Ship Engine Room & Fire Room Insulation — Asbestos Exposure Crosswalk

What This Equipment Is

In a Navy combatant’s main propulsion plant, the fire room houses the boilers and burner equipment, and the engine room houses the main propulsion turbines, reduction gears, condensers, evaporators, and the dense mat of auxiliary machinery that converts steam into shaft horsepower and back into feedwater for return to the boiler. Both compartments are heavily insulated to control temperature, prevent burns, attenuate noise, and contain heat.

The asbestos insulation in these spaces extends well beyond the boiler casing and main steam piping. It covers:

  • Main propulsion turbines — casing lagging, steam-chest insulation (see Steam Turbines)
  • Main condensers — shell insulation
  • Evaporators / distilling plants — vessel and shell-side piping insulation
  • Feedwater heaters and de-aerating tanks — pressure-vessel insulation
  • Fuel-oil heaters and service tanks — heated-fuel insulation
  • Lube-oil coolers and purifiers — equipment insulation
  • Refrigeration plants — cold-side insulation
  • Generators and generator turbines — auxiliary machinery insulation
  • Bulkhead lagging — heat barriers and acoustic treatments inside the compartment

Each of these used the same product families documented elsewhere on this site — block insulation, pipe covering, insulating cement, asbestos cloth — but the density and confinement of shipboard engineering spaces concentrated exposure.

Why Engine Room / Fire Room Insulation Was So Heavy an Exposure Source

The compartments are small. A destroyer fire room or engine room is a tight, multi-deck space packed with equipment. Insulators stripping, fitting, and re-cementing material worked elbow-to-elbow with the machinist mates, boiler technicians, electricians, and pipefitters they shared the compartment with. Ventilation was limited by design — these spaces are armored, watertight, and air-controlled.

Operations and maintenance ran simultaneously. Underway maintenance often happened on running equipment in spaces still operating at temperature. Routine PMS (preventive maintenance system) tasks pulled insulation, gaskets, and packing dozens of times per cruise.

Battle damage and emergency repair drove peak exposure events — during war, during fires, during collisions, during machinery casualties. Damage controlmen and engineering crew worked in heavy fiber concentrations with no respiratory protection.

Manufacturers Named in Engine Room / Fire Room Insulation Litigation

  • Johns-Manville — comprehensive product line
  • Owens-Corning / Fibreboard — Kaylo
  • Pittsburgh Corning — Unibestos
  • Eagle-Picher — amosite products
  • Owens-Illinois — original Kaylo manufacturer
  • Armstrong World Industries — calcium silicate
  • Combustion Engineering — boiler-system insulation
  • Babcock & Wilcox — boiler-system insulation
  • Foster Wheeler — boiler-system insulation
  • General Electric — turbine-system insulation
  • Westinghouse Electric — turbine-system insulation

Documented Product References

Images sourced from publicly available product-identification reference materials. Inclusion does not constitute a finding of liability against any company.

Trust Funds That May Apply

  • Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust
  • Owens-Corning / Fibreboard Asbestos PI Trust
  • Pittsburgh Corning Corporation Asbestos PI Trust
  • Eagle-Picher Industries PI Settlement Trust
  • Armstrong World Industries Asbestos PI Settlement Trust
  • Combustion Engineering 524(g) Asbestos PI Trust
  • Babcock & Wilcox Company Asbestos PI Trust
  • Foster Wheeler related trusts

Service Roles Most Exposed in Fire Rooms / Engine Rooms

Navy ship’s company: boiler technicians (BT), machinist’s mates (MM), enginemen (EN), engineering officers, machinery repairmen (MR), hull maintenance technicians (HT), damage controlmen (DC), engineering chiefs.

Civilian shipyard: insulators (Heat & Frost), pipefitters, boilermakers, machinists, electricians and electrician’s mates, riggers, refractory masons, painters and laborers working alongside engineering-overhaul crews.

Vessels in the Network

Compiled from publicly filed asbestos litigation, U.S. Navy and shipyard procurement records, NIOSH reports on naval-veteran exposure cohorts, and industry-publication histories. Product and company references reflect what has been alleged or documented in publicly filed litigation. This page does not constitute a finding of liability against any company. Not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation. Navy veterans should also pursue VA service-connected disability benefits in addition to any civil litigation; VA claims and civil litigation can run in parallel.