Naval Station Charleston, located on the Cooper River in North Charleston, South Carolina, served as a major United States Atlantic Fleet homeport for attack submarines, destroyers, frigates, and auxiliary ships throughout the Cold War. Charleston was one of the primary Atlantic Fleet submarine homeports, homeporting Los Angeles class and Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarines alongside surface combatants including Knox class frigates, destroyers, and auxiliary ships. The base was established during World War II and significantly expanded during the Cold War to accommodate the growing submarine force, with submarine tender ships providing maintenance support for homeported submarines from dedicated submarine pier facilities. The installation’s WWII-era construction and Cold War expansion used military construction materials that incorporated asbestos-containing building materials throughout the submarine piers, surface ship berths, submarine tender facilities, ship maintenance buildings, and residential facilities constructed during the base’s decades of development. Naval personnel serving at Charleston aboard submarines, surface ships, and submarine tenders accumulated asbestos exposure from both the base facility construction and from the asbestos-containing construction of Cold War-era naval vessels homeported at Charleston.

Naval Station Charleston’s construction incorporated asbestos throughout:

  • Submarine pier facilities — the submarine pier facilities at Naval Station Charleston used for homeporting and maintaining attack submarines incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials in the waterfront support buildings, pier structures, and submarine refit facilities consistent with the construction specifications of the Cold War period. Submarine crew members and shore support ratings working in Charleston submarine pier facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the waterfront facility construction
  • Submarine tender support facilities — the submarine tender ships homeported at Charleston — AS-class submarine tenders providing maintenance support for homeported submarines — brought their own shipboard asbestos-containing construction to the Charleston waterfront. Submarine tender crew members performing maintenance work on submarines alongside the tender in Charleston accumulated asbestos exposure from both the tender’s construction and from the submarines being serviced
  • Surface combatant maintenance buildings — the ship maintenance buildings and waterfront support facilities at Charleston used for maintaining homeported surface combatants were constructed with asbestos-containing building materials consistent with the military construction specifications of the Cold War period
  • Enlisted barracks — the enlisted barracks at Naval Station Charleston constructed during the WWII base establishment and Cold War expansion used military construction with asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation. Naval personnel living in Charleston barracks accumulated background asbestos exposure from the residential facility construction

Submarine Asbestos at Charleston

Submarines homeported at Charleston carried significant internal asbestos:

  • Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine construction — the Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarines homeported at Charleston incorporated interior construction materials consistent with the submarine construction specifications of the 1970s and 1980s. Crew members serving aboard Charleston-homeported Los Angeles class submarines accumulated background asbestos exposure from the submarine’s interior construction materials
  • Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarine construction — the Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarines homeported at Charleston incorporated asbestos-containing interior construction materials consistent with the Cold War submarine construction specifications of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Engineering ratings serving in Charleston-homeported Sturgeon class submarines worked in proximity to the submarine’s asbestos-containing interior construction throughout their submarine assignments

VA Claims for Naval Station Charleston Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval shore installations. Navy personnel who served at Naval Station Charleston and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.