S.S. Elizabeth W. Moran
The S.S. Elizabeth W. Moran was a World War II era cargo ship in the service of the Merchant Marine between 1941 and 1946. Beyond this, there is little information about this ship's history that is readily available other than its name.
Asbestos has long been known to be a hazard to those in the maritime industries as well as naval services. Prior to 1980, asbestos insulation was commonly used as a flame retardant in virtually everything. After 1934 however, asbestos insulation came into particularly heavy use aboard seagoing vessels. After the Morro Castle tragedy of 1934, in which nearly 140 people aboard were killed, Congress passed federal legislation requiring ship builders to use asbestos insulation through a vessel's construction.
Asbestos product manufacturers were apprised of the health hazards of asbestos by the late 1930s. Rather than issue health warnings however, the major asbestos corporations – W.R. Grace, Johns-Manville, Raysbestos and others – worked closely with each other in order to suppress the information while spreading distorted information about their product. As a result, when the federal government finally issued advisories to war plant and shipyard workers in 1943 about asbestos, recommendations that respirators and other protective gear be worn were essentially ignored causing mesothelioma navy cases to arise.
In 1977, a lawyer representing an asbestos victim found documents in the CEO's office at Raysbestos, Inc. which exposed the existence of the four-decade long conspiracy. Although asbestos litigation had been steadily increasing since 1966, lawyers for the defense claimed that their clients had been ignorant of asbestos hazards and therefore could not be held liable. Exposure of the “Sumner Simpson Papers” (as they came to be called) destroyed that argument and opened the floodgates for a veritable tidal wave of asbestos litigation that is only now beginning to level off.
The symptoms associated with asbestos disease such as mesothelioma usually do not appear until twenty to sixty years after initial exposure to the substance. Diagnosis is challenging for oncologists, and demonstrating that a specific asbestos product was the cause of the malignant mesothelioma is extremely difficult. Successful asbestos litigation depends on a solid diagnosis by a qualified oncologist and thorough documentation of one's employment history - including vessels and jobsites as well as asbestos products, manufacturers and their corporate successors.
Asbestos litigation is complicated and time-consuming, but experienced lawyers in this area are likely to win good settlements, as they have spent many years accumulating and organizing data regarding asbestos job sites, products and manufacturers.
Sources
Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Terrifying True Story of How Asbestos is Killing America. New York: Touchstone, 2003.
