Electric Boat, located in Groton, Connecticut, is the United States’ primary builder of nuclear-powered submarines. A division of General Dynamics, Electric Boat has designed and constructed virtually every nuclear attack submarine and many ballistic missile submarines in the Navy’s fleet — including the Nautilus (the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine), Skipjack-class, Permit-class, Sturgeon-class, Los Angeles-class, Seawolf-class, and Virginia-class submarines. Throughout the mid-twentieth century, Electric Boat’s submarine construction program involved the intensive use of asbestos pipe insulation, asbestos-containing machinery insulation, and asbestos-containing materials throughout the confined interior spaces of submarine pressure hulls. Electric Boat is a foundational defendant in naval asbestos litigation, with a formal memorandum to the Navy specifically addressing asbestos, and with litigation that established important precedents in the naval asbestos liability framework. Publicly filed asbestos litigation records document Electric Boat with the formal Navy memorandum, foundational litigation significance, personal worker testimony, and liability framework documentation.

Submarine Construction — The Asbestos Environment at Electric Boat

Electric Boat’s submarine construction created a uniquely concentrated asbestos exposure environment:

Confined pressure hull spaces: Submarine construction required installing insulation in the confined cylindrical pressure hull, with limited ventilation and no ability to open the hull to outside air. Asbestos pipe covering, block insulation, and insulating cement applied in these conditions generated fiber concentrations significantly higher than in open shipyard spaces.

Complete hull insulation: Every run of steam, hot water, and auxiliary piping throughout the submarine was insulated with asbestos pipe covering. The length of piping in a submarine, concentrated in a small hull volume, created an intensive insulation installation environment throughout the construction period.

Nuclear propulsion plant insulation: The steam systems connected to submarine nuclear reactors — secondary loop piping, steam generators, turbines, and condensers — were insulated with asbestos throughout the reactor compartment and engine room spaces.

Cable installation: Anaconda marine cables and similar asbestos-insulated cabling were run throughout the submarine hull in cable runs and junction boxes, with asbestos insulation present at every connection and termination point.

VA Claims and Legal Options — Electric Boat (Groton) Workers

Navy veterans who served aboard submarines built at Electric Boat — including any Los Angeles-class, Sturgeon-class, Permit-class, Skipjack-class, or earlier nuclear submarines — and civilian workers employed at the Groton facility, who subsequently developed mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease, may qualify for:

  • VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) for veterans who served aboard submarines built at Electric Boat
  • Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) for civilian Electric Boat workers employed at Groton
  • Civil claims against Electric Boat and General Dynamics based on the documented asbestos memorandum to the Navy and failure-to-warn in the submarine construction context

Key documents:

  • DD-214 or service records — documenting service aboard submarines built at Electric Boat Groton
  • Employment records — Electric Boat employment records documenting trade, department, and service dates
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

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Documented asbestos exposure information derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.