Newport News Shipyard

Home to the first dry dock in the world, the expansive Newport News Shipyard (NNS) in Virginia was at the forefront of the shipbuilding industry for decades, from the time it opened in 1886 and produced its first tugboat to the present. 
                
The shipyard began by building gun boats in the late 1800s and, by World War I, it was one of the busiest yards in the country. Even after the war, the location was never idle; building railroad cars, yachts, and traffic lights in the years between the World Wars.

Of course, when America joined World War II, work increased and, at one point, more than 30,000 civilians and Naval personnel were employed here.  During the war, the workers built cruisers, aircrafts carriers, and 239 “Liberty Ships”.  These so-called Liberty Ships were quick and cheap to build and many were leased to the British Navy.

This shipyard was also responsible for building one of the largest passenger ships in the world, the SS United States, which set a trans-Atlantic speed record that has yet to be broken. In later years, Newport News built nuclear submarines and is currently the only location that is equipped to build Nimitz-class supercarriers.  In 2001, the NNS signed a merger with Northrup Grumman, creating a $4 billion shipyard that is lauded as one of the best in the world.

Because asbestos was so widely used in ships and this location produced so many, a myriad of different professions may have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers, including welders, sheet metal workers, electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, and insulation installers and removers.  Traditionally, until a ban in the 1970s, asbestos was used for insulation of steam and hot water pipes, boilers, tanks, in ceiling tiles, and in fire-resistant sheets in bulkheads.  The shipyard also had its own power plant, so those who worked there were exposed as well. 

The overwhelming asbestos problem at Newport News came into light when attorneys for deceased Mesothelioma victim, Douglas Locke, a long-time industrial electrician at Newport News Shipbuilding, sued the shipyard for failing to reveal the dangers of Mr. Locke’s working environment.  In a 1981 landmark case, the Virginia State Supreme Court ruled that, because the latency period for Mesothelioma is so long, the 2-year statute of limitations did not apply in Virginia asbestos cases.  This was a victory for the 250 NNS employees who had already filed suits.