Naval Station Rota, located on the Bay of Cadiz in southern Spain near the city of Rota, is the US Navy’s primary forward operating base in the western Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, established under the 1953 US-Spain Mutual Defense Treaty. NS Rota provides logistics, fuel, and support services to US Sixth Fleet and Atlantic Fleet vessels operating in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and serves as a homeport for destroyers and submarines assigned to forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF). US Navy personnel stationed at Rota and aboard vessels homeported or transiting through Rota experienced asbestos exposure from shipboard engineering spaces throughout their assignments.

Forward-Deployed Surface Ship Asbestos

Atlantic Fleet surface ships homeported at or transiting through NS Rota during the Cold War period were built with full asbestos insulation in their engineering spaces:

  • Destroyer squadrons forward deployed to Rota during the 1960s-1980s included Gearing, Forrest Sherman, and Knox class destroyers and frigates with asbestos insulation in their main steam plant fire rooms and engine rooms. Engineering ratings assigned to these vessels during Rota deployments accumulated asbestos exposure from the engineering spaces of these asbestos-era vessels
  • Carrier battle group port calls — Atlantic Fleet carriers operating in the Mediterranean frequently made port calls at Rota; crew members aboard carriers built before the mid-1980s phase-down carried asbestos exposure from the carriers’ engineering spaces throughout their deployments
  • Submarine tenders and attack submarines — submarine tender USS Orion (AS-18) and other submarine tenders provided support to Atlantic Fleet submarines operating in the Mediterranean from Rota facilities

Shore-Based Infrastructure

Naval Station Rota’s facilities include buildings constructed in the 1950s-1970s under the original US-Spain basing agreements:

  • 1950s-era barracks and administrative buildings constructed under the original base-rights agreements used construction materials standard to military construction of the era, including asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling tile, and building mechanical system insulation
  • Base mechanical and utility systems serving the 1950s-1970s construction period used asbestos-insulated pipe in heating and utility distribution

Submarine Force Rota Assignment

Beginning in the 2000s, Virginia class submarines (SSN-774) were homeported at Rota as part of the FDNF-Europe force. These post-phase-down submarines were built without asbestos, but submarine crew members with prior assignments aboard Los Angeles class submarines (SSN-688 through SSN-750) during the same career may have accumulated asbestos exposure from those earlier submarine tours.

VA Claims for NS Rota Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure in overseas Navy service. Veterans who served aboard vessels homeported at or transiting NS Rota that were built before the mid-1980s asbestos phase-down and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.