Naval Station Pascagoula, located in Pascagoula, Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico coast, served as a United States Navy homeport and ship acceptance facility adjacent to Ingalls Shipbuilding — one of the Navy’s primary Cold War and post-Cold War combatant shipbuilders. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula built the Navy’s Spruance class destroyers (27 ships), Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers, and Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, with newly constructed ships accepted into Navy service at Pascagoula before their transit to operating homeports. The naval station’s proximity to the Ingalls shipyard meant that naval personnel at Pascagoula were involved in ship acceptance trials, post-shakedown availability work, and homeporting of Ingalls-built vessels throughout the Cold War period. The base facilities at Pascagoula were constructed using military construction materials incorporating asbestos-containing building materials consistent with the construction periods of the facility’s development, and newly accepted ships from Ingalls Shipbuilding incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials in their engineering plants and interior construction consistent with the construction specifications at the time of their building.

Naval Station Pascagoula’s construction incorporated asbestos-containing materials:

  • Pier-side support and maintenance facilities — the waterfront maintenance buildings and pier-side support facilities at Naval Station Pascagoula used to support homeported vessels and newly accepted ships were constructed using military construction specifications with asbestos-containing building materials in the facility construction. Naval personnel working in Pascagoula pier-side facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the waterfront facility construction
  • Administrative and support buildings — the administrative buildings, operations facilities, and support infrastructure at Naval Station Pascagoula incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials in the building construction consistent with the military construction specifications of the Cold War period
  • Enlisted barracks and berthing facilities — the enlisted barracks and berthing facilities at Naval Station Pascagoula used military construction specifications incorporating asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation. Naval personnel living in Pascagoula berthing facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the residential facility construction

Ship Acceptance and New Construction Asbestos

Personnel at Pascagoula involved in Ingalls-built ship acceptance encountered shipbuilding asbestos:

  • Spruance class destroyer acceptance work — the 27 Spruance class destroyers built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula incorporated asbestos-containing pipe insulation and equipment gasket materials in their engineering plant construction consistent with the Cold War construction specifications of the 1970s. Naval personnel performing ship acceptance work, shakedown cruise support, and post-delivery maintenance on newly constructed Spruance class destroyers at Pascagoula were exposed to new construction asbestos-containing materials in the freshly built Spruance class engineering plants
  • Ticonderoga class cruiser construction — the Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers built at Ingalls Shipbuilding incorporated asbestos-containing materials in their construction consistent with the vessel construction specifications of the 1980s. Naval personnel at Pascagoula involved in Ticonderoga class ship acceptance and early maintenance work encountered ship construction materials during acceptance operations

VA Claims for Naval Station Pascagoula 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 Pascagoula and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.