Asbestos Uses: 125 Years Ago. Damn the Torpedoes!

The year was 1896 (or 1897) and the scientists employed by the United States Geological Survey at the Secretary of the Interior decided to expand their annual (almost annual) discussion on asbestos. One area on which they focused during this 1896-1897 edition was the ever broadening uses of asbestos in society during that time frame.

This edition of the Minerals Yearbook has the first two references that I can find to the use of asbestos aboard a ship. For the first one, it seems that improving the machinery of war was fair game:

“In torpedoes, the difficulty of dealing with the charges of wet gun cotton is overcome by inclosing them in asbestos, the employment of which has also, in a great measure, brought the dynamite shell to its present efficiency.”

Technically, “Damn the Torpedoes” was from the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay which, in itself, is a good story but nothing to do with asbestos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mobile_Bay#Damn_the_torpedoes.

For the second reference to asbestos used on ships, it states:

“In these days of high pressures and ocean records it is of supreme importance to marine engineers that they should have jointing and packing materials on which absolute reliance can be placed.”

To be honest, I am somewhat surprised that there was such a specialty as a “marine engineer” 125 years ago, but it makes sense given that they were shooting torpedoes at each other.

The references to the use on ships is important to me as my next Masters of History project (thesis and book hopefully) involves that exact topic. If any of you reading this blog know of prior references to using asbestos on ships, please drop me a line with the source material.

In addition to the maritime applications for asbestos, the listed uses include:

Wall Plaster

Saloons of Steamships, embossed in very beautiful designs

Asbestos clothing and masks for firemen

Fireproof curtains to reduce the mortality of theater fires

Cloth used for aeronautical purposes such as balloons made of uninflammable material

Roofing

Woodworking in buildings, to reduce the insurance costs

Sectional cylinders for pipe coverings to retain the heat of steam (and other pipes)

Felt protective coverings for boilers

Frost productions for gas or water pipes

Cement felting

When only needed to retain heat, the asbestos was mixed with other substances but, when needed to be fireproof, then only asbestos was used.

So, let’s continue:

Heating systems of railway cars

Asbestos sponges

Packings

Electrical devices, machinery, and wiring in which asbestos was “absolutely” essential

Filtering cloth

Electro-thermic apparatus

Car heaters

And others. Clearly, in 1896, asbestos was becoming part of everyday life.

I found this edition of the Minerals Yearbook as being pretty informative. I hope that you did the same. If you want a complete copy of the 1896-1897 section on asbestos, just leave me a comment or send an email to TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Be well. Marty