Tarawa-Class Amphibious Assault Ships (LHA) — Asbestos in Navy Amphibious Carriers

The Tarawa class consisted of five large amphibious assault ships (LHA-1 through LHA-5) commissioned between 1976 and 1980 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Tarawa class combined in a single hull the capabilities previously spread across three ship types — the LPH helicopter ship, the LPD amphibious transport, and the LSD dock landing ship — creating a versatile 820-foot amphibious ship capable of operating both fixed-wing AV-8 Harrier aircraft and helicopters from the flight deck, while also landing Marines by air cushion and conventional landing craft from the well deck. These large ships used steam turbine propulsion, with asbestos insulation in the engineering plant consistent with the mid-1970s construction specifications.

Steam Plant Asbestos

Tarawa-class ships used steam turbine propulsion with asbestos insulation:

• Boiler plant — the two boilers aboard Tarawa-class ships used asbestos-containing boiler lagging on exterior surfaces and asbestos refractory brick in combustion chambers in the 1976-era construction, which was in the late transitional period when the Navy’s asbestos phase-down was underway but not yet complete in boiler lagging specifications. BT ratings maintaining the Tarawa-class boiler plant worked in proximity to the asbestos-containing boiler lagging
• Main steam piping — the main steam distribution piping in the Tarawa-class engineering plant used asbestos-containing pipe covering on the hot steam piping in the engineering spaces consistent with the mid-1970s construction period when asbestos pipe covering was still in use for Navy ship construction
• Well deck machinery — the well deck ballasting and dewatering systems, cargo handling equipment, and landing craft support systems used steam-powered machinery with asbestos-containing gasket and packing materials in the engineering maintenance cycle

Embarked Marine Corps Personnel

Tarawa-class ships embarked Marine Amphibious Units (MAU) for extended periods:

• Embarked Marine Corps infantry, aviation, and logistics personnel occupied the Tarawa-class troop berthing and mess spaces — built during the mid-1970s construction with asbestos-containing deck and overhead materials consistent with the construction period — during amphibious training exercises and deployments

VA Claims for Tarawa-Class Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy amphibious ships. Engineering ratings and other crew members who served aboard Tarawa-class ships and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.

Source notes: equipment-manifest entries (where shown) are sourced from public-record BUSHIPS (Bureau of Ships) documentation, NARA archives, and the public asbestos litigation record. Manufacturer attributions link to documented asbestos-product histories on AsbestosIndex.com where available. Nothing on this page constitutes medical or legal advice.