USS Missouri (BB-63) — Equipment Manifest & Asbestos Exposure Record

USS Missouri (BB-63) was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned 11 June 1944 at the New York Naval Shipyard and decommissioned 31 March 1992 — the last battleship decommissioned by the U.S. Navy. “The Mighty Mo” served in the Pacific Theater of World War II, including the 2 September 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay; the Korean War (1950–1953); and the Cold War reactivation (1986–1992) under the Reagan-era battleship modernization program. Her three eras of service — spanning nearly five decades — mean that the crew members who maintained her engineering plant, boilers, and habitability spaces across all three eras were exposed to the same asbestos-containing insulation, lagging, and building materials across different phases of deterioration.

Equipment Manifest

Asbestos-Containing Materials Aboard Missouri

Iowa-class battleships were constructed during the peak period of asbestos use in U.S. Navy shipbuilding. USS Missouri carried the same asbestos-saturated engineering plant as her sisters Iowa, New Jersey, and Wisconsin:

• 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 (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

Documented Asbestos Records — Litigation Corpus

Publicly filed asbestos litigation records provide specific, primary-source documentation tied directly to USS Missouri (BB-63).

General Information Book — Iowa Class, BB-63

The publicly filed corpus contains the General Information Book for USS MISSOURI (Iowa Class) BB-63 — the Navy’s primary equipment identification and technical reference document for the vessel. The GIB lists the machinery, manufacturers, and technical specifications for Missouri’s engineering plant — the same equipment that required asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and packing throughout her service life. The document is identified in the corpus as originating from National Archives records (“Document — USS Missouri 1944 — National Archives”).

Boiler Room Equipment — Asbestos Documentation

The corpus contains a document with the heading “BOILER ENGINE ROOMS ROOM EQUIPMENT ASBESTOS” specifically associated with USS Missouri — direct documentary evidence of asbestos in Missouri’s boiler engine rooms. This is a ship-specific, primary-source record connecting the boiler room equipment to asbestos-containing materials.

NARA Insulation Records — Deteriorated Condition

The corpus contains National Archives records associated with Missouri that include the notation “INSULATION BADLY” — documenting that Missouri’s insulation was in deteriorated condition at a documented point in her service. Deteriorated, friable asbestos insulation shed fibers into the air in the spaces where it was installed — the boiler rooms, machinery spaces, and overhead surfaces where crew members stood watch and performed maintenance.

Turbine Documentation — Numbered Records

“Turbines on the USS Missouri) 594-689 12/1[date]” — the corpus contains turbine documentation for USS Missouri with specific document numbers, establishing that Missouri’s turbine plant was formally documented in the publicly filed asbestos litigation record with traceable National Archives document references.

Assignment Records

“Signed on board USS MISSOURI (BB-63)” — the corpus contains assignment records for personnel who signed aboard BB-63, establishing specific crew assignment documentation in the publicly filed record. These records place named crew members aboard the vessel during periods when the asbestos-containing materials documented above were present and in use.

Boiler Tender Deposition Testimony

“While working as a Navy Boiler Tender aboard [Missouri]” — publicly filed deposition testimony specifically places a Boiler Tender working aboard USS Missouri in the context of asbestos exposure. A second related reference — “While working as a Navy Boiler Tender and [serving aboard Missouri]” — confirms multiple Boiler Tender depositions with Missouri service. BTs working in Missouri’s boiler rooms maintained the eight B&W boilers, their asbestos block insulation, and the associated asbestos-lagged steam systems in the most asbestos-dense environment on the ship.

“A US Navy Boiler Tender aboard ship from [service period]” — additional deposition testimony in the corpus places a BT aboard an Iowa-class battleship consistent with Missouri’s service periods.

Combined Iowa and Missouri Document

“USS Iowa (BB-61) and USS Missouri (BB-63)” — a combined litigation document in the corpus covers both BB-61 and BB-63, reflecting the class-wide documentation approach used in Iowa-class litigation where sister ships’ equipment records are treated as cross-applicable evidence.

Historical Context — Final Battleship

“Missouri was the final battleship built by [the United States Navy]” — the corpus documents Missouri’s historical distinction as the last U.S. battleship constructed. Her final decommissioning in 1992 — after the Cold War reactivation — coincided with the peak period of asbestos-related disease diagnosis among her WWII and Korean War-era crew members.

VA Benefits for Missouri 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 Missouri General Information Book, boiler room asbestos documentation, and NARA insulation records are direct evidentiary support for veterans’ VA claims.

Key documents for a Missouri veteran’s claim:

• DD-214 — confirming BB-63 assignment
• NARA muster rolls — for service periods not captured on the DD-214
• Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Parallel claims against the asbestos bankruptcy trust funds established by the manufacturers of the products documented aboard Missouri are also available and do not reduce VA compensation.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Equipment manifest derived from public-record BUSHIPS documentation and publicly filed asbestos litigation records specific to USS Missouri (BB-63). This does not constitute legal or medical advice.