Asbestos In Shipyards

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard has been variously known as the Charlestown Navy Yard, the Boston Navy Yard and the Boston Naval Yard throughout its history. It is one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities of the United States Navy, commissioned in 1801 and operated continuously until 1974. The property is now owned by the National Park Service, and houses the USS CONSTITUION ship museum, and the USS CASSIN YOUNG, a museum ship of the World War II era. It is still known in the area as the Charlestown Navy Yard.

The Charlestown Navy Yard began shipbuilding activities during the Revolutionary War. In 1801, it was purchased by the federal government, and the shipyard established with a commission to build the USS INDEPENDENCE, first ship of the line. The Independence was one of six ships commissioned by the Federal government to serve as state of the art warships for the United States in the formation of a naval armament to protect the country. For more information about specific ships built at the Boston Navy Yard, please see Boston Navy Yard - Famous Ships Built.

During the 1800s, the facility was known as the Charlestown Navy Yard. From 1812 through the Civil War, there were few ships built at the Charlestown site, but the ships that were built were frequently those of note. The ship USS Merrimack, which was scuttled at the Norfolk shipyard at the start of the Civil War and rebuilt as the CSS VIRGINIA was originally built at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Other important ships built at the Charlestown Navy Yard included the USS Cumberland, which was destroyed in a battle with the CSS Virginia, and the USS Hartford, manned by Admiral Farragut at the Battle of New Orleans, and the USS Monadnock, one of the few monitors completely constructed at a U.S. Navy shipyard.

In all, in its 174 year history, the Charlestown Navy Yard, renamed the Boston Navy Yard in 1945, built over 200 warships for the United States Navy and maintained or repaired thousands of others. The shipyard was instrumental in the rise of the U.S. Navy to one of the most powerful naval forces in the world.

The Charlestown Naval Dry Dock, started in 1827 and finished in 1833, was one of the first dry docks in the Western Hemisphere. The dry docks are vital to the maintenance, repair and storage of naval ships, and the Charlestown dry dock served its purpose for more than a century.

During the Civil War, the Charlestown Navy Yard grew rapidly to meet the needs of the Union troops. It was the main support and repair base for ships blocking Southern harbors, and was instrumental in converting small ships into warships for the war effort. After the war, the Navy Yard continued to expand, and in the 1890s, now called the Boston Navy Yard, the shipyard turned to building ships made of steel.

During World War I, the Boston Navy Yard's location made it an important repair facility, supporting ships in the Atlantic theater. With the end of the war, though ,work at the shipyard slowed until the Axis activities leading up to World War II sparked a renewed flurry of shipbuilding, this time focusing on destroyer class ships. During the early half of the twentieth century, the Boston Navy Yard built about two dozen destroyers that were instrumental in the ocean battles of World War II. When the United States traded 50 older ships for British bases in the Caribbean and Atlantic theater, the Boston Navy Yard reconditioned and refitted most of those ships as part of the trade. During World War II, the Boston Navy Yard employed as many as 50,000 people in shipbuilding operations. Those employees worked three shifts, around the clock, seven days a week.

When the war ended, the shipyard turned to modernizing older Navy warships, installing sonar, radar, electronics and other modernizations on ships that had served proudly in World War II. By 1974, there was little work for the Boston Navy Yard, and the site became part of the Boston National Historic Park. The National Park Service now maintains a part of living history there in the form of two ships, the USS Constitution, affectionately called Old Ironsides, and the USS Cassin Young.

Those who worked at the Boston Navy Yard helped the nation become one of the strongest naval forces in the world. In doing so, though, they were often exposed to dangerous and unhealthy working conditions. During the 1900s, the Navy made heavy use of asbestos in building, refitting and repairing ships. Anyone who worked at the Boston Navy Yard may have been exposed to dust laden with asbestos fibers. For more information about this toxic substance, and the risks shipyard workers were exposed to, please see Asbestos and Shipyards.

Asbestos fibers have been identified as the only known cause of a rare but malignant form of cancer known as mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an insidious killer, often taking decades to start causing symptoms in those who were exposed to heavy concentrations of asbestos like those found in the Boston Navy Yard and other shipyards of the 1900s. Please see "Mesothelioma Overview" for more information about this type of cancer.

If you or someone you know worked at the Boston Navy Yard building, repairing, dry docking or outfitting ships, you may have been exposed to asbestos and carry a higher risk of developing mesothelioma. It's important that your medical professionals are aware of your history of asbestos exposure so that they can accurately assess and diagnose any illnesses. For more information, please read Mesothelioma Lawyers and Your Rights.

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