A FORMER boy sailor who became a gunner in the Royal Navy effectively died as a result of his own gunfire.

An inquest heard that every time Bruce Ernest Barnard fired he was showered with dust from the asbestos that lined his gun turret. And it was that exposure that caused his death more than 50 years later.

Carol Barnard, of Pankhurst Close, Blackburn, said her husband had joined the Royal Navy when he was just 15 and spent 13 years in the service.

He became a gunner and told how when they fired the guns powder fell down from the roof.

Mrs Barnard told the inquest: "It is shocking. The roof was lined with asbestos and it was that which was raining down.

"I have heard now that many sailors have faced the same problems as a result of asbestos."

During the Second World War asbestos was used to protect sailors from one of the greatest hazards of sea warfare -- fire.

The shipbuilding industry used asbestos to insulate boilers, pipes and incinerators and to create fire-proof floor tiles. Asbestos dust collects around these areas and in poorly ventilated compartments of a ship.

In most cases, sailors were not aware of the dangerous nature of these materials, and did not take any special precautions.

Mrs Barnard said her husband had enjoyed reasonable health until 2004 when he developed a chest infection while at their second home in Spain.

He was eventually diagnosed as having a malignant maesothelioma and died in August, aged 71.

Deputy coroner Carolyn Singleton said she was recording a verdict of death as a result of industrial disease because Mr Barnard had been exposed to asbestos during his employment with the Royal Navy.

Mrs Singleton said: "This disease raises its ugly head many decades later and, when it does, it is very aggressive."

The medical cause of death was given as bronchopneumonia as a result of malignant maesothelioma.

A former sailor from Exeter, who said his health was also ruined by exposure to asbestos, lost his case for compensation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2002.

Alan Matthews, 65, said he was exposed to large quantities of asbestos dust while serving in the Royal Navy 40 years ago.

But five Law Lords refused to strip the MoD of the last vestiges of immunity from being sued over injuries suffered decades ago.