Defoe Shipbuilding
The Defoe Shipbuilding Company began as a small wooden boat business in Bay City, Michigan, and developed into a warship supplier for the U.S. Navy during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. It also supplied ships in later years to the Australian Navy.
Like many shipbuilding companies during the U.S. war years, Defoe was confronted by the fact that its employees were exposed to asbestos in large quantities. A company history acknowledges this and that many former employees died because of asbestos-related conditions. There is no evidence that any of those former employees sought relief from Defoe or its successors through litigation.
Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are among the high-risk groups for developing mesothelioma cancer because of their high level of asbestos exposure on ships. Veterans can receive claims benefits from the diseases. Fill out this form to learn more about the VA claims and eligibility requirements.
Defoe and U.S. Navy Ships
The company started in 1905 as a partnership between two brothers, H.J. "Harry" Defoe and F.W. Defoe, and their brother-in-law, G.H. Whitehouse, in Bay City, Michigan. The company first did business under the name of Defoe Boat and Motor Works. The facility's first government contract was for five 40-foot Spent Torpedo Chasers purchased by the Navy in 1917. Another government contract followed in 1918 when the Army Transport Service purchased eight 98-foot steam mineplanters.
In 1917, the Company made a trade with the New York Central for the property across the river where the yard was built and still stands. Once the steel yard was built, the mineplanter contract was completed in 1921.
Defoe designed the first two styles of patrol coastal boats, PC 451 and PC 452. The vessels's primary objective was special operations, including surveillance. They also provided full support for special ops for the U.S. Navy.
The hull design of the PC452 was used for the remaining PC fleet. Defoe also built other ships for the Navy including three 100 foot diesel electric tugs, four 220 feet diesel-electric minesweepers, 56 PC boats and 28 steam turbine destroyer escorts. This was also the time that the name was changed to Defoe Shipbuilding Company.
As Defoe grew into a dependable source of ships for the U.S. Navy, the company also built non-military boats. Those included lightships, small vessels used as portable lighthouses or buoys. The company built these boats for coastal towns and cities throughout the United States.
Asbestos and Defoe Shipbuilding
During the height of this shipbuilding, a Re-inspection Report Safety and Industrial Health conducted at Defoe Shipyard by consultants commissioned by the U.S. Maritime Commission and the Navy in early 1944 mentioned asbestosis hazards in pipe covering shops and on ships. The report, designed to survey industrial hygiene in private shipyards under contract to the government, recommended exhaust ventilation and respiratory protection, safety features that were overlooked in the rush to build the number of boats needed for the war effort.
One of the many subcontractors that installed insulation on the pipes aboard ships built at Defoe was Willman Asbestos. This work was considered so vital to the war effort that the Willman workers were given military deferments. However, these came with a price: Most of these workers ultimately died from diseases related to asbestos exposure. A history of William Asbestos, now known as MIS Corporation, includes photographs of employees on ships working amid a "spaghetti" of piping in rooms with little or no ventilation and dust and debris throughout the air.
After World War II, the company's shipbuilding efforts were severely cut. The U.S. Navy cancelled a contract for 30 180-foot minesweepers. However, Defoe delivered lightships to the U.S. Coast Guard and later built two bulk freighters for the Pioneer Steamship Company and for the Great Lakes Steamship Company.
During the Korean War it got back into business with the U.S. Navy, constructing destroyers and guided missile destroyers
Defoe's shipbuilding expanded to include guided missile destroyers for the Australian navy. It built the HMAS Hobart from 1962-64 and the HMAS Brisbane, the last of three Charles F. Adams class destroyers, in 1965-66. Defoe Shipbuilding closed in 1976 and the yard is now used as a scrap yard.
Asbestos Exposure and Defoe Shipbuilding
In a 2004 article published in The Saginaw News and The Bay City Times, Thomas E. Defoe, whose father was president of Defoe Shipbuilding, was interviewed because a number of companies that supplied asbestos products to the company were being sued. He was quoted as saying that the risks associated with asbestos weren't known when the products first came into use.
At the time the article was written, Defoe was 61 and had worked at the shipyard from 1964 until it closed in 1976. He claimed to have no symptoms of asbestos-related diseases.
Defoe said many asbestos-containing materials used in shipbuilding were specified in government contracts and that the government provided the shipyards with some of these items. He said he didn't know of anyone in his family who had asbestos-related conditions, but he was aware that former employees had died as a result of contracting diseases resulting from their exposure.
If you are a former shipbuilding or shipyard worker showing symptoms of an asbestos related disease – shortness of breath, coughing, loss of appetite, for example – it is important to get checked out by a physician. The Mesothelioma Center's free Doctor Match Program excels at matching patients to mesothelioma specialists. Fill out this form to get more information about the Doctor Match Program, a complimentary service.
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Last Modified Thursday, February 9th, 2012 | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy |
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