Naval Support Activity Crane, located in Crane, Martin County, Indiana, in the remote hills of southern Indiana, operated as the US Navy’s primary interior ammunition depot and later expanded into a comprehensive naval electronics and ordnance support center. Established as the Naval Ammunition Depot (NAD) Crane in 1941 for WWII ordnance storage and assembly, the facility grew into one of the largest naval installations in the world by area — encompassing hundreds of ordnance storage igloos and buildings across a vast landholding. The installation later evolved into the Naval Weapons Support Center and ultimately Naval Support Activity Crane, adding naval electronics research and testing, torpedo maintenance, and systems integration roles to the original ammunition depot function.

WWII-Era Ammunition Depot and Support Facilities and Asbestos

Crane’s extensive WWII-era industrial and support building complex used asbestos-containing construction materials:

  • WWII-era ammunition assembly and maintenance buildings — the ammunition assembly, inspection, and maintenance buildings constructed during the WWII expansion of the depot used industrial building construction of the era including asbestos-containing roofing systems, asbestos pipe insulation on heating systems, and asbestos-containing floor and building mechanical system materials throughout the large industrial building stock. Personnel working in these WWII-era ammunition processing and maintenance buildings accumulated secondary asbestos exposure from the building materials throughout their assignments at Crane
  • Ordnance storage igloo and support structures — the ammunition storage igloo structures and their associated access and administrative support buildings used construction materials appropriate to WWII-era construction, with asbestos-containing products in the support building construction
  • Administrative and barracks buildings — the administrative buildings, barracks, and base support infrastructure at Crane used WWII-era institutional construction with asbestos ceiling tile, asbestos floor tile, and asbestos pipe insulation throughout the base housing and support complex

Crane’s later role added laboratory and testing facility buildings:

  • Electronics laboratory and test buildings — the Naval Weapons Support Center’s electronics testing laboratories, systems integration facilities, and technical support buildings at Crane used WWII-era and Cold War-era building stock with asbestos-containing materials in the building construction and mechanical systems throughout the technical facility complex

VA Claims for NSA Crane Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval shore facilities. Navy personnel who worked at Naval Ammunition Depot Crane, Naval Weapons Support Center Crane, or NSA Crane in WWII-era or Cold War-era industrial and support facilities and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.