USS Iowa (BB-61) was the lead ship of her class — the largest, fastest, and most modern battleships ever commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Commissioned 22 February 1943 and decommissioned 26 October 1990 (with reactivations across her service), she fought in the Pacific Theater of WWII (Marshall Islands, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo Bay), the Korean War, and was reactivated for Cold War service in the 1980s where she demonstrated naval gunfire support before the 1989 Turret 2 explosion. The 15-entry manifest below documents key engineering-plant machinery installed during her 1943 construction at New York Naval Shipyard.
Equipment Manifest
| Equipment | Manufacturer | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boilers | Babcock & Wilcox Company | ||
| Emergency Feed Pumps | M.T. Davidson Co. | ||
| Bilge Pumps | M.T. Davidson Co. | ||
| Centrifugal Pumps | Buffalo Pumps, Inc. | ||
| Rotary Pumps for Fuel, Diesel and Lubricating Oils | Northern Pump Co. | ||
| Air Compressors | Gardner-Denver Co. | ||
| Air Compressors | Worthington Pump & Mach. Co. | ||
| Air Compressors | Hardie Tynes Mfg. Co. | ||
| Distilling Units | Foster-Wheeler Corp. | ||
| Forced Draft Blowers | B.F. Sturtevant Co. | ||
| Fuel Oil Service Pumps | Northern Pump Co. | ||
| Feed Water and Deaerating Equipment | Elliott Co. | ||
| Main and Auxiliary Feed Booster Pumps | Buffalo Pumps Inc. | August 8, 1940 | |
| Main Condenser Condensate Pumps | Buffalo Pumps Inc. | December 9, 1940 | |
| Boiler Feed Pumps | Ingersoll-Rand | December 9, 1940 |
Asbestos-Containing Materials Aboard Iowa
Iowa-class battleships were constructed during the heaviest period of asbestos use in U.S. Navy shipbuilding. Documented asbestos-containing materials installed throughout her main engineering plant, eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers, four General Electric turbine sets, and habitability spaces include:
- Pipe lagging and thermal insulation on main steam, feed-water, fuel-oil, condensate, and saltwater piping throughout four main machinery spaces and auxiliary machinery rooms
- Boiler block insulation, refractory brick, and gun-blocks around the eight Babcock & Wilcox high-pressure boilers
- Turret-level fire-control insulation in main-battery turret enclosures (1500-pound 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 guns)
- Asbestos gaskets and braided packing in valves, flanges, pumps, condensers, heat exchangers, and turbine glands across the entire engineering plant
- Insulation jackets and removable lagging on main propulsion turbines, reduction gears, ship-service turbine generators, forced-draft blowers, and auxiliary equipment
- Sheet asbestos and Marinite panels as fire-stops, bulkhead insulation, and overhead insulation in damage-control zones
- Vinyl asbestos floor tile (VAT) in passageways, berthing, mess decks, wardroom, and bridge compartments
- Asbestos rope, wick, and tape in gland-seal applications throughout the engineering plant
Sailors in Boilerman, Machinist’s Mate, Engineman, Electrician’s Mate, Hull Maintenance Technician, Damage Controlman, Turret Captain, and Gunner’s Mate ratings worked routinely in spaces where these materials were installed, maintained, ripped out, and replaced — including during the three major overhaul cycles (postwar, post-Korea, 1980s Cold War reactivation) where extensive asbestos rip-out work was performed.
Documented Asbestos Records — Litigation Corpus
Publicly filed asbestos litigation records provide specific documentation tied directly to USS Iowa (BB-61) and the Iowa-class battleship program.
General Information Book and Equipment Records
The publicly filed litigation corpus contains an index of USS Iowa documents received from [the National Archives] — establishing that primary-source construction and equipment records for BB-61 are documented in the asbestos litigation record. The General Information Book for USS Iowa BB-61 (Iowa Class Battleship) is specifically referenced, confirming that the Navy’s own equipment documentation for Iowa is part of the evidentiary record.
“machinery and boilers installed in the USS Iowa BB-61” — documents confirming specific machinery installations aboard BB-61 are part of the publicly filed record. These documents form the foundation for the equipment manifest above.
Babcock & Wilcox Boilers — Iowa-Specific Documentation
The corpus contains a document titled “ASSEMBLY OF IOWA BOILERS — BOILER BW” — a Babcock & Wilcox assembly record specific to the Iowa-class boiler installation. This is direct manufacturer documentation of the B&W boilers aboard BB-61 (and sister ships) — the same boilers that required asbestos-containing block insulation, refractory, and lagging throughout their operational life.
Iowa-Class Insulation Quantification
“USS Iowa class battleships carried nearly [a documented tonnage] of insulation” — publicly filed expert testimony quantifies the asbestos insulation load aboard Iowa-class vessels in terms that make the scale of asbestos exposure concrete: Iowa-class ships were among the most heavily insulated vessels ever built by the U.S. Navy, with asbestos covering every steam, feed-water, and fuel-oil line across four main machinery spaces.
“machinery aboard the Iowa Class Battleships was almost [entirely asbestos-insulated]” — expert testimony in the publicly filed record describes the degree to which Iowa-class engineering plant machinery was covered with asbestos-containing insulation.
Deposition Testimony — Serving Aboard Iowa
“And the USS Iowa, that’s a battleship, right?” / “Navy and USS Iowa?” — deposition testimony in the publicly filed record directly confirms service aboard BB-61 and the Navy/Iowa combined exposure context. “All Iowa and Navy case. Lived, worked, died” — case documentation language in the corpus confirms the Iowa as a recognized exposure vessel in the litigation record with documented mortality outcomes.
USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin — Decommissioning Records
“Destruction of the Battleships USS IOWA and USS WISCONSIN” — a specific document addressing the decommissioning and disposition of BB-61 and BB-64 is present in the corpus. This document covers the final era of the vessels’ service and the procedures governing their inactivation — relevant to the 1980s-era reactivation workforce that performed asbestos rip-out work during modernization.
VA Benefits for Iowa Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease as conditions presumed to be service-connected for Navy veterans with documented asbestos exposure. The Iowa equipment manifest is direct documentary evidence of the asbestos-containing materials her crew worked around throughout her three eras of service.
Parallel claims against the asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by the manufacturers of these products are also available, and do not reduce VA compensation.
Speak with an asbestos attorney with Navy veterans experience →
Equipment manifest derived from public-record BUSHIPS documentation specific to USS Iowa (BB-61). Manufacturer attribution links to documented asbestos-product histories on AsbestosIndex.com where available. Editorial review applied per site standards.
