Naval Weapons Station Charleston, located in Goose Creek, South Carolina north of Charleston, served as the primary ordnance storage, maintenance, and loading facility for the Atlantic Fleet throughout the Cold War. The station stored and maintained naval munitions, guided missiles, torpedoes, and ammunition for Atlantic Fleet surface combatants and submarines, and loaded ordnance onto ships transiting Charleston for deployment. NWS Charleston’s large facility complex — spanning thousands of acres of ordnance storage magazines and industrial support buildings — included WWII-era and postwar construction with asbestos in building systems and construction throughout the Cold War period.

WWII-Era Building Infrastructure and Asbestos

NWS Charleston was established during World War II and its core facility buildings were constructed in the 1940s using wartime building materials:

  • WWII-era ordnance storage magazines and handling buildings used asbestos-containing materials in their construction — asbestos floor tile, overhead lagging, and asbestos in building mechanical systems throughout the WWII-era building stock
  • Boiler plant and steam heating distribution serving NWS Charleston industrial and administrative buildings used asbestos-insulated boiler equipment and pipe throughout the base heating system
  • Industrial support buildings — the maintenance shops, inspection facilities, and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) support buildings used asbestos-containing materials in building construction and mechanical systems

Ordnance Handling and Missile Maintenance

Gunner’s Mates, Aviation Ordnancemen, and other ordnance-handling ratings working at NWS Charleston’s missile maintenance and ordnance handling facilities were present in older buildings with asbestos in the facility infrastructure during their work assignments:

  • Missile maintenance facilities at NWS Charleston where guided missiles were inspected, maintained, and certified for fleet use occupied older buildings with asbestos-containing construction
  • Torpedo maintenance facilities where submarine and surface ship torpedoes were serviced — torpedo shops at NWS Charleston used older building infrastructure with asbestos in the building mechanical systems

Loading Operations and Ship Contact

NWS Charleston personnel who loaded ordnance onto Atlantic Fleet ships — transiting the Charleston area for replenishment before deployment — went aboard the ships during loading operations, where they were present in vessels with asbestos-containing construction in the ship’s interior.

VA Claims for NWS Charleston Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at Navy installations. Veterans who worked at Naval Weapons Station Charleston in older facility buildings before the mid-1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits based on asbestos in the facility’s WWII-era building infrastructure.