Brooklyn Navy Yard: Asbestos Exposure & Mesothelioma
Brooklyn Navy Yard combines one of New York’s most important industrial histories with unusually specific records about shipyard trades. For a family reconstructing old work, the ship, trade, shop and years can be powerful starting points.
What the public record tells us
A major naval shipbuilding workplace
The Brooklyn Navy Yard’s official history dates the federal shipyard to 1801 and continuous operation through 1966. Naval History and Heritage Command reports that more than 160 ships were built there.
Tens of thousands of workers and named trades
Naval History and Heritage Command reports wartime employment reaching 71,000 civilian and naval personnel and specifically identifies production work by pipefitters, electricians, welders, crane operators, truck drivers and sheet-metal workers.
A former Navy Yard welder appears in asbestos litigation
In Berger v Amchem Products, a New York court described Herman Berger as a welder at Brooklyn Navy Yard from 1941 to 1944 and stated that he was exposed to asbestos there before later automotive work.
What happened at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
The Brooklyn Navy Yard was a naval shipbuilding and repair complex, not a single factory. Its history includes dry docks, machine and fabrication shops, ship fitting, electrical and mechanical work, piers, cranes, rail lines and scores of specialized trades. The Yard's own archive reports that more than 230 naval and auxiliary vessels were launched there and thousands more were serviced.
Memory cue: ship name, dry dock, pier, shop, trade, launch, overhaul or wartime period may be more memorable than a building number. The Yard's archives also preserve plans, photographs, newspapers and oral histories that can help place a person in the physical and social life of the worksite.
Brooklyn Navy Yard — memory anchors
1801
The federal government established the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1851
A major granite dry dock was completed, part of the Yard's growing shipbuilding infrastructure.
1915
USS Arizona was launched at the Yard.
1939–1945
The Yard doubled in size during World War II and reached about 70,000 workers at peak activity.
1960
A major fire aboard USS Constellation during construction became a defining event remembered by many Yard workers.
1966
The Navy closed the Yard; New York City later redeveloped it as an industrial park.
Brooklyn Navy Yard history and timeline → Brooklyn Navy Yard archives →
How this can help reconstruct a work history
Historical records are most useful when they are connected to the person who actually worked there: the years, department, trade, tasks, equipment, contractors and coworkers remembered by the family. A documented workplace history can guide the questions; the individual work history supplies the context.
Which ship or shop?
Ship name, dry dock, shop, pier or repair assignment can narrow a very large shipyard history.
What trade?
Pipefitting, electrical work, welding, sheet metal, insulation, machining and repair work can lead to different equipment and records.
What years?
Wartime construction, postwar modernization and later carrier work involved different ships and projects.
From this workplace to the next useful question
This pathway separates what public sources document about Brooklyn Navy Yard from what still must be established for a particular person.
Documented here
- EVD-BNY-NYC-01 — Naval History and Heritage Command states that the Brooklyn Navy Yard built more than 160 ships, employed approximately 71,000 civilian and naval personnel at its World War II peak, and used trades including pipefitters, electricians, welders, crane operators and sheet-metal workers.
- EVD-BNY-NYC-02 — In Berger v Amchem Products, a New York court described Herman Berger as a welder at Brooklyn Navy Yard from 1941 to 1944 and stated that he was exposed to asbestos there.
- What exact years place the person at Brooklyn Navy Yard?
- What job title, department, contractor, crew or work area can narrow the history?
- Which remembered detail best fits: ship, dry dock, shop or building, welder, pipefitter, electrician or sheet-metal work, repair, overhaul or new construction?
- What employment, union, coworker, maintenance, specification or other record can connect the person to the correct time and place?
Primary and authoritative sources
- Naval History and Heritage Command — New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard U.S. Navy history
- Brooklyn Navy Yard — History of the Yard Official site history
- New York Supreme Court — Berger v Amchem Products (2006) Court decision
Continue the investigation
New York City and Long Island research → veterans and military exposure → jobsite investigation →
This workplace appears in an official DII site list
The DII Industries, LLC Asbestos PI Trust’s official Exhibit A list identifies U.S. Navy Yard – Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York. The source-listed relationship is HAL 1936-01-01–1982-12-31.