Bath Iron Works

Having built its first passenger steamer in 1890, Bath Iron Works (BIW) is one of the oldest and most highly-regarded shipyards in the United States.  Built in 1884 and located in the same town in Maine that shares its name, Bath Iron Works is located on the pretty Kennebec River, not far from the city of Portland.

Founded by the Hyde family as a producer of iron castings, Bath Iron Works quickly expanded -thanks to support from another prominent name in the shipbuilding industry - acquiring the  nearby Goss Iron Works and expanding to better serve its growing customer base. 

Since that first passenger ship – the Cottage City - set sail in 1890, Bath Iron Works has been awarded nearly 450 shipbuilding contracts, with more than half of those commissions coming from the U.S. Navy.

As a matter of fact, Bath Iron Works built its first naval ship back in 1903, a cruiser named The Cleveland.  Throughout World War I and after the conflict, BIW built a huge number of Navy destroyers.  Through the 1920s and 30s, the company built mostly yachts and trawlers for private parties or small companies.

When World War II came about, Bath Iron Works once again became the major builder of destroyers for the Navy, building more than 80 of these ships between the years 1940 and 1946.  That’s more than any other shipyard in the U.S.

The shipyard continued as a leader throughout the Korean War and still, to this day, builds a variety of ships for the U.S. military.  The yard was purchased by General Dynamics in 1995 and continues to be the largest employer in Maine, with more than 10,000 workers making the daily trek to the yard for their jobs.

BIW has also diversified outside the shipbuilding industry, producing turbine exhaust casings, pulp-molding machinery, water-circulating pumps, and replacement parts for naval ship supply systems.

Because Bath Iron Works has been in business for so long and has employed so many individuals, the potential for exposure to asbestos at this Maine shipyard is great.  Shipyard employees have historically exhibited a high rate of asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma. 

Employees who may have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers include:

• Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders
• Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders
• Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders
• Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders
• Machinists
• Millwrights
• Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders,
• pourers and casters, metal
• Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders
• Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers
• Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders
• Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

Were you employed at the Bath Iron Works prior to the asbestos ban of the 1970s?  If so, you may have been exposed to cancer-causing asbestos.  If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, you’ll want to know as much as you can about the illness and your rights as an individual who’s been exposed to asbestos.  Send for our free Mesothelioma Resource Kit for more information.