Gunner’s mates were in charge of operating and maintaining guided missile launching and torpedo launching systems, rocket launchers, gun mounts and other ordnance systems and equipment, stowing, securing, requisitioning and reclassifying explosives, training and supervising crews in the use of all types of ordnance equipment, servicing hydraulic and pneumatic systems and operating and maintaining special weapons systems. Their work also involved testing and inspecting ammunition, missiles and their components, preparing torpedoes and torpedo launching equipment for checkout and firing and supervising military personnel in handling and stowing of ammunition. Since they had to perform maintenance and repair work to asbestos components, their exposure was significant.
Relevant job titles
- weapon administrator
- small arms technician
- weapon delivery system technician
- aircraft mechanics and service technician
- electronics engineering technician
- storage and distribution manager
- infantryman
- artilleryman
Asbestos-related cancer eligible for filing a claim
If you developed one of the following cancers as a result of occupational exposure, you are eligible for compensation. If you are too ill, a family member can help you with the legal process. In the unfortunate event that you pass away before recovering compensation, your surviving family members will receive compensation on your behalf.
If, however, you struggle with non-cancerous pleural diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, diffuse pleural thickening, COPD (emphysema & chronic bronchitis), pleurisy, lung nodules, lung spots, asthma, pneumonitis, tuberculosis, rounded atelectasis or lung scarring, please seek a second or even a third opinion as the rate of misdiagnosis is very high among the victims of asbestos exposure.
Asbestos products handled by gunner's mates
During the last century, gunner’s mates came in direct contact with multiple asbestos products and, as a result, they are now susceptible to developing awful diseases. After asbestos fibers reach the inside of the body, the can easily attach themselves to various organs, including the lungs, the stomach, and the bladder, causing inflammation and tissue scarring over the years. The following are the asbestos products gunner’s mates may have been exposed to on the job.