Naval Station Ingleside, located on Corpus Christi Bay near Ingleside, Texas, was established in 1992 as the homeport for the Navy’s mine countermeasures (MCM) force — Avenger class mine countermeasures ships (MCM-1 through MCM-14) and Osprey class coastal minehunters (MHC-51 series). The station served as the center of Navy mine warfare operations for nearly two decades before closing in 2010 under base realignment. Navy Minemen (MN), Boatswain’s Mates, and other ratings serving aboard MCM vessels homeported at Ingleside were stationed at this Gulf Coast base and in the base’s shore support facilities. Mine warfare vessels operating from Ingleside — while built in the 1980s with fiberglass construction to avoid magnetic signatures — operated alongside older support vessels and in support of older ship structures in their mine warfare operations, and the shore facility construction at Ingleside used military construction materials consistent with the period.

Mine Warfare Vessel Operations and Asbestos

MCM vessels and their crews accumulated asbestos exposure through the base’s operations:

  • Older MCM support vessel construction — the auxiliary support vessels and mine warfare support ships operating in conjunction with the Ingleside-based MCM force included older vessels with WWII-era and Cold War construction using asbestos-containing materials in their construction. Minemen and support personnel working aboard and servicing these older support vessels encountered asbestos-containing construction materials in the older vessel stock
  • Shore ordnance handling facilities — the mine assembly and maintenance facilities at Naval Station Ingleside supporting the MCM force’s operational mine sweep and hunting equipment used military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the ordnance handling facility building stock

Shore Facility Construction and Asbestos

The station’s shore facility construction incorporated military building materials:

  • Administrative and support buildings — the administrative, barracks, and support buildings at Naval Station Ingleside used military construction materials consistent with 1990s-era construction while some older building stock in the Corpus Christi Bay area facility complex may have incorporated earlier construction materials

Adjacent Corpus Christi Area Naval Facilities

Ingleside’s proximity to other Gulf Coast Navy facilities connects to the broader asbestos exposure context:

  • NAS Corpus Christi aviation operations — Navy personnel at Ingleside who worked at or transited through nearby Naval Air Station Corpus Christi encountered the established asbestos-containing construction of that WWII-era naval air station’s hangars and training facility buildings

VA Claims for Naval Station Ingleside Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval stations and aboard Navy ships. Navy personnel who served at Naval Station Ingleside or aboard mine warfare vessels homeported there and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.