Naval Station San Diego — located at 32nd Street on San Diego Bay, also known as 32nd Street Naval Station — served as the primary home port for Pacific Fleet destroyers, cruisers, amphibious vessels, and auxiliary ships throughout the Cold War era. The station’s extensive waterfront facilities included ship berthing piers, a naval ship repair facility, industrial support shops, and shore support infrastructure for the Pacific Fleet surface force. Navy personnel assigned to ships home-ported at Naval Station San Diego, as well as those assigned to the station’s shore commands, encountered asbestos in multiple exposure environments.

Shipboard Exposure at Home Port

The primary asbestos exposure for Naval Station San Diego personnel was the asbestos-insulated ships moored at the station’s piers. Destroyer squadrons, cruiser divisions, and amphibious ready groups home-ported at 32nd Street included:

  • Destroyers and guided missile destroyers from Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) commands home-ported at San Diego, including Fletcher, Gearing, Forrest Sherman, and Spruance class hulls cycling through the pier throughout the Cold War
  • Cruisers and guided missile cruisers from Pacific Fleet cruiser commands, including Leahy, Belknap, and Sacramento class hulls home-ported at San Diego
  • Amphibious ships of the amphibious force — LPH, LSD, LST, and LKA class vessels — home-ported at Naval Station San Diego and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado across the bay

Sailors assigned to any of these vessel types and home-ported at San Diego accumulated asbestos exposure from the ship’s own asbestos-containing construction throughout their tours.

Naval Station San Diego’s Ship Repair Facility (SRF) — a subordinate industrial facility — performed voyage repairs, restricted availabilities, and limited overhaul work on Pacific Fleet vessels moored at the station. SRF work included:

  • Insulation work on steam plant piping and boiler equipment during repair availabilities, where naval shipyard trades stripped and replaced asbestos insulation on ships undergoing repair at the station
  • Industrial shop environments in the SRF mechanical, piping, and insulation shops where asbestos-containing materials were used in repair work on Navy equipment

Shore Infrastructure

Naval Station San Diego’s shore infrastructure included older buildings and utility systems with asbestos-containing materials in building mechanical systems:

  • Steam heating distribution on the station’s older pier and shore building complex used asbestos-insulated pipe in the base heating distribution systems
  • Industrial facility construction in the SRF shop buildings and pier support facilities with asbestos-containing materials in older construction predating the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down

VA Claims for Naval Station San Diego Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at Navy installations. Veterans who served aboard ships home-ported at Naval Station San Diego or worked at the station’s Shore facilities before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.