Shipyard workers exposed to asbestos before the 1980s, especially during World War II, are at risk for developing mesothelioma. What made asbestos ideal for use in ships were its heat and fire resistance properties. Asbestos was used in insulation for boilers, furnaces, steam pipes, and hot water pipes.
Longshoremen were also at risk to exposure to asbestos in addition to ship builders and sailors. Longshoremen load bundles of asbestos onto ships before the 1980s and since the hazards of asbestos were not widely known before that time, they did not take any precautions while handling asbestos. As a result, shipyard workers were at high risk of developing mesothelioma and other diseases linked to exposure to asbestos.
A study conducted by Mt. Sinai School of Medicine found that 86 percent of shipyard workers with more then 20 years of experience were exposed to asbestos at one point or another.
- Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company, Mobile
- Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation, Chickasaw
- Ingalls Shipyard
- Bender Shipbuilding,Alaska
- Seward Ships Drydock
- Seward Marine Industrial Center ,California
- California Navy Shipyard
- Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Terminal Island
- Bethlehem Shipyard, San Francisco
- Consolidated Steel Shipyards
- Conrad Industries
- Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
- Kaiser Shipyard, Richmond
- Long Beach Naval Shipyard
- Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo
- Marinship Corporation, Sausalito
- Moore Drydock
- National Shipyards
- NASSCO
- Naval Weapons Station
- Permanente Metals Corporation, #1 Yard, Richmond
- Permanente Metals Corporation, #2 Yard, Richmond
- Richmond Shipyard (Kaiser)
- Rough & Ready Island Ship Repair
- San Diego Naval Shipyard and Air Station
- San Francisco Drydock
- Southwest Marine Shipyard, Long Beach
- Southwest Marine Shipyard, San Diego
- Terminal Island Naval Operating Base
- Terminal Island Naval Shipyard
- Todds Shipyard, Los Angeles
- Todds Shipyard, San Francisco
- TODD-Alameda Naval Shipyard
- TODD Shipyard, Oakland
- TODD Shipyard, San Pedro
- U.S. Naval Shipyard
- U.S. Naval Operating Base, Terminal Island
- Vallejo Shipyard
- Western Shipyard
- Western Pipe & Steel Company of California, San Pedro,Connecticut
- Groton Electric Boat Company
- Groton Naval Base
- Naval Submarine Base,District of Columbia
- Washington Navy Yard,Florida
- Atlantic Dry Dock
- Gulf Marine Repair Corporation
- Hendry Corporation
- J. A. Jones Construction Company, Panama City
- Mayport Naval Station
- Offshore Shipbuilding Inc.
- Pensacola Naval Air Station
- St. John's River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville
- Tampa Bay Shipbuilding,Georgia
- J. A. Jones Construction Company, Brunswick
- Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation, Savannah,Illinois
- Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, Seneca,Indiana
- Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, Jeffersonville
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Company, Evansville,Louisiana
- Avondale Industries
- Bollinger Shipyards
- Conrad Industries
- Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans,Maine
- Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bath
- New England Shipbuilding Company, South Portland
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery,Maryland
- Baltimore Marine Industries
- Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding
- Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards, Inc., Baltimore
- Ellicott International
- Key Highway Shipyard,Massachusetts
- Boston Naval Shipyard, Charlestown
- Bethlehem Steel Company, Hingham
- Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy
- Charlestown Navy Yard
- Fore River Shipyard
- General Ship Corp.,Michigan
- Defoe Shipbuilding Co.,Mississippi
- Ingalls Shipbuilding
- Naval Station Pascagoula
- Trinity Marine Group,New Hampshire
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,New Jersey
- Federal Shipbuilding, Newark
- Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny
- Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Port Newark
- New York Shipbuilding
- Todds Shipyard,New York
- Brooklyn Navy Shipyard
- Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island
- Caddell Drydock and Repair
- Todds Shipyard, Brooklyn
- GMD Shipyard
- New York Shipbuilding Corp
- New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn
- New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden,North Carolina
- Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston
- North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington,Ohio
- American Shipbuilding,Oregon
- Albina Shipyard
- Astoria Voyage Repair Station
- Cascade General
- Commercial Iron & Steel Shipyard – Portland
- Dyer Shipyard
- Floating Marine Ways Shipyard – Portland
- Gunderson/FMC Shipyard – Portland
- Kaiser Shipyard
- Northwest Marine Ironworks
- Oregon Shipyard (Kaiser)
- Oregon Shipbuilding Company, Portland
- Portland Shipyard
- South Portland Shipyard
- Swan Island Shipyard
- Tongue Point Naval Shipyard
- Willamette Iron & Steel Corporation, Portland
- Zidell's Shipyard – Portland ,Pennsylvania
- American Bridge Company, Pittsburgh
- Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
- Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia
- Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh
- Key Highway Shipyard
- Penn Shipbuilding
- Pennsylvania Shipyard (Beaumont)
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia
- Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Chester,Rhode Island
- Newport Naval Yard,South Carolina
- Braswell Services Group
- Carolina Shipping Company
- Charleston Naval Shipyard
- Detyen's Shipyard,Texas
- American Bridge Shipyard (Orange)
- AMFELS, Brownsville
- Barbas Cut Docks
- Bloodworth Bond Shipyard
- Boats of Freeport
- Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston
- Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange
- Galveston Docks
- Houston Shipyards
- Ingalls Shipbuilding
- Kane Shipbuilding
- Naval Station Ingleside
- Orange Shipbuilding Co.
- Pennsylvania Shipyard (Beaumont)
- Port Adams Shipyard
- TODD Shipyard (Houston)
- Trinity Marine Group
- USX Shipyard,Virginia
- Collona's Shipyard
- Little Creek Amphibious Base
- Lyon Shipyard
- National Shipyards
- Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek
- Newport News Shipbuilding
- Newport News Naval Shipyard
- Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth
- NORSHIPCO
- Phillyship
- Richmond Shipyards
- USX Shipyard,Washington
- Associated Shipbuilders, Inc., Seattle
- Bremerton Naval Shipyard
- Duwamish Shipyard
- Foss Tug and Launch Company
- Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard
- Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton
- Lake Union Drydock
- Lockheed Shipyard
- Masco Shipyard
- Naval Station Everett
- Puget Sound Bridge Yards
- Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton
- Tacoma Drydock
- Strategic Weapons Facility
- Todds Shipyard, Seattle
- TODD Shipyard, Tacoma
- Vancouver Shipyard (Kaiser)
- Voyage Repair Station Port Angeles,Washington D.C.
- Washington Navy Yard
- Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corporation, Manitowoc
- Brooklyn Navy Yard (aka New York Navy Shipyard), Brooklyn, New York
- Charlestown Navy Yard (aka Boston Navy Yard), Boston, Massachusetts
- Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California
- Mare Island Naval Shipyard (aka Mare Island Naval Station), California
- New London Shipyard (aka New London Naval Submarine Base), Groton, Connecticut
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard (aka Gosport Shipyard), Portsmouth, Virginia
- Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (aka Philadelphia Naval Base)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Maine
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington
- San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California
- Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.