In 1762 the Earl of Bute was the first ship to be launched at the site of what is currently the Bath Iron Works Shipyard on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine. However, the Bath Iron Works was not established as a shipyard until 1888 when General Thomas W. Hyde merged the Bath Iron Works foundry with the Goss Marine Iron Works. Since that time, the shipyard has produced more than 580 vessels, from private yachts to large U.S. Navy frigates to some of the most advanced modern warships ever produced. As a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics since 1995, the Bath Iron Works has undergone extensive modernization and is building state of the art destroyers such as the DDG 1000 class USS Zumwalt at its state of the art facility.
Unfortunately, through much of the twentieth century, the employees of the Bath Iron Works Shipyard were exposed to large quantities of asbestos. Most of the ships built at the shipyard were powered by steam. The boilers, turbines and miles of pipes on the vessels were insulated with asbestos and asbestos containing materials. There were other uses of asbestos on ships, including gaskets, cement, electrical equipment, and fireproof bulkheads, or walls. During construction and maintenance of ships, insulators, electricians, plumbers, welders and pipefitters may have been exposed to these asbestos-containing materials. Those who also worked near or in the vicinity of those who repaired and maintained asbestos-containing materials were also at risk for exposure to asbestos fibers.
Having represented workers from the Bath Iron Works since 1978, attorneys at Thornton Law Firm have gathered a vast amount of information concerning the type and variety of asbestos-containing products to which our clients were exposed. If you or a loved one once worked at the Bath Iron Works Shipyard and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease such as mesothelioma or lung cancer, please contact us online or by phone at 888-632-0108 for a free case evaluation.
