USS Philippine Sea (CV)

The USS Philippine Sea (CV) was built by the Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts as an Essex-class aircraft carrier. She was launched in 1945, able to carry up to 100 aircraft and a crew of 3,450 men. The Philippine Sea was quite active during her nearly 25 years of U.S. Navy service.

Involved in a Polar Expedition
For example, in 1947, the Philippine Sea was used to fly Richard E. Byrd and his party from Little America in the Antarctic region of the South Pacific to begin a polar expedition. In 1949 the Philippine Sea was sent to the Mediterranean, and then to the Boston Naval Shipyard for an overhaul.

Korean War Service
The USS Philippine Sea was quite active in the Korean War, receiving nine battle stars for her service there.

In 1957, the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 7 (an around-the-world commercial airline flight that had disappeared) was located by the crew of the Philippine Sea.

The Philippine Sea was struck from the Navy List in 1969 and sold for scrap two years later.

Asbestos and the USS Philippine Sea
Navy ships built before the 1980s had hundreds of parts made with asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). The safety regulations regarding the use of ACMs came much too late to help the WWII and Korean War-era Navy veterans and shipyard workers, thousands of whom have already been diagnosed with asbestos diseases such as:

 mesothelioma — cancer of the tissue lining in the chest cavity
 lung cancers of various types
 asbestosis — a severe respiratory disease

Due to Their Military or Shipyard Experience
These diseases are often fatal. Even when they are not fatal, they can greatly impair an individual’s quality of life, causing permanent disability, acute and chronic pain, and extensive emotional suffering. It is extremely unfortunate that so many Navy veterans and workers who helped U.S. war efforts have developed asbestos diseases directly traced to their service to their country.

Find Out More about Your Legal Rights
If you have concerns about your asbestos exposure — or that of a loved one — contact an asbestos victims’ law firm in your area today.