Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, located in Camden County, Georgia near the Florida border, is the Atlantic Fleet’s Trident submarine homeport — the East Coast counterpart to NSB Bangor on Puget Sound. Kings Bay homeports eight Ohio class ballistic missile submarines and contains the Trident Refit Facility (TRF) Kings Bay, which performs periodic maintenance on Atlantic Fleet SSBNs during crew exchange refit periods. Kings Bay was commissioned as a submarine base in 1979 and expanded significantly in the 1980s to support the Trident program.

Trident Refit Facility Operations

The TRF Kings Bay performs depot-level maintenance and periodic refits on Ohio class submarines during crew rotation periods:

  • Secondary steam system maintenance — TRF maintenance personnel and submarine crew members perform maintenance on Ohio class secondary steam circuit components during refit. For the earliest Ohio class hulls (SSBN-726 through approximately SSBN-735) built during the asbestos phase-down transition, this maintenance may involve asbestos-containing components in the secondary steam system
  • Nuclear plant support equipment — TRF maintenance on nuclear plant support systems involves access to engineering spaces where asbestos-containing materials may be present in early-hull construction
  • Submarine tender support — Submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39), homeported at Kings Bay, provides maintenance support to Atlantic Fleet SSBNs and SSNs in the area, with tender crew performing submarine maintenance work involving engineering plant components

Base Facility Infrastructure

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a newer installation than most Navy bases — its primary development occurred in the late 1970s and 1980s during the Trident program buildup. Most Kings Bay buildings were constructed after the primary asbestos phase-down period, resulting in a building inventory with less asbestos in building construction than older naval installations.

Ohio Class Crew Asbestos Exposure at Kings Bay

Ohio class submarine crews home-ported at Kings Bay served patrols aboard submarines in the SSBN-726 class. For the earliest Ohio class hulls, engineering crew members spent patrol cycles in the engineering spaces of submarines that may retain asbestos-containing secondary steam circuit materials from the construction period.

Prior-Duty Exposure Documentation

Kings Bay veterans whose mesothelioma claims involve asbestos exposure should document all prior submarine duty aboard earlier nuclear submarine classes (Los Angeles, Sturgeon, Polaris-era SSBNs), which have stronger asbestos exposure records than the later Ohio class hulls.

VA Claims for Kings Bay Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy submarines. Veterans who served at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in submarine crew or TRF maintenance billets and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma should work with a VA-accredited attorney to document all prior submarine and shipboard duty stations.