Premises Description

Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company (Sun Ship — founded 1917 as a subsidiary of Sun Oil Company; closed 1982) operated through the 20th century the Chester PA shipyard on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia — historically one of the largest East Coast U.S. shipbuilders and, during WWII, the second-largest single shipyard in the world by output behind only the Kaiser Richmond CA yard.

Sun Ship built through the asbestos era U.S. Navy amphibious ships, oilers, and auxiliary vessels plus commercial tankers, container ships, and specialized cargo vessels — reaching peak employment of ~40,000 during WWII and continuing major commercial and naval construction into the 1970s before the yard’s 1982 closure.

Sun Shipbuilding is a heavily-litigated U.S. shipyard premises defendant given its scale, its long WWII and post-war workforce, and its concentrated asbestos-era operations. Sun used Marinite, Mundet asbestos-cork, Johns-Manville pipe covering, Owens-Corning Kaylo, Pittsburgh Corning Unibestos, and other principal manufacturers’ asbestos products throughout shipbuilding work in confined shipboard spaces with limited ventilation.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company — as premises owner of the Chester PA shipyard — exposed its shipyard workforce and contractor trades to extensive asbestos.

Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • Shipyard machinists, marine machinists, and shipfitters at Sun Ship Chester PA
  • Ship insulators (HFIAW Local members) installing marine asbestos insulation
  • Pipefitters running asbestos-clad shipboard piping
  • Boilermakers (IBB Local members) building ship boilers
  • Electricians running asbestos-insulated shipboard electrical
  • Welders, riggers, and laborers working alongside shipboard asbestos
  • Navy ratings aboard ships built or repaired at Sun Ship

If You Worked at Sun Shipbuilding Chester PA

If you worked at Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company Chester PA during the asbestos era — as a Sun Ship employee or as a Navy rating aboard a ship at the yard — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956