weapons between 1945 and 1962. The study found that only 20% of the workers had high potential for exposure to asbestos, they represented 55% of the deaths. Many of these workers, including boiler technicians, firefighters, water tenders, machinist’s mates and pipefitters worked around the same types of materials that gunner’s mates may have been exposed to.
In 2011, a study entitled “Government and Navy knowledge regarding health hazards of asbestos: A state of the science evaluation (1900 to 1970)” published in the journal Inhalation Toxicology, which detailed the government’s knowledge of the negative health effects of asbestos exposure, stated that it was clear in 1930 that asbestosis was correlated to exposure to asbestos.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Gunner’s Mates
Gunner’s mates may have been exposed to a variety of asbestos-containing products, such as:
- Boilers
- Pipe insulation
- Pumps
- Valves
- Tubes
- Adhesives
- Gaskets
- Thermal materials
- Cables
- Hydraulic materials
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Gunner’s Mates
Gunner’s Mates may have used products produced by a variety of asbestos manufacturers, such as:
- P. Green Industries
- Abex Corporation
- Amatex Corporation
- Armstrong World Industries
- Babcock and Wilcox
- Bestwall Gypsum
- Borg Warner Company
- Celotex
- Certainteed Corporation
- Cleaver-Brooks
- Combustion Engineering
- Crane Co.
- Crown Cork and Seal
- Dana Corporation
- Thurston & Sons
- Federal Mogul Corporation
- Flexitallic Gasket Company
- Foseco
- Foster Wheeler
- GAF Corporation
- Garlock
- General Electric
- Harbison Walker Refractories Co.
- Honeywell Heating
- T. Thorpe Inc.
- John Crane
- Johns Manville
- Kaiser Aluminum
- H. Detrick Company
- National Gypsum
- North American Refractories
- Owens Corning Fiberglass
- Owens Illinois
- Pacor Incorporated
- Pittsburgh Corning
- Porter Hayden Company
- Rapid American Phillip Carey Manufacturing
- Raybestos Manhattan Raymark Industries
- UNARCO
- Union Carbide
- W.R. Grace
